Latest Florida Headlines

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

BP to Pay $18.7B Over 18 Years to Settle Spill Claims with 5 States, U.S.

Jul 2 2015 // BP Plc has agreed to a preliminary deal in which it will pay a record $18.7 billion to settle claims by five Gulf states and the U.S. government for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the worst oil spill in the...

Truck Driver in Deadly Tennessee Crash Cited in Florida Previous Day

Jul 2 2015 // Authorities say a truck driver who slammed into numerous stopped cars outside of Chattanooga, Tenn., last week, killing six, had been cited for careless driving in Florida the previous day.According to a Florida Highway...

Guy Carpenter Confirms Slowing of Pricing Declines in June Renewals

Jul 1 2015 // Guy Carpenter & Company, LLC, has reported that “after two years of price decreases averaging 15 percent on U.S. property catastrophe placements, risk-adjusted pricing moderated at the most recent June...

National Hurricane Center, Florida University to Launch Hurricane Site in Spanish

Jul 1 2015 // The National Hurricane Center and Florida International University are launching a new Spanish-language website for hurricane preparation.The website will include information on hurricane science, residential mitigation...

Census Data Breaks Down Florida Metro Area Housing Traits

Jul 1 2015 // New data released by federal authorities show the housing characteristics of Florida’s four major metro areas – Jacksonville, South Florida, Orlando and Tampa. According to the report, Jacksonville residents are...

Florida PIP Clinic Owner Charged with More Than $100K in Insurance Fraud

Jun 30 2015 // The Florida Division of Insurance Fraud announced the arrest of Dr. Troy Godsey and Renata Berriel Deazevedo for their roles in a scheme to defraud multiple insurance companies of more than $100,000.Troy Godsey, a licensed...

Jury Awards $24M to Widower of Woman Killed in Florida Hotel Cabana

Jun 29 2015 // A South Florida jury awarded $24 million to a man whose pregnant wife was killed when a drunken driver slammed into a cabana at a Fort Lauderdale hotel. The decision came more than three years after a car crossed a...

MarketScout Adds Staff to Private Client Division in Florida

Jun 26 2015 // MarketScout, the national electronic insurance exchange and specialty MGA headquartered in Dallas, has expanded its Private Client Solutions (PCS) E&S division with new hires in its Fort Lauderdale, Fla.,...

Citizens Approves Rate Changes for Florida Insureds

Jun 25 2015 // Citizens Property Insurance Corporation’s Board of Governors has approved a 2016 rate package that lowers rates for nearly half of Citizens’ personal lines policyholders while responding to increased water loss...

Main Street America Appoints Root as VP in Florida Headquarters

Jun 24 2015 // The Main Street America Group announced Janet Root has been appointed vice president of internal audit at the super-regional property/casualty insurance company. She replaces former internal audit vice president Dave...

Florida High Court Removes Judge Over Misconduct in Progressive Injury Cases

Jun 24 2015 // A Broward County judge will be removed from the bench for misconduct committed eight years before she was elected to the post.The Florida Supreme Court ruled June 18 that Judge Laura Watson isn’t fit to serve as a...

4 Arrests Made in Florida Injury Clinic PIP Fraud

Jun 23 2015 // The Florida Division of Insurance Fraud has announced the arrest of Dr. Douglas Price, owner of the Florida Pain Trauma and Injury Clinic in Auburndale, Fla., and three others on charges related the operation of a complex...

Florida Man Attempts to Blow up Foreclosed Home with Bowling Ball

Jun 19 2015 // Authorities say a South Florida man who didn’t want a bank to sell his foreclosed home tried to blow it up using a bowling ball as an explosive.The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports 21-year-old Tyler Butler was...

Federal Government Sues Florida Ambulance Service over $28M in False Claims

Jun 18 2015 // The federal government is suing a Jacksonville ambulance service over alleged false billing and other schemes.The Florida Times-Union reports that the company is accused of submitting false claims to federally subsidized...

Florida Governor Signs State Insurance Licensing, Workforce Development Bill

Jun 18 2015 // The Florida Association of Insurance Agents (FAIA) is celebrating the passage of House Bill 1133, a bill it sponsored in cooperation with the Florida Department of Financial Services. Passed overwhelmingly by Florida...

Florida Man Crushed to Death in Compactor at Recycling Plant

Jun 17 2015 // Officials say a man was crushed to death inside a machine at a central Florida recycling plant.Winter Garden police Lt. Scott Allen says the man was sorting cardboard with a bailing machine Monday morning when he somehow...

Assurex Global Elects President of Florida-Based Celedinas Insurance to Board

Jun 17 2015 // President and CEO of nationwide broker Celedinas Insurance Group, Ray Celedinas, has been appointed to the Assurex Global Board of Directors. Assurex Global is a global privately held commercial insurance, risk management...

Vertafore Acquires Florida-Based Agency Technology Provider QQ Solutions

Jun 16 2015 // Insurance software provider Vertafore, has acquired QQ Solutions, Inc., a provider of agency management systems and a comparative rater offering. The move expands Vertafore’s portfolio of agency management systems...

Florida Busts Major Workers’ Comp Fraud Scam Involving Multiple Shell Companies

Jun 16 2015 // Six Central Florida insurance fraud arrests that break down an elaborate Central Florida workers’ compensation insurance fraud scheme were made this week, according to an announcement by Florida Chief Financial...

Florida Commissioner McCarty Warns Against U.S. Adopting ‘Bank-Like’ Regulation for Insurance

Jun 15 2015 // Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty championed flexible state insurance regulation and warned against “one-size-fits-all” bank-like regulation for insurers in recent testimony before the U.S. Senate...