Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Update: Florida Bill to End AOBs in Windshield Repair Inches Closer to Finish Line
Mar 15 2023 // Auto insurance and tort-reform groups are keeping their fingers crossed after a second Florida House subcommittee approved a bill that would ban assignment-of-benefits agreements for windshield repairs, a measure that...
Festival Canceled, Businesses Interrupted as Red Tide, Brown Seaweed Hit Florida
Mar 14 2023 // Residents are complaining about burning eyes and breathing problems. Dead fish have washed up. A beachside festival has been canceled, even though it wasn’t scheduled for another month. To add to the misery, a giant...
Credit Outlook for Allstate’s Florida Unit is Negative, Reflects Deteriorated Surplus
Mar 14 2023 // The AM Best financial rating firm’s tepid outlook for Allstate’s Florida subsidiaries, Castle Key Insurance Co. and Castle Key Indemnity Co., has raised new questions about the subsidiaries’ and their...
Florida Girl Killed When Straight-Line Winds Blow Tree Onto Car
Mar 13 2023 // A 16-year-old girl in the Florida Panhandle was killed when a tree fell on the vehicle she was in during a fierce storm that saw wind speeds reach 80 mph (129 km), authorities said. The girl was killed and the...
Florida Adjusters’ Charges of Doctored Damage Reports Get Wider Spotlight
Mar 13 2023 // Allegations that some insurance carriers have altered field adjusters’ damage estimates has gained more national attention after The Washington Post reported on and documented examples of the practices. Leadership...
4 Killed When 2 Small Planes Collide Over Florida Lake
Mar 9 2023 // A pilot and and a 19-year-old student pilot were among four people killed when two small planes collided in midair over a central Florida lake, sheriff’s officials said. A Piper J-3 Cub seaplane and a Piper Cherokee...
Former Florida Insurance Commissioner Named to BOD for Aspen Insurance
Mar 9 2023 // David Altmaier has moved from overseeing regulation of insurance companies to overseeing operations for one – the Bermuda-based reinsurer Aspen Insurance Holdings. Aspen announced Wednesday that Altmaier, who was Florida...
Florida Senate Committee Approves Tort-Reform Bill, but Changes Are Possible
Mar 8 2023 // A Florida bill that aims to further limit injury and insurance litigation and attorney fees passed a state Senate committee Tuesday after heavy debate – but with few amendments at the opening day of the state’s...
Florida’s Heritage Insurance Posts Q4 Profit, But Losses for the Year
Mar 8 2023 // Heritage Insurance Holdings Inc. (HRTG) on Thursday reported fourth-quarter net income of $12.5 million, after reporting a loss in the same period a year earlier. For the year 2022, though, the company reported that its...
Florida Man Paralyzed When Shot by Officer Who Mistook Gun for Taser Sues City, Police
Mar 7 2023 // A Florida man left paralyzed when a police officer shot him after mistaking his handgun for his stun gun filed a lawsuit last week against the city, the officer and others, saying, “my life got...
Florida Tort Reform Bill Goes Big, Checks Most Remaining Boxes for Insurers Hoping to Stem Litigation
Mar 6 2023 // Outside of insurance attorneys, plaintiffs’ lawyers and some doctors, few people in Florida may be familiar with what are known as letters of protection. But critics say the instruments, in which doctors agree to...
Authorities Investigating After Train with Propane Derailed in Florida
Mar 3 2023 // Federal and local officials in Florida were investigating after a train car carrying 30,000 gallons (113,562 liters) of propane tipped over in a derailment along the Gulf Coast. The freight train operated by Seminole Gulf...
Keyes Acquires Three Florida Firms
Mar 3 2023 // Keyes Coverage, a rapidly growing Florida insurance brokerage, has acquired three firms: Bill and Sheila Gaylor Insurance, based in Melbourne, Florida; My Florida Insurance Broker, in Vero Beach; and Brian Laudanno...
Florida’s Reform Bill Means New Deadlines for Insurers, Insureds, Starting This Week
Mar 3 2023 // Senate Bill 2A, enacted into law in December, gave Florida property insurers some major relief on litigation costs. But it also required a number of consumer-friendly actions from carriers and sets new timetables on...
Florida Injury Attorney Who Used LOPs Charged With Stealing $850,000 from Clients
Mar 2 2023 // A Tampa-area personal injury attorney, once active in auto accident, rideshare and other insurance claims litigation, has been arrested and charged with multiple counts of money laundering and grand theft. The Pinellas...
Florida’s SB 2A Ended One-Way Legal Fees. Now Some Insurers Say it’s Retroactive
Mar 1 2023 // Plaintiffs’ attorneys took it on the chin when Florida lawmakers in December approved Senate Bill 2A, which ended the practice of one-way attorney fees in property insurance litigation. Now, though, a number of...
Florida Speaker Says Tort-Reform Bill May See Changes Before It’s Approved
Feb 28 2023 // A Florida tort-reform bill that picks up where previous insurance-market rescue bills left off has passed its first milestone and now moves to the full House Judiciary Committee. But the speaker of the House said the...
Florida Nursing Home Operator Acquitted of Causing Patient Deaths in Hurricane Irma
Feb 27 2023 // A judge on Friday acquitted a Florida nursing home administrator accused of causing the overheating deaths of nine patients after Hurricane Irma in 2017, saying that his employees had provided care and prosecutors had not...
Florida’s Universal Insurance Bounces Back in Q4 After Hurricane Ian Losses
Feb 27 2023 // Universal Insurance Holdings Inc. (UVE), parent company of Universal Property & Casualty Insurance Co., last week reported net income of $25.1 million in its fourth quarter, a sharp increase from the previous...
Florida City’s Insurance to Pay $2 million in Settlement in Fatal Police Shooting
Feb 27 2023 // A South Florida city has reached a $2 million settlement with the family of a Black motorist who was fatally shot by a police officer after his vehicle broke down on an interstate off-ramp more than seven years ago. The...
