Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Walgreens Flooded Florida with Opioids, State Lawyer Tells Jury
Apr 12 2022 // Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. supplied billions of opioid pills to drug addicts and criminals, contributing to an addiction epidemic in Florida, a lawyer for the state said Monday in a civil trial against the pharmacy...
Bar Owners Get No Relief from Florida’s COVID Shut-Down Orders
Apr 12 2022 // Florida’s 5th District Court of Appeal has affirmed a trial court’s dismissal of a suit brought by bar owners in Orlando who were shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic. Orlando Bar Group and its three...
Consumer Advocate, Florida Trial Lawyers Concerned about Arbitration in Claims Disputes
Apr 8 2022 // Plaintiffs’ attorneys and the state’s insurance consumer advocate are pushing back on Florida insurers’ plans to require arbitration to settle more claims disputes. Some attorneys warned that the plans...
Florida insurance market needs strong medicine
Apr 7 2022 // If the Florida homeowners’ insurance market were in a medical exam, the diagnosis would find the patient in dangerously poor condition. The patient’s vital signs—its financial results—are troubling. What is...
Walgreens Goes to Trial in Florida Lawsuit on Opioids
Apr 7 2022 // Most of the defendants in Florida’s lawsuit over the opioid epidemic have settled for more than $870 million, according to the state attorney general. One remains: Walgreens Co. is not giving up. A jury has been...
Business Moves: King Insurance Acquires Generic Agency in Florida
Apr 6 2022 // King Insurance, an insurance brokerage known for its rapid expansion in recent years, has acquired Generic Insurance Agencies of North Central Florida. GIA operates out of offices in Gainesville and West Palm Beach,...
From Roof Building Codes to ‘Matching’ Limits, Some Changes Underway in Florida
Apr 6 2022 // Property insurance companies and roofers in Florida don’t often see eye-to-eye. Insurers have frequently blamed unscrupulous contractors for jacking up claims, and roofing companies have sued insurance carriers,...
With Florida Rulings, Will More Insurers Require Arbitration in Claims Disputes?
Apr 1 2022 // A decision handed down Thursday by the Florida Supreme Court, along with a recent ruling by state regulators, could give insurers another tool that could be used to stem the tide of claims litigation. In AirBnB Inc. vs....
Vermont Jury Awards $5.25M to Florida Woman Impregnated by Own Fertility Doctor
Apr 1 2022 // A federal court jury in Vermont on Wednesday awarded a Florida woman $5.25 million from a doctor who used his own sperm to impregnate her during an artificial insemination procedure in 1977. The federal court jury in...
Florida Reaches $878M Opioid Settlements With CVS, Teva, Others
Mar 31 2022 // Florida has reached more than $878 million in settlements with CVS Health Corp and three drug companies to resolve claims and avert a trial next month over their roles in fueling an opioid epidemic in the third most...
After Suspending New Business in Florida, Lighthouse Loses Financial Rating
Mar 31 2022 // The Demotech rating firm has withdrawn the financial stability rating for another Florida-admitted insurer, Lighthouse Property Insurance. It’s an ominous sign for the company and for Florida’s deteriorating...
No Florida Special Session for Months, but OIR Moves to Allow Roof Deductibles
Mar 30 2022 // A special insurance-reform session of the Florida Legislature probably won’t happen before November, when a new House speaker takes office. But the state’s insurance regulators are taking steps on their own to...
Lexington Insurance Pulling Out of Florida, Other Markets for High-End Homes
Mar 29 2022 // Lexington Insurance, an AIG company, is pulling out of the Florida homeowners market, leaving an estimated 8,000 affluent customers looking for coverage. And those homeowners likely won’t be able to turn to Citizens...
Demotech Joins Call for Florida Special Session; AM Best Downgrades Farm Bureau
Mar 28 2022 // The Demotech rating agency has joined the relatively small number of voices calling for a special session of the Florida Legislature to enact changes that insurers hope will help curtail fraudulent roof claims, deter...
Investigators, Family Looking for Answers After Teen Fell from Florida Thrill Ride
Mar 28 2022 // State officials and the amusement ride company are investigating how a 14-year-old fell to his death from a free-fall amusement park ride that is 430-feet high, taller than the Statue of Liberty, in the heart of...
Hearing on Florida Citizens’ Near-Max Rate Increases Set for March 31
Mar 25 2022 // The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation will hold a hearing on Thursday, March 31, to examine a request by Citizens Property Insurance Corp. for a near-maximum rate increase for most of its policies. Citizens, limited...
Florida Man Mauled by Tiger at Airboat Attraction
Mar 25 2022 // A tiger mauled a worker Tuesday afternoon at a Florida airboat attraction, officials said. The attack occurred at Wooten’s Everglades Airboat Tours in Ochopee, according to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office....
Water Drain: Florida Court Rulings Show Importance of Exclusion Wording
Mar 25 2022 // Editor’s note: Insurers report that an increasing share of claims and claims litigation is the result of non-weather water damage. Jacksonville attorney Joseph Mackey, formerly of the Marshall Dennehey law firm and...
Two South Florida Construction Workers Crushed by Concrete Wall
Mar 23 2022 // Two construction workers in Boynton Beach were killed Tuesday when a concrete wall they were installing fell and crushed them. One local TV news station said the fatalities happened when a construction crane collapsed at...
Florida Governor Open to Lawmakers Calling Special Session on Insurance Changes
Mar 22 2022 // Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has not called a special session of the Legislature to tackle festering property insurance problems, but he said he welcomes the idea of legislative leaders convening lawmakers on their...
