Latest Alabama Headlines
All the headlines from our Alabama Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Insurer Sues Google in Alabama Over Unflattering Search Results
Jan 5 2012 // An insurer is hoping to use an Alabama state law governing deceptive trade practices to stop Google from prominently displaying negative websites about the company. American Income Life Insurance Co. has filed suit in the...
Alabama Insurance Claims for Tornadoes Top $2 Billion
Jan 3 2012 // Insurers have paid at least $2.2 billion claims arising from the April tornado outbreak in Alabama, authorities said. More than 2,500 claims are still pending eight months after the storms, The Birmingham News...
How Mississippi Insurance Agent Came to Own Prized LSU Pigskin
Jan 3 2012 // Larry Benefield didn’t attend Louisiana State University. He has been to only one football game there in his life, a matchup against Kentucky in the 1980s or 1990s. But the Gulfport, Mississippi resident owns one of...
Alabama Tornado Survivors Sought for Interviews
Dec 21 2011 // Public health agencies are looking to interview survivors of the killer tornadoes that hit north and central Alabama on April 27. State Health Officer Don Williamson said the goal is to explore ways to lessen the loss of...
Alabama Awaits Detail of Data Call from Windstorms
Dec 16 2011 // Regulators and consumer groups in Alabama are awaiting the results of a data call from insurers to see if they are quickly handling claims and resolving other residents’ claimants. Commissioner Jim Ridling issued the...
Alabama Judge Grants Probation to 4 in Oil Spill Claims Fraud
Dec 14 2011 // Four people will spend five years on probation after being convicted of pocketing money from Gulf oil spill claims. The Press-Register reported that U.S. District Judge William Steele also ordered the four to pay back...
Alabama Businesses Working on Workplace Safety
Dec 8 2011 // It’s not uncommon for Troy Collett to feel like he’s playing a game of dodge cars when he’s making a delivery in downtown Florence, Alabama. “I’ve felt the exhaust off the tailpipes (of the...
Judge: Transocean Insurance not Available to BP for Oil Spill
Dec 5 2011 // States May Pursue Punitive Damages Against BP and Others. BP has lost two big rulings in its fight to shield itself from potentially having to pay billions of dollars more in damages related to the worst offshore oil spill...
6 Killed, Dozens Injured in Southeast Storms
Nov 18 2011 // At least six people have been killed and dozens more injured as a storm system that spawned several possible tornadoes moved across the Southeast. Suspected tornadoes were reported Wednesday in Louisiana, Mississippi,...
Alabama Man Pleads Guilty in Tornado Fraud Case
Nov 17 2011 // A west Alabama man has pleaded guilty to fraudulently claiming disaster benefits following the April 27 tornadoes in Alabama. Officials say 47-year-old Robert Lee Spires entered his plea before U.S. District Judge L. Scott...
Judge Allows Alabama, Louisiana to Seek Punitive Damages in Oil Spill
Nov 14 2011 // A federal judge Monday said Alabama and Louisiana may seek punitive damages from companies including BP Plc for damages arising from last year’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The decision by U.S....
Alabama Regulators Call for Hearing on Proposed Workers’ Comp Rate Decrease
Oct 27 2011 // Alabama regulators are preparing to hold a public hearing on a proposed statewide average 9.3 percent decrease in the state’s workers’ compensation rates. The National Council on Compensation Insurance...
State Farm Lowering Alabama Auto Rates
Oct 26 2011 // Drivers in Alabama insured through State Farm will be paying slightly less for coverage beginning next month. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. announced it would reduce its Alabama auto insurance rates by a...
Alfa Insurance Ties Homeowners Coverage to Auto in Alabama
Oct 21 2011 // Alabama residents who have their homeowners insurance through the state’s second largest property insurer must now include their auto coverage as part of their insurance package. Alfa Insurance Co. announced it will...
State Farm Raises Rates on Alabama Inland Homes
Oct 7 2011 // For the second time in three years, one of the largest homeowners in Alabama has indicated it will not raises rates along the coastline in lieu of a statewide average five percent increase on inland properties. State Farm...
Coastal Alabama Rates Going Down
Oct 3 2011 // Alabama homeowners insured by the state’s property insurer of last resort are paying less after the insurer implemented its first rate decrease in three years. The Alabama Insurance Underwriting Association last...
Safe as Houses?
Oct 3 2011 // Safe as houses. That’s an expression I’ve never quite understood. In light of the catastrophic events of 2011, the phrase is especially confusing. How safe are houses – from wildfires, hurricanes,...
BP Pays Alabama City $1.2M for Revenues Lost Due to Oil Spill
Sep 30 2011 // The city of Orange Beach, Alabama has reached a settlement with BP PLC over lost revenues stemming from last year’s Gulf oil spill, with the oil giant agreeing to pay $1.27 million for lodging and retail revenues the...
Failed Alabama Bank Executives Settle Investor Lawsuit for $10.5M
Sep 30 2011 // Officers and directors of failed Colonial BancGroup in Alabama, including Auburn University trustee Bobby Lowder and former Auburn football coach Pat Dye, have agreed to pay investors $10.5 million to settle a class-action...
Alabama Special Session on Home Insurance Possible in January
Sep 19 2011 // The special legislative session that Gov. Robert Bentley has promised on the affordability and availability of homeowners insurance could come in early 2012. The governor and the chairman of his insurance commission said a...