Capitol to Courthouse Florida Insurance Report: Friday, January 17

Jan 17, 2014

 

To go directly to the section of your choice, click on a hyperlink below.  Other hyperlinks to meeting information, bills and news are noted in bold type.

 

 

 

Daily Florida Insurance-Related Events

 

There are insurance-related events scheduled for today.

 

 

Daily Florida Insurance-Related News

 

Senator Lee’s compromise Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund bill a nonstarter for reinsurers

Sen. Tom Lee, R-Brandon, recently filed SB 610 as an attempt to bridge a political divide over the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, but reinsurance companies are already lining up against much of the bill, The Florida Current’s Gray Rohrer reports.

 

Florida insurance clearinghouse is ready for roll out

A homeowners’ insurance clearinghouse website operated by Citizens Property Insurance is set to be launched on January 27, the Tampa Bay Business Journal reports.

 

U.S. Representative Joe Garcia of Miami offers proposal as Congress continues to grapple with flood insurance

As Congress continues to struggle over resolving the flood insurance rate hike crisis that threatens thousands of Florida families, U.S. Rep. Joe Garcia, D-Miami, introduced legislation Thursday to delay the proposed rate increases for at least five years, the Miami Herald’s Mary Ellen Klas reports.

 

Florida Makes List of Top Ten States With Worst Drivers

Florida has struggled in both the Careless Driving and Ticket Rate, but slight improvements in the Fatality Rate and Failure to Obey categories help improve their overall rank, CarInsuranceComparison.com reports.

 

Lawmakers seek accord in trauma center wars

Florida now has 19 lawsuits pending over trauma centers in the state, with 14 of those specifically challenging the legality of opening new centers, a House panel was told Wednesday, Tampa Tribune’s James Rosica reports.

 

Conservation amendment earns a ballot slot

Florida’s Water and Land Legacy, the campaign organization backing the conservation measure, announced it had 685,971 voter signatures validated by county supervisors of election across the state, The Florida Current’s Bill Cotterell reports.

 

Transportation package – sans red light cameras – moves in Senate

The Department of Transportation’s legislative package, which includes increased state funding for airport projects, the diversion of Alligator Alley tolls and limitations on its lease-purchase agreements, cleared the Senate Transportation Committee on Thursday, but without the controversial red-light camera provisions included in the House version of the bill, The Florida Current’s Gray Rohrer reports.

 

Corrine Brown’s meandering district draws federal lawsuit

Florida’s famously convoluted congressional district, held by Democrat U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown of Jacksonville, is under fire again as two Orlando men have filed a lawsuit asking a federal court to order  the Legislature to redraw the map before the November election, the Miami Herald’s Mary Ellen Klas reports for the Tampa Bay Times.

 

New performance model for Florida universities penalizes low performers

Some Florida universities could lose a portion of their state funding under a new performance model approved Thursday by the Board of Governors that penalizes low performers, Tampa Bay Times’ Tia Mitchell reports.

 

Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act of 2010 Working as Intended, but States Making Requests Not Outlined in Law

The Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act of 2010 (NRRA) appears to be largely functioning as intended: simplifying compliance for multistate risks while not altering rates or risk appetite, according to market participants who responded to a Government Accountability Office request, Phil Gusman reports for National Underwriter’s PropertyCasualty360.com.

 

Fitch:  Federal Life Reinsurance Captive Concerns Could Impact Traditional Captives

Federal-regulatory concerns about life-reinsurance captives could give rise to “mission creep” that would sweep up traditional single-parent and group captives in any actions taken, warns Fitch Ratings.   Phil Gusman reports for National Underwriter’s PropertyCasualty360.com.

 

World Economic Forum:  Growing Income Inequality Represents Greatest Risk to the World in 2014

A chronic gap between rich and poor is yawning wider, posing the biggest single risk to the world in 2014, even as economies in many countries start to recover, the World Economic Forum said on Thursday. Reuters’ Ben Herschler reports via National Underwriter’s PropertyCasualty360.com.

 

History of Insurance Adjusting, Part 2:  The Middle Ages

In the days of the Roman Empire, which stretched from North Africa and the Middle East to Scotland-the Romans hadn’t quite subdued those Norsemen yet-trade and commerce could travel the Roman roads in relative safety, although piracy was still common on the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas, and insurance contracts often were taken out on shipments, depending on the quality of the vessel, Ken Brownlee writes for National Underwriter’s PropertyCasualty360.com.

 

 

Click here to follow Colodny Fass& Webb on Twitter (@CFTLAWcom)

 

 

 

To unsubscribe from this newsletter, please send an e-mail to Brooke Ellis at bellis@cftlaw.com.