Southeast News

Nonprofits Ensnared in Georgia Push to Restrict Bail Funds

ATLANTA (AP) — When she was behind bars in Georgia, Nia Thomas would use toothpaste to stick handwritten flyers to the wall and spread the word about community bail funds that could pay inmates’ bonds, no strings attached. “I was …

Georgia Sheriff’s Chief Aide Resigns After Indictment on Auto Insurance Fraud

The former chief of staff for an Atlanta-area sheriff has resigned after he was indicted on auto insurance fraud charges. Braxton Tyree Cotton, 42, top aide to Cobb County Sheriff Craig Owens, claimed in 2023 that his Chevrolet Corvette had …

Castle Key Defends 53.5% Condo Rate Hike, Blames Reinsurance, Ian, Rapid Growth

When Allstate’s Florida unit, Castle Key Indemnity Co., entered the surging condominium insurance market in 2020, it looked like it had made a smart bet: Within two years, the carrier had added no fewer than 123,000 policies. Then came reinsurance …

NHC Unveils New Hurricane Forecast Maps for 2024, Showing More Inland Warnings

The familiar “cone of uncertainty” map, used for years by meteorologists to show a hurricane’s predicted path, is about to get an upgrade – at least temporarily, the National Hurricane Center announced this week. Starting Aug. 15, the NHC will …

Texas Jury Finds LSD Did Not Cause Spinal Injury, Requires Occidental to Pay HO Limits

When does a hallucinogenic drug become the direct cause of a catastrophic injury, triggering a homeowners’ policy exclusion? Not when a young man falls out of bed and is later moved by his comrades, potentially worsening a spinal injury, a …

Alfa Insurance Did Not Discriminate Against Worker with MS, Appeals Court Finds

Alfa Insurance, one of the largest property/casualty insurers in Alabama, did not discriminate against an employee with multiple sclerosis and did not violate the Americans with Disabilities Act, a federal appeals court affirmed. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals …

New Concerns About NC State University Building Found to Have PCBs

Concerns and controversy have continued to mount over the presence of toxic chemicals, including cancer-linked polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, found in a building at North Carolina State University. The Raleigh News & Observer, Forbes magazine and other news outlets have …

‘Citizens 2.0’ is 86’d but Other Florida Insurance, Liability Bills Still Alive

A move to revamp the state-backed property insurer of last resort into Florida’s main wind carrier, a plan dubbed “Citizens 2.0,” appears to have died in the Legislature this year. But other insurance-related bills are still alive, and the governor’s …

South Carolina Lawmakers Mulling Liquor Liability Fund to Ease Coverage Crisis

Businesses and homeowners will be familiar with insurers of last resort – the state-created, quasi-governmental organizations that provide property and liability coverage when the primary market won’t. These include windstorm underwriting associations or corporations in a number of states, a …

Under New Owners, Florida’s TRUE Gets Slight Downgrade, Withdraws From AM Best

Six weeks after Trusted Resource Underwriters Exchange, a Florida-based reciprocal property insurer, announced it had received a $1.25 billion capital investment and new majority ownership, the AM Best rating firm has slightly downgraded the exchange’s financial strength and credit ratings. …

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