Capitol to Courthouse Florida Insurance Report: Monday, August 26
Aug 26, 2013
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
10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.–Citizens Property Insurance Corporation Actuarial and Underwriting Committee meeting. Teleconference: 866-361-7525; conference ID: 8632017402#. To view the meeting notice, click here.
Daily Florida Insurance-Related News
Building Code Rating Report Updated for Florida, Other Coastal States
Just in time for the height of the hurricane season, the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety released a midterm update to its Rating the States Report, which reviews the progress that the 18 most hurricane-prone coastal states along the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Coast have made in strengthening their residential building codes.
Bad drywall still a problem for home investors
Years after the first tainted Chinese drywall was discovered in Southwest Florida homes, investors are continuing to be saddled with the toxic material, this time from homes purchased at foreclosure auctions, Josh Salman reports for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
Big plans and taxpayers’ dollars amount to little
As Florida Department of Health officials cut a settlement deal drastically reducing what a Jacksonville Medicaid clinic had to pay as a result of the overbilling, the Agency for Health Care Administration formally backed the center’s push to get private financing for the project, Matt Dixon reports for the Florida Times-Union.
Florida Hospital enters health-insurance business
In October, Florida Hospital will launch into the health-insurance business, executives announced today, Orlando Sentinel’s Marni Jameson reports.
Search for new lieutenant governor of Florida moving slowly
Governor Rick Scott’s top adviser says the search for Florida’s next lieutenant governor is moving ahead slowly and privately with the focus on finding someone who can be “a steward of the governor’s vision and character,” Adam C. Smith and Steve Bousquet write for Tampa Bay Times.
Hialeah allows video-game maquinitas to remain despite new Florida law
Hialeah is permitting the operation of video gambling machines in stores, even though a state law declared them illegal four months ago, city police said Thursday.
Federal Court order from 2010 cloaks interstate water talks now
When Gov. Rick Scott said last week Florida would sue Georgia in the U.S. Supreme Court over water, he said the northern neighbor had not negotiated in good faith, Bruce Ritchie reports for The Florida Current.
Florida’s closing cost fees ninth-highest in nation
Fees can add thousands of dollars to the cost of closing a mortgage, as Florida borrowers can attest, John Hielscher reports for Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
Financial Stability Oversight Council member: Some colleagues do not understand insurance
The U.S. Financial Stability Oversight Council has until Sept. 23 to decide upon the appealed designation of Prudential Insurance as a systemically important financial institution. But one member of the group of the nation’s top financial regulators says some of his colleagues don’t seem to understand how insurance works, Elizabeth Festa reports for National Underwriter’s LifeHealthPro.com.
State regulators very concerned about FSB incursions on IAIS
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ lead regulators on international supervisory issues expressed growing frustration with the actions of the G-20’s Financial Stability Board, venting the opinion that FSB is now basically puppeteering the International Association of Insurance Supervisors and inflicting its own bank-centric standards on insurers, Elizabeth Festa reports for National Underwriter’s LifeHealthPro.com.
Along Alabama’s coast, homeowners still waiting for clarity on insurance costs
Insurance companies have been scared away by the threat of catastrophic weather – so much so that Alabama’s insurer of last resort is growing exponentially, Michael Finch II reports for the Huntsville Times.
South Carolina Court: Insurer Doesn’t Have to Cover Damage Caused by Construction Subcontractor
A property/casualty insurance company in South Carolina will not have to cover damages caused by a subcontractor hired by a policyholder thanks to a ruling handed down by the state’s Supreme Court, A.M. Best’s BestWire reports via Advisen.com.
Texas Windstorm Insurer Offers Underwriting Basics Online Workshop
The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association announced it is now offering its Texas Windstorm Insurance Association Underwriting Basics Workshop online, Insurance Journal reports.
Special Purpose Insurers Continue to Lead Bermuda’s New Registrations
Special purpose insurers are continuing to drive Bermuda’s recent uptick in new registrations, the Bermuda Monetary Authority, A.M. Best’s BestWire reports via Advisen.com.
Insurance Groups Want NAIC Panel to Seek Best Practices Toward Commercial Line Market Reform
Insurance industry trade groups pressed a National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ panel to find states’ best practices in considering recommendations toward commercial line market reform, A.M. Best’s BestWire reports via Advisen.com.
Captives looking for their place in the sun
Indianapolis — The summer meeting of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners became a proving ground for captive reinsurance and other reserving concerns, with insurance company lawyers coming in to present their cases with state commissioners, even as New York continued to call for a national moratorium on captive insurance transactions used to “artificially lower reserve and collateral requirements,” Elizabeth Festa reports for LifeHealthPro.com.
Civil trials are disappearing in the US
Over the past several years, fewer and fewer civil cases have proceeded to trial. Indeed, over the past 40 to 50 years or so, the decline has been precipitous. In 1962, 11.5 percent of federal civil cases went to trial, but by 2002 that figure had dropped to only 1.8 percent, Legal Monitor Worldwide reports via Advisen.com.
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