Capitol to Courthouse Florida Insurance Report: Friday, October 5
Oct 5, 2012
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 no Florida insurance-related events scheduled for today.
Citizens Property Insurance loan program gets business, lawmaker backing but showdown looms
Senator John Thrasher and Representative Bryan Nelson are getting behind the surplus notes program, but Representative Frank Artiles has vowed to file an injunction to stop the controversial program.
Citizens Property Insurance customers should weigh options carefully
You’re among tens of thousands of Citizens Property Insurance customers getting notice in the mail this week that one of five private insurers wants to assume your homeowners policy.
Blog: Did you get insurance “takeout” letter? Let me know
After writing about Citizens Property Insurance in yesterday’s blog, what shows up in my mailbox but one of those letters from a “takeout” private company, Homeowners Choice, saying that they were set to take over my policy.
Workers’ compensation group asks for 6.1 percent rate increase
Rates for workers’ compensation insurance need to rise 6.1 percent next year mainly because of an increase in losses and trend projections, the National Council of Compensation Insurance told state regulators during a hearing Thursday.
Insurance battle takes center stage at Tiger Bay Club in Bradenton
Candidates in the race for the Florida House District 71 seat Thursday clashed over auto insurance and Citizens Property Insurance
Fatal parasailing accidents renew calls for safety regulations in Florida, elsewhere
Parasailing is an increasingly popular activity in waterways in Florida and beyond. But safety advocates say there are frequently accidents and deaths that call out for increased regulation.
Dozens Arrested in Florida for Fraud in Health Insurance
Federal authorities arrested today more than 30 Florida State residents accused of submitting false claims to Medicare for a value of about $200 million.
2nd Florida Tuberculosis patient wandered unchecked for a month
Since 2008, Jacksonville has battled an uncontained tuberculosis outbreak federal officials describe as among the worst in two decades, the upshot of a contagious patient in the homeless community.
Justices hammer group challenging nuclear cost recovery law
The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy says the 2006 law is too vague and that Florida Power & Light Co. and Progress Energy Florida have shown they don’t intend to build the plants they are recovering costs for.
Court upholds foreign homestead exemption
A Honduran couple living in Key Biscayne with their children are entitled to a homestead exemption because there’s no question their kids live in the home permanently, the Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday in a case that may affect thousands of other families.
Mega-casino battle stays under cover
Watching and waiting. That’s what opponents of bringing casino resorts to Miami are doing as casino operators strategize, spend money and lobby for what is shaping up to be their biggest push yet – not next year, but in 2014.
Federal charges filed in Oklahoma insurance company failure
A federal grand jury in New York has accused three men of participating in a “vortex of fraud” that included the plundering of an Oklahoma-licensed insurance company that went belly-up.
North Carolina Insurers Seek 17.7 percent Increase in Homeowners Rates
North Carolina homeowners could see their first rate increase in four years as the state’s rating bureau called for a statewide average 17.7 percent increase in loss cost rates.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal pursues sale of old insurance building site
Governor Bobby Jindal’s administration is moving forward with plans to sell the site of the former insurance building on downtown property near the Louisiana Capitol.
New York Times: The High Price of Forced Placed Insurance
Borrowers who allow their homeowners’ insurance to lapse will often get stuck with a bill for much more expensive coverage, courtesy of their lenders.
New York Times: In a Shuttered Gasoline Can Factory, the Two Sides of Product Liability
Crusading against what it considers frivolous lawsuits, the United States Chamber of Commerce has had no shortage of cases to highlight, like the man suing a cruise line after burning his feet on a sunny deck or the mother claiming hearing loss from the screaming at a Justin Bieber concert.
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