Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Citizens’ Early Estimate of $3.8B in Ian Losses; Florida OIR Suspends Use and File
Sep 29 2022 // Hurricane Ian continued to churn through central Florida Thursday morning, leaving widespread flooding and wind damage in its wake. It was too early to know the extent of property insurance claims from the storm, although...
Jury: Sheriff Should Pay $15M for Death of Florida Teen Outside Fair in 2014
Sep 28 2022 // A Florida sheriff has been ordered by a jury to pay $15 million to the parents of a teenager who died while trying to cross a highway after being kicked out of the state fair by deputies. The 10-person jury reached its...
Florida Keys Boat Captain Charged in Fatal Parasailing Accident
Sep 28 2022 // A boat captain has been charged with manslaughter in a Memorial Day parasailing crash in the Florida Keys that killed a 33-year-old Illinois woman and injured her young son and nephew. Daniel Gavin Couch, 49, was booked...
Florida Restructure Plan Didn’t Take: FedNat Insurance Deemed Insolvent
Sep 27 2022 // Despite monitoring by Florida regulators, cancellation of more than 56,000 policies, and an extensive restructuring plan this year, FedNat Insurance Co. is now insolvent and must be liquidated – the sixth Florida...
Update: Hurricane Fiona Roars Toward Atlantic Canada as New Storm Threatens Florida
Sep 23 2022 // After lashing Bermuda, Hurricane Fiona is racing north toward Eastern Canada, threatening to become the most powerful storm ever to hit the region. A second system, meanwhile, is developing in the Caribbean and may strike...
Florida Comp Insurers Challenge Hospital Payment Plan. Up Next: Physician Dispensing
Sep 22 2022 // A group of workers’ compensation carriers has filed a formal challenge to the state’s hospital reimbursement plan, arguing that payment levels would be far out of line with what other states allow and what...
AmWins Connects Says it Has Expanded to Florida Market
Sep 21 2022 // Amwins Connect, a national general agency that offers health and ancillary insurance solutions to benefits brokers, said it has expanded into the Florida market. The agency assists brokers with sales, renewals,...
If it Looks Like an AOB, it Is One, Florida Appeals Court Decides in Kidwell Case
Sep 21 2022 // A Florida insurance company has landed another blow against one of the industry’s most active opponents, after an appeals court upheld the dismissal of a breach-of-contract lawsuit brought by an assigned...
Trial Lawyers Back Republican in Florida House Race, Insurers Favor Democrat
Sep 20 2022 // In a twist of fate and a sign of the times, some Florida business groups are backing the Democrat in a state House race in the Tampa area, while trial lawyers are putting their weight behind the Republican challenger. The...
Debate Deepens After Florida OIR Seeks to Raise Citizens’ Coverage Limit on Homes
Sep 19 2022 // Recent developments have sparked new debate about the role that Citizens Property Insurance Corp. should play in Florida’s rapidly shifting property insurance market, with potential changes that could affect agents,...
Tropical Storm to Brush Puerto Rico Before Turning North, East of Florida
Sep 16 2022 // Tropical Storm Fiona, the season’s sixth named storm, was expected to graze Puerto Rico before turning north and staying east of Florida, and forecasters at the U.S. National Hurricane Center issued tropical storm...
AMBest Report Shows Florida Insurers Far Out of Line on Reinsurance Dependency
Sep 15 2022 // Mango Questions State-Run Ratings Agency Idea Florida-domiciled property carriers are extremely reliant on the reinsurance market, making them vulnerable to coming price hikes, a just-released report from the AM Best...
Misrepresentation by Insured? It’s Complicated, Florida Appeals Court Rules
Sep 14 2022 // Proving that an insured misrepresented the extent of damage from a storm may have just become a little more complicated for Florida insurance companies. Florida’s 5th District Court of Appeals last week reversed a...
How Fraud Probe for Florida’s Guarantee Insurance Led to Payroll, Tax Convictions
Sep 14 2022 // The name Guarantee Insurance is not one that is likely to be recalled with fondness by many Floridians. The workers’ compensation carrier in 2017 was declared insolvent, a rarity in what is one of the most profitable...
Florida Butt-Lift Doctor Banned from Surgery After Second Patient Dies at Clinic
Sep 12 2022 // A second patient has died after surgery at a Brazilian butt-lift clinic in south Florida, and the state medical board has banned a surgeon there from performing the procedures. The Miami Herald reported that Dr. John...
Biz Moves: King Insurance Acquires Two More Agencies in Florida
Sep 12 2022 // King Insurance, a rapidly expanding brokerage based in Gainesville, Florida, has announced the acquisitions of two more Florida agencies. King officials said that it bought Tallahassee-based Brad Burns Insurance, which...
Former Florida Commissioner Warns Officials Not to Shoot the Demotech Messenger
Sep 9 2022 // Former Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty is criticizing current state regulators over their recent digs at the Demotech financial rating firm, after Demotech warned it would downgrade more than a dozen property...
Crist Again Slams DeSantis’ Handling of Florida Insurance Debacle
Sep 8 2022 // U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist, a Democratic candidate for governor of Florida, has continued to needle incumbent Gov. Ron DeSantis for his handling of the property insurance crisis in the state. At a press conference Wednesday,...
Teen Dies After Florida Keys Boating Accident that Injured 11
Sep 6 2022 // A boating accident in the Florida Keys left a teenager dead and 10 other people injured, according to local media. The Miami Herald reported that Lucy Fernandez, a 17-year-old high school senior from Miami, was among 14...
Debate Deepens After Florida OIR Seeks to Raise Citizens’ Coverage Limit on Homes
Sep 6 2022 // Recent developments have sparked new debate about the role that Citizens Property Insurance Corp. should play in Florida’s rapidly shifting property insurance market, with potential changes that could affect agents,...
