Latest Florida Headlines

All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Investigators: Excessive Speed Caused Florida Roller Coaster Derailment

Jul 12 2018 // Excessive speed caused a roller coaster to derail at a Florida boardwalk, according to a preliminary investigative summary released Tuesday.Two riders fell 34 feet (10 meters) when the front car of the Sand Blaster Roller...

Florida-Based Insurer Federal National Rebrands as FedNat Insurance Co.

Jul 11 2018 // FedNat Holding Co., formerly known as Federated National Holding Co., has rebranded its largest insurance subsidiary to FedNat Insurance Company (FNIC).FedNat was founded in Florida in 1992 and through its wholly owned...

Florida Wildfire Victims Still Awaiting Housing Aid 2 Weeks Later

Jul 10 2018 // More than 100 people have been waiting for temporary housing for almost two weeks since being displaced by a wildfire that burned through their tiny community in the Florida Panhandle.In a Panama City News Herald report ,...

GEICO Taps Corbin to Manage Regional Offices from Florida

Jul 9 2018 // The GEICO Board of Directors has promoted Pionne Corbin to senior vice president. Corbin will manage the regional office in Lakeland, Fla., where she will be based, and oversee the company’s Southeast and Midwest...

3 New Property/Casualty Insurers OK’d to Do Business in Arkansas

Jul 5 2018 // Three new property/casualty insurance companies have been approved to do business in Arkansas, the state insurance department reported. All three are based in Florida.Counting the recently accepted companies, 10 new...

Feds Approve $616M for Florida Irma Recovery

Jul 5 2018 // The federal government has approved Florida’s request for $616 million that will be partially used to repair homes destroyed or damaged by Hurricane Irma last year.Gov. Rick Scott and Housing Secretary Ben Carson...

CFO: Florida Workers’ Comp Carriers to Save $20M in Costs Next Year

Jul 5 2018 // Cost savings in two Florida funds paid into by workers’ compensation carriers are expected to equal a nearly $20 million reduction in expenses for insurers operating in the state next year, according to a statement...

SUNZ Forms Florida-Based Workers’ Comp Subrogation Services Company

Jul 2 2018 // SUNZ Holdings, LLC, a provider of large deductible workers’ compensation insurance products, has formed Avalon Subrogation Partners, LLC, a subrogation company focused on recovering claim payments from parties who...

Nearly $2M in Property Damage from Florida Fire Started by Controlled Burn

Jul 2 2018 // Officials estimate $1.7 million in property damage was lost to a “controlled-burn” fire that blazed out of control and destroyed 36 homes in a tiny Florida Panhandle community.The Tallahassee Democrat reports...

Florida’s Citizens Delays Decision on Proposed Rate Increases

Jul 2 2018 // 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...

Sea Level Rise Puts $117.5B at Risk from Chronic Flooding

Jul 2 2018 // Those interested in risk management are starting to take climate change a bit more seriously.The evidence is anecdotal, but for that proof one can just ask Phil Renaud, executive director for the Risk Institute at Ohio...

Fire that Destroyed 36 Homes in Florida Sparked by Controlled Burn

Jun 29 2018 // John Matthew Polous watched a “controlled-burn” fire for three days as it consumed foliage outside his tiny community on the Florida Panhandle. And then he watched as it quickly raged out of control. What he...

Florida-Based AssuredPartners Acquires B&W Brokers of London

Jun 28 2018 // AssuredPartners Inc., the Lake Mary, Fla.-based insurance broker, has acquired B&W Brokers Ltd. of London. Specializing in providing casualty and property insurance and placing binding authorities, B&W services...

Dozens of Homes in North Florida Damaged by Wildfire

Jun 27 2018 // A fast-moving wildfire damaged or destroyed dozens of homes in a Florida county.Gov. Rick Scott visited the small coastal community of Eastpoint on Monday to get an update on the damage. Eastpoint is in Franklin County and...

Gulfstream of Florida Promotes Killingsworth to VP of Sales, Marketing, Agency Licensing

Jun 27 2018 // Gulfstream Property and Casualty Insurance Co., based in Sarasota, Fla., has promoted Mike Killingsworth to vice president of Sales, Marketing and Agency Licensing.In this leadership position, Killingsworth will spearhead...

Opinion: Is Florida’s Flood Insurance Industry Really Prepared?

Jun 26 2018 // The clock is ticking: The National Flood Insurance Program expires on July 31, 2018; so what happens next? It is well documented that the NFIP is broken and has been in disarray for a long time. The NFIP’s primary...

Florida Man Sentenced to Five Years’ Probation for Workers’ Comp Fraud

Jun 25 2018 // A Trinity, Fla., man has been sentenced to five years’ probation, with the first six months to be served on home detention, for making a false statement in connection with his workers’ compensation benefits.As...

Florida Utility Contractor Faces Nearly $19K in Fines for Safety Hazards

Jun 25 2018 // South Florida utility contractor Douglas N. Higgins is facing $18,659 in proposed penalties after the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited the contractor for exposing...

Florida Court Puts Hold On Smokable Medical Marijuana

Jun 22 2018 // A Florida circuit court has reinstated a stay on smoking medical marijuana. The state’s 1st District Court of Appeal has ruled that the hold will remain in effect “pending final disposition of the merits of (a...

Hurricane Irma Blamed for Worst Florida Citrus Crop Since 1940s

Jun 22 2018 // Florida’s citrus growers are blaming Hurricane Irma for one of their worst seasons in decades.In a Naples Daily News report, U.S. agriculture officials said Florida’s orange production dropped nearly 35 percent...