Latest Florida Headlines

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

Florida Art Dealer Pleads Guilty in Warhol Forgery Scheme

Feb 23 2023 // A South Florida art dealer pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday in connection with a scheme involving the sale of fake Andy Warhol paintings.Daniel Elie Bouaziz, 69, pleaded to a single count of money laundering in Fort...

Florida Home Fire and Welding Site Explosion Kill Five People

Feb 22 2023 // Two people were killed and three others injured Tuesday when at least two tractor-trailers exploded at a truck and welding business in Miami.The Miami Herald and local TV news outlets reported that the explosion and fire...

Florida Workers’ Comp Revises Wording on Payment to Surgical Centers

Feb 22 2023 // The Florida Division of Workers’ Compensation has made a tweak to its proposed reimbursement manual for ambulatory surgical centers.The change, posted after a Jan. 12 hearing on the issue, would clarify the wording...

Neighbors Recoil at Florida Pool Shaped Like Gun

Feb 21 2023 // The swimming pool in the backyard of Louis Minardi’s home may be distinctive to Florida: The custom-built pool is shaped like a six-shooter revolver, in a state made famous – sometimes infamous – by guns,...

Orderly Runoff Didn’t Work; Florida’s United P&C Now Insolvent, Headed for Liquidation

Feb 20 2023 // Just days after some 90,000 policies from troubled United Property & Casualty Insurance Co. were transferred to Slide Insurance as part of a wind-down of the carrier, it was announced that UPC is officially broke and...

Trial Lawyers Push Back Against Florida Plan for More Insurance Tort Reform

Feb 15 2023 // It’s now clear what the regular session of the Florida Legislature will focus on when lawmakers convene March 7: More litigation measures that would bring property insurance-type reforms to automobile, liability and...

Florida Citrus, Hit by Storms and Fungus, Now Faces a Butterfly from the Caribbean

Feb 13 2023 // The lime swallowtail butterfly — an invasive species that hails from Asia and which has damaged citrus trees throughout the Caribbean for nearly 20 years — has now reached Florida.The Papilio demoleus Linnaeus...

Governor Names Yaworsky New Florida Insurance Commissioner

Feb 13 2023 // Florida’s governor has named the insurance department’s former chief of staff as new insurance commissioner, filling a position that has been vacant since the former commissioner resigned in late...

Hilb Buys Nowell in Mississippi, Alkeme Acquires PEO Exchange in Florida

Feb 10 2023 // Hilb Group Buys Nowell Agency in MississippiThe Hilb Group has expanded into Mississippi with the acquisition of The Nowell Agency, the property insurance brokerage and benefits firm announced. The Nowell Agency has...

Public Adjusters Can’t Also Be Appraisers on the Claim, Florida Supreme Court Finds

Feb 10 2023 // A public adjuster cannot act as an appraiser for a homeowner they represent when the insurance policy specifies that the appraiser must be “disinterested,” the Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday.The high...

Insurers’ Files, Adjuster Notes Not Always Discoverable, Says Florida Appeals Court

Feb 10 2023 // Insurance companies in Florida may have to disclose their financial relationships with expert witnesses, but they don’t have to turn over their entire claims files and field adjusters’ notes, at least in some...

74-year-old Florida Lyft Driver Went Missing, Then Was Found Dead; One Arrested

Feb 9 2023 // A South Florida Lyft driver who went missing more than a week ago has died, his daughter confirmed Tuesday.Lindsay DiBetta posted on Facebook that the family would be announcing information on services for her father, Gary...

‘Citizens’ Web Site Not Affiliated with Florida Insurer, Takes Users to Auto Quote Site

Feb 8 2023 // Investigators with Citizens Property Insurance Corp. are looking into a website that looks a lot like Florida’s largest property insurance carrier but may actually be fraudulent.“These sites typically ask for...

Hurricane Irma Deaths at Florida Nursing Home: Accident or Manslaughter?

Feb 8 2023 // A Florida nursing home administrator charged with causing the overheating deaths of nine patients after Hurricane Irma in 2017 went on trial Monday, with a prosecutor calling him a “captain who abandoned ship”...

Rogner, Helwig Named to Workers’ Comp Charity Board in Florida

Feb 8 2023 // Kids’ Chance, a charity organization established by the the workers’ compensation industry, has named new board members for its Florida operation.The all-volunteer Kids’ Chance of Florida, like sister...

Ransomware Outbreak Hits US and European Universities, Florida Supreme Court

Feb 7 2023 // A global ransomware outbreak has scrambled servers belonging to Florida’s Supreme Court and several universities in the United States and Central Europe, according to a Reuters analysis of ransom notes posted online...

Former NFL Player Faces DUI Charge After Florida Crash

Feb 7 2023 // A former NFL player was arrested on a misdemeanor driving under the influence charge after troopers say his vehicle rear-ended a pick-up truck that was on the side of a South Florida highway because of a flat tire,...

After Florida’s insurance market failures, will Louisiana be next to fall?

Feb 6 2023 // Last week, a special session of the Louisiana Legislature passed and funded an effort to deter insurance companies from leaving the Pelican State after a raft of hurricanes wreaked havoc on the financials of several...

Appeals Court Upholds Sanctions Against Florida Insurance Defense Attorney

Feb 6 2023 // A Florida appeals court has issued a sharp rebuke to an insurance defense attorney, upholding sanctions and charging that he has engaged in a pattern of conduct designed to trigger mistrials.Dale Gobel, of Orlando, made...

Florida Citizens’ Endorsement Now in Effect: Disputes to be Heard by Admin Judges

Feb 6 2023 // As of this month, most Florida Citizens Property Insurance Corp. claims disputes will now be heard and decided by the state Division of Administrative Hearings, not in a court of law.Officials at Citizens and at DOAH...