Articles by William Rabb

Rabb is Southeast Editor for Insurance Journal. He is a long-time newspaper man in the Deep South; also covered workers' comp insurance issues for a trade publication for a few years.

Jackson Businesses Lost Water and Customers But Insurance Probably Won’t Cover

As they learned with the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown, establishments that lost water service in troubled Jackson, Mississippi, this month are finding that their business interruption insurance policies won’t always help pay for lost customers and lost revenue. “Most coverage is …

Debate Deepens After Florida OIR Seeks to Raise Citizens’ Coverage Limit on Homes

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, other carriers and homeowners for years to come. At a …

Officers Exempt from Workers’ Comp But Some Carriers Charging Anyway?

Tradespeople who call themselves and their workers “independent contractors” have long been an issue for the workers’ compensation industry, often cutting carriers out of premium and leaving injured workers without coverage. Some in the industry now worry, though, that at …

Forged Signatures, Fake Policies? Lawsuits Raise Questions About Captive Insurance Plan

Federal lawsuits, including a nationwide class action filed in California, have put a spotlight on a type of captive insurance program, charging its directors with a scheme that involved forged signatures and fake policies. The lawsuits, by Lexington Insurance, an …

Attorney for a Top Florida Insurance Law Firm Disbarred After Forgeries, Misconduct

A former attorney with one of Florida’s top insurance defense firms has been disbarred after the Bar said she engaged in repeated acts of neglect, deception and forgery. Erika Lynn Muller, until recently a partner with the Cole, Scott & …

Crossing the Rubicon (Again): New Arrests in Florida Insurance Schemes

Those familiar with insurance fraud schemes in Florida will remember Operation Rubicon. That was the year-long investigation by Miami-Dade and Florida authorities into an alleged property insurance fraud scheme that involved public adjusters, restoration companies, insurance agents, a police officer …

Comp Insurers Object to Florida Hospital Payments Set at 2x U.S. Average

The Florida Division of Workers’ Compensation appears to be intent on pushing the ball across the goal line on a long-awaited revision to hospital reimbursement rules, despite concern from insurers that some rates are still out of bounds. “My goal …

DCA Can’t Prohibit Lower Court Ruling, Florida Justices Decide in Insurance Case

Claim Was Settled, But Insurer Attorneys Revealed Mediation Info, Claimants’ Lawyer Says An appeals court cannot be used to prohibit a lower court’s decisions, except through the normal appeal process, the Florida Supreme Court decided Thursday in a case that …

UPC Gives up the Ghost: Now in Orderly Run-Off, But Trouble May Be Brewing

United Property & Casualty Insurance Co., facing heavy losses, in July put out feelers for a potential sale or merger with another carrier, after a ratings downgrade and a substantial reorganization plan. But the firm’s holding company announced Wednesday that …

30 Years Ago Andrew Upended Florida, But Current Legal Storm May Be Worse

It was 30 years ago today that Hurricane Andrew, the strongest storm to make U.S. landfall in more than two decades, gouged its way across south Florida, destroying more than 25,000 homes, by some estimates, and causing more than $15 …