Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Report: Nearly a Third of U.S. Hazardous Chemicals Facilities Exposed to Climate Change Dangers
Mar 3 2022 // A report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change stating that climate change is leading to increasingly irreversible impacts, with a narrowing window to adapt to it, is garnering a lot of reaction. The IPCC...
Florida Keys School Board Surprised by $400,000 Increase in Insurance Premiums
Mar 3 2022 // Florida homeowners aren’t the only ones feeling the pinch from sharply rising insurance premiums. School board members in the Florida Keys were taken aback this week when they were told that property insurance...
Fines on Public Adjuster Actions Would Double Under Bill Passed By Florida House
Mar 3 2022 // The Florida House of Representatives on Wednesday approved its version of a bill that would increase penalties for unlicensed public adjusters and would improve the digital insurance application process. House Bill 749,...
Former Florida Lawmaker Plans to Challenge CFO Patronis, with Insurance as Key Issue
Mar 2 2022 // A former state representative has announced plans to challenge Florida CFO Jimmy Patronis in this fall’s election, and he’s making Florida’s property insurance crisis a central issue. Adam Hattersley, a...
Could the Ukraine Crisis Move Florida to Fix Its Insurance Crisis?
Mar 2 2022 // With the March 11 scheduled close of its regular session fast approaching, the Florida Legislature remains so focused on putting the finishing touches on its various culture-war signaling bills that one might think...
Arkansas Medical Supply Owner, CEO Indicted For Allegedly Conspiring to Defraud Workers’ Comp Insurers
Mar 2 2022 // Both the former owner of a Rogers, Arkansas-based medical supply and billing company and its former chief executive officer have been indicted by a federal grand jury for their roles in three separate conspiracies to...
Florida Comp Broker Says in Federal Suit That Competitor’s Lies Cost It Business
Mar 2 2022 // Talking trash about a competitor may be as old as humanity. But a Florida-based workers’ compensation insurance broker is charging that some bad-mouthing by another broker cost it a long-standing relationship with...
Florida Insurance Rescue Bill Advances with Roof Deductible Provision
Mar 1 2022 // A rescue bill that aims to cut losses and litigation expenses for Florida property insurers passed a state Senate committee Monday, its last stop before a floor vote in the full Senate. But with just 11 days remaining in...
People Moves: Bakofsky at Florida OIR, Gorman at North Carolina
Feb 28 2022 // Bakofsky Named Chief of Staff at Florida OIR Florida Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier announced that communications director Alexis Bakofsky has been elevated to chief of staff. Bakofsky joined the state Office of...
St. Johns Insurance Insolvent, to be Liquidated, Florida DFS Reports
Feb 28 2022 // St. Johns Insurance Co., one of the larger property/casualty insurers based in Florida, is now insolvent and will soon be liquidated. The Florida Department of Financial Services posted a notice Friday that a judge in Leon...
People: Boler Joins Villages Insurance
Feb 25 2022 // The Villages Insurance Partners in Florida has named Nathan Boler a personal lines risk consultant. Boler, who began with an Allstate agency in Florida in 2017, then was with State Farm, is now at the Villages Spanish...
Rail Inspectors To Examine Florida Crossings After Spike in Brightline Fatalities
Feb 25 2022 // After nine fatal collisions since early November, the Federal Railroad Administration plans to investigate the Brightline passenger train in Florida. “We’re going to start with what we consider to be the most...
Florida House Committee Gives Nod to Surplus, Citizens, Fraud Bills
Feb 24 2022 // The Florida House of Representatives’ Commerce Committee passed no fewer than five bills Wednesday that could affect property and casualty insurance, from allowing surplus lines carriers to be based in Florida, to...
Florida Senate Committee Advances Condo Inspection Bill
Feb 24 2022 // A Florida Senate committee wasted little time Wednesday in approving a bill that would require more frequent inspections of condominiums statewide – one of the first pieces of legislation to come out of the rubble of the...
Butler Buckley Agency in Miami Joins Renaissance Alliance
Feb 23 2022 // Another Florida insurance agency, Butler, Buckley & Deets, has joined Renaissance Alliance, a national firm that helps agencies grow. Butler, Buckley & Deets, based in Miami, notes it is one of the oldest insurance...
Florida Appeal Courts Side with Insurers in Attorney Fees, AOB and PIP Cases
Feb 23 2022 // From attorneys’ fees to water damage to reimbursement limits in no-fault auto insurance, Florida appeals courts have sided with insurers in several cases in recent days. Here’s a look: Attorney Fees and Another...
People Moves: Groenheide to New Paradigm in Florida
Feb 22 2022 // Matt Groenheide, previously with GuideOne Insurance, HDI Global and Zurich, has joined New Paradigm as senior vice president and director of specialty programs. Groenheide will lead a program that matches parametric risk...
New Lending Rules Could Stifle Loans, Insurance for Florida Condos that Need Repairs
Feb 22 2022 // Just as some insurers have tightened requirements for underwriting high-rise condominiums in the wake of the Champlain Towers collapse in Miami Beach last year, now mortgage banks are starkly revising lending rules. The...
Another Big Insurer Stops Writing Homeowners Policies in Florida
Feb 21 2022 // The Florida property insurance market is showing more signs of trouble, with one of the state’s largest carriers deciding to stop writing new homeowner business in the state — while also asking for a rate...
Insurers Could Get Lower Rates on Liquidity with Bills in States
Feb 21 2022 // Many in the insurance industry may think of the Federal Home Loan Bank as an agency that facilitates affordable mortgages for homes. The system, founded in the waning days of the Herbert Hoover administration to support...
