Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
New Insurer Sets Sail in Florida’s Stormy Waters, Credits Legislative Reforms
Dec 9 2021 // For the first time in almost a decade, a new insurance carrier is wading into the troubled Florida waters, and is expected to make take-out offers to more than 42,000 Citizens Property Insurance policyholders. David...
Florida Jury Awards $100 Million in Bitcoin Trial; Defense Calls it a Big Win
Dec 8 2021 // Craig Wright, a computer scientist who claims to be the inventor of Bitcoin, prevailed in a civil trial verdict Monday against the family of a deceased business partner, which claimed it was owed half of a cryptocurrency...
Rates for Florida’s Citizens Insurance to Start Climbing Feb. 1
Dec 7 2021 // Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance Corp. is reminding agents and policyholders that rates for most commercial and residential policies will rise a bit each year, starting Feb. 1, 2022. The change to the...
Renaissance Adds Another Florida Insurance Agency
Dec 7 2021 // Hillcrest Insurance Agency in Mount Dora, Florida, is now part of the Renaissance Alliance, a network of independent agencies. Hillcrest offers coverage for construction, homeowners’ associations, restaurants, houses...
Florida City Braces for Lawsuits Over Repeated Sewage Spills
Dec 6 2021 // The city of Bradenton, Florida, could soon find itself in the same spot as other local governments that have been accused of breaking federal law with repeated sewage spills. Led by Suncoast Waterkeeper, several...
Florida DFS Adds More Property Insurance Fraud Investigators
Dec 6 2021 // Florida’s Department of Financial Services has added 13 employees, 10 of whom are sworn law enforcement officers, to investigate property insurance fraud in the state, Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis...
Florida Growth Will Mean More Cat Losses; Premiums Must Rise – Summit
Dec 6 2021 // With good news comes bad, and vice-versa in Florida’s growing but rapidly deteriorating property insurance market, industry analysts said at a two-day Florida Chamber of Commerce Insurance Summit last week. First,...
Florida Man and Three Others Sentenced for Millions in Fake Construction Bonds
Dec 3 2021 // A federal judge in Miami sentenced four men to at least two years in prison each for a scheme that sold worthless construction bonds for major building projects in 2015. Working under the name of Hampton Investment Fund,...
Florida Appeals Court Rejects Insurer’s Attempt to ‘Retry the Claim’
Dec 2 2021 // An appellate court’s job is to determine whether evidence supports the workers’ compensation judge’s decision, not to weigh information about arguments that have already been rejected, Florida’s 1st...
Florida Bill Would Extend COVID Liability Protection for Health Workers
Nov 29 2021 // A Florida Senate committee has drafted a bill that would extend health care providers’ COVID-19 liability protection for another 14 months. Committee Chair Sen. Danny Burgess The Legislature in 2021 created the...
Florida Appeals Court Dismisses Lawyer’s Complaint Against CFO in Rubin Saga
Nov 29 2021 // Florida’s top financial and insurance regulator may have landed in the middle of a political mess, but he and other state officials were within their rights in hiring an agency head who was later forced out over...
Florida Lawmaker Holds Town Hall Meetings on Insurance Crisis
Nov 29 2021 // In a sign that Florida’s property insurance problems continue to be a hot-button issue, a Florida state representative will hold town hall meetings next week to hear from stakeholders. Rep. Kamia Brown State Rep....
When Is Employer Immune from Tort Claims? Florida High Court Could Review
Nov 29 2021 // One of the largest utility companies in Florida may, after all, be shielded from tort claims by the grand bargain of workers’ compensation law, even though it had contracted maintenance work to another firm, a...
Judge Strikes Florida Tribe’s Plan for Casinos, Sports Betting
Nov 23 2021 // A federal judge has struck down a plan to give the Seminole Tribe of Florida a monopoly on sports betting and to expand two of the tribe’s hotels into Las Vegas-style casinos. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Dabney...
Down Then Up: Florida Litigated Claims Climbed a Bit in October
Nov 19 2021 // After two months of significant declines, litigated claims for Florida’s largest property and casualty insurers rose 5% in October, a litigation tracking service reported. CaseGlide, a litigation management software...
Florida Supreme Court Suspends Witness-Coaching Attorney for 91 Days
Nov 19 2021 // The Florida Supreme Court has suspended a workers’ compensation defense lawyer for 91 days after he was caught coaching a deposition witness through text messages, then being less than candid about it to a...
Insurer Sues Florida Mom of Boys Killed by Husband
Nov 18 2021 // An insurance company is suing the mother of two boys killed by her estranged husband over a $4 million life insurance payout which claims she may not have been legally entitled to receive. Meanwhile, she is trying to...
Florida Legislature Passes Anti-Vaccine Bills
Nov 17 2021 // Florida lawmakers moved ahead with bills that directly conflict with federal regulations requiring COVID-19 vaccine for most workers. In a special vaccine session called by Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, the Florida...
Brown & Brown Acquires Another Agency in Florida
Nov 16 2021 // Brown & Brown, a national insurance brokerage firm, has acquired Heacock Insurance, a fifth-generation agency based in Central Florida. Heacock was founded in 1922 and has offices in Lakeland and Sebring. The Heacock...
Florida OIR Approves 4.9% Comp Rate Cut; NCCI Drops Cat Fund Idea
Nov 15 2021 // Florida Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier has approved a 4.9% average decrease in workers’ compensation rates for 2022, as recommended by the National Council on Compensation Insurance. The decrease is the sixth...
