Latest Florida Headlines

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

Florida Citizens Board Votes to Raise Rates 14% But Litigation Costs Dropping

Jun 19 2024 // The board of governors for Florida’s state-created Citizens Property Insurance Corp. voted unanimously Wednesday to raise personal lines rates by an average of 14% statewide – near the maximum allowed under the...

Florida Officers Indicted for Shootout That Killed UPS Driver and Passerby

Jun 17 2024 // FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Four Florida police officers have been indicted for manslaughter in connection with a 2019 shootout on a busy rush-hour street that left a hijacked UPS driver and a passerby in a nearby car...

Foul Ball: Florida Appeals Court Says Detroit Tigers Owe Little to Injured Pitcher

Jun 17 2024 // If the Detroit Tigers Major League Baseball team needs money to rebuild its roster next year, a Florida appeals court just saved the team more than $14,000 in workers’ compensation payments to an injured minor league...

Florida Insurance Agents Will Soon Need to Be Appointed With 3 Carriers Before They Can Sell Citizens’ Policies

Jun 17 2024 // Starting July 1, Florida insurance agents must have at least three appointments with authorized carriers before they can sell policies for the state-created Citizens Property Insurance Corp.That’s the mandate laid...

Hurricane Season Ushered in With a Deluge in South Florida

Jun 14 2024 // Dangerous flooding from a tropical disturbance inundated much of southern Florida on Wednesday, blocking roads, floating vehicles and delaying the Florida Panthers on their way to Stanley Cup games in Canada against the...

Florida Jury Says Chiquita Brands Must Pay $38M for Colombia Deaths

Jun 13 2024 // Banana giant Chiquita Brands must pay $38.3 million to 16 family members of people killed during Colombia’s long civil war by a violent right-wing paramilitary group funded by the company, a federal jury in Florida...

Liberty Mutual’s Angle on $4.7M Refund Differs Slightly from Florida Regulators’

Jun 13 2024 // Liberty Mutual Insurance this week should complete $5.2 million in refunds, premium credits and interest payments to more than 46,000 auto insurance policyholders in Florida, the result of a market conduct examination done...

Former Florida Fire Captain Charged With Padding Living Expenses on Citizens Claim

Jun 12 2024 // A retired south Florida fire captain has been arrested for insurance fraud, charged with vastly overstating the number of nights he was forced to stay in a resort hotel while his home was under repair.Florida’s chief...

Contractors Can’t Advertise ‘Insurance Negotiating’ Skills, Texas Supreme Court Says

Jun 11 2024 // A contractor cannot be the public adjuster on a claim and cannot advertise itself as an insurance claims negotiator if it does not hold an adjusters’ license, the Texas Supreme Court decided in a case that could give...

Catastrophe Bond Sales Soar as Markets Brace for Unusually Active Hurricane Season

Jun 10 2024 // Issuance of catastrophe bonds just hit a record high, as the market braces for a rough hurricane season with the potential to do substantial damage.Sales of so-called cat bonds are 38% higher this year through May than...

Disney to Invest $17B in Florida Parks Now That Fight with DeSantis Has Cooled

Jun 10 2024 // ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Months after Disney and Gov. Ron DeSantis’ appointees agreed to end a protracted legal fight, the two sides are set to approve an agreement that could result in the company investing up to $17...

Liability Reinsurance Crisis Could Be Looming, TransRe CEO Says

Jun 7 2024 // “There could be a liability crisis in reinsurance in a couple of years,” a reinsurance executive predicted this week.Ken Brandt, chair, president and chief executive officer of TransRe, offered the assessment...

Brazilian Butt Lift Clinics Must Now Carry Liability Insurance Under New Florida Law

Jun 6 2024 // Practitioners of Brazilian butt lift surgery, repeatedly in the news after infections and at least two patient deaths in south Florida, must now obtain medical malpractice liability insurance, thanks to a bill signed into...

Surgeons Can’t Slip Out of GEICO’s Latest RICO Fraud Lawsuit in NC, Judge Says

Jun 6 2024 // GEICO Insurance companies have continued their campaign against alleged auto insurance fraud actors, including some well-known physicians and medical clinics. And a federal judge ruled this week that two of those...

Florida OIR Posts 2024 Catastrophe Claims Reporting Form

Jun 4 2024 // The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation has posted a new reporting form for catastrophe claims data for the 2024 hurricane season. Florida law requires property insurers to report a wide range of information after...

Tallahassee Mayor Says Tornado Costs Now Top $50 Million

Jun 4 2024 // TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Recovery from a May 10 tornado outbreak has cost Florida’s capital city $50 million so far, Tallahassee Mayor John Dailey said Friday.Florida officials have requested that the Federal...

Louisiana Law That Limits Filming of Police Violates First Amendment, Attorneys Say

Jun 3 2024 // A new Louisiana law that makes it a crime to approach within 25 feet (7.6 meters) of a police officer under certain circumstances is an affront to the movement for racial justice and violates the First Amendment, civil...

Universal Says it Completed Reinsurance Program With Only a Slight Bump in Cost

Jun 3 2024 // Universal Insurance Holdings, the publicly traded parent of one of Florida’s largest property insurers, said it has completed its reinsurance program for its two subsidiaries ahead of the June 1 renewal.“For...

Business Moves

Jun 3 2024 // Neptune Flood, Charles River DataPrivate flood insurer Neptune Flood reported it acquired Charles River Data, a Boston-based data science consulting group. Charles River Data was founded by data scientists from Google and...

A New Approach: Florida Agents’ Association Makes Big Investment in Startup Insurer

Jun 3 2024 // The Florida Association of Insurance Agents, the largest agent group in the state, this spring took the unprecedented step of investing in a startup insurance carrier, a move designed to help keep agents in the game and...