Articles by Amy O'Connor

O'Connor is the Southeast editor for Insurance Journal and associate editor of MyNewMarkets.com.

Chaney to Seek Fourth Term as Mississippi Insurance Commissioner

Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney has announced he will run for re-election for a fourth term in 2019. Multiple media outlets reported 74-year-old Chaney’s announcement Wednesday, made at the Nashoba County Fair in Philadelphia, Miss., and a spokeswoman from the …

Security First Insurance Co. Enters Florida’s Growing Private Flood Market

A new carrier has entered the Florida flood insurance market with a policy it says will provide better coverage than what is available from the National Flood Insurance Program. Ormond Beach, Fla.-based Security First Insurance Co. has launched an optional …

Ratings Agency Ignites Controversy Over Financial Strength of Florida Insurers

With Florida about to enter peak hurricane season, a state insurance association representing 15 insurers in Florida is hitting back against a recent report from ratings agency Weiss Ratings that identified 10 Florida-based insurers as “weak.” The insurer trade group, …

How the Florida Insurance Industry Hopes to Rein In AOB Crisis

“I think the number one thing the insurance industry can do is link AOB (assignment of benefits) to the impact that it’s having on the individual consumer and the huge impact it’s having on the premiums that the consumer’s paying,” …

Florida’s Citizens Delays Decision on Proposed Rate Increases

Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance Corp. will wait until December to determine its 2019 insurance rates and whether it will approve a proposed 7.9 percent statewide increase for homeowners policies. The decision to defer action on the 2019 proposed rates came …

Florida’s Citizens Delays Decision on Proposed 2019 Rate Increases

Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance Corp. will wait until December to determine its 2019 insurance rates and whether it will approve a proposed 7.9 percent statewide increase for homeowners policies. The decision to defer action on the 2019 proposed rates came …

Citizens to Implement New Lobbyist Registration System Aug. 1

Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the Florida state-run insurer of last resort, has devised a new policy requiring lobbyists seeking to lobby the insurer to register via a new online registration system. The new corporate policy comes in response to a …

Authorities: Blast at Kentucky UPS Facility Started by Propane Torch

Authorities say a propane torch set off the blast that damaged a UPS freight hub in Kentucky’s second-largest city and sent multiple people to the hospital. Lexington fire investigator Maj. Robert King tells news outlets that the torch likely ignited …

South Carolina Passes First Insurance Industry Cybersecurity Law

South Carolina has become the first state to pass a model cybersecurity bill requiring any insurance entity operating in the state to establish and implement a cybersecurity program protecting their business and their customers from a data breach. And while …

What the Florida Industry Needs to Know for the 2018 Hurricane Season

The 2018 hurricane season is officially underway, even as the dust continues to settle on the 2017 hurricane season — one of the costliest hurricane years on record — that brought devastation to Florida from Hurricane Irma. Meanwhile, the Gulf …