Capitol to Courthouse Florida Insurance Report: Monday, December 2
Dec 2, 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.–Florida Department of Financial Services’ Division of Insurance Agent and Agency Services Rule Hearing. Proposed amendments to Rule 69B-221.155, “Forms for Limited Surety (Bail Bond) Agents,” would adopt a form to be used by an unlicensed personal representative or legal guardian to obtain a temporary permit to operate a bail bond agency after the death or incapacity of the agency’s owner. The proposed Rule would also adopt a certificate that would be issued once the permit is granted. To view the hearing notice, click here.
10:00 a.m.–Florida Workers’ Compensation Joint Underwriting Association Operations Committee meeting. To view the meeting notice, click here. To view the agenda, click here.
Daily Florida Insurance-Related News
Calm hurricane season over, but rocky waters ahead for Florida insurance scene
Saturday marked the last day of one of the mildest hurricane seasons on record, both in terms of named storms and legislative action on property insurance issues, The Florida Current’s Gray Rohrer reports.
Families battle Citizens Property Insurance over delayed progress on sinkhole claims
Last month, Citizens proposed a controversial repair program that would remove homeowners from the repair equation and steer money directly to vendors, the Miami Herald’s Mary Ellen Klas, reports.
Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance ends hurricane season financially stronger
Fewer homeowners insurance policies, higher rates, cutbacks in coverage and another year spared major storm damage, Tampa Bay Times’ Jeff Harrington reports.
Bill takes aim at vacation rentals that turn into “mini-hotels”
Groups of vacationers that each year turn vacation rentals into “mini-hotels” might be out of luck if lawmakers pass legislation filed by a duo of St. Johns County lawmakers, Florida Times-Union’s Matt Dixon blogs.
Wall Street Journal Editorial: Flooding Taxpayers Again
A bipartisan caucus wants to keep subsidies flowing to the 1%, the Wall Street Journal’s Editorial Board writes.
Floridians frustrated by flood-insurance hike
Despite a stream of angry complaints from Floridians and coastal residents across the country, steep rate hikes for flood insurance are likely to continue at least into next year, the Sun-Sentinel’s William Gibson reports.
Support urged for Florida dry cleaning contamination sites program that saw sharp budget cuts
Some speciality cleanup contractors are asking legislators to restore funding for a Florida Department of Environmental Protection program that helps pay for cleaning up dry cleaner contamination sites, The Florida Current’s Bruce Ritchie reports.
Federal Judge Approves Disabilities Class-Action Settlement
A federal judge on Wednesday approved a settlement in a class-action lawsuit against the Florida Agency for Persons with Disabilities about the way the agency notified clients that their funding for services would be cut, THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA’s Margie Menzel reports for SunshineStateNews.com.
Palm Beach County leads state in false ID arrests under workers’ comp law
Citing a statute governing the use of false identification, the Florida Division of Insurance Fraud has raided numerous businesses that employ undocumented workers this year in Palm Beach County and three nearby counties, but is doing far less such enforcement elsewhere in the state, the Palm Beach Post’s John Lantigua reports.
Health care sets tone for 2014 midterm elections in South Florida
The pace is being set in South Florida, where a deeply-financed conservative group, Americans for Prosperity, is already running TV ads against Democratic Reps. Patrick Murphy of Jupiter and Joe Garcia of Miami, linking them to the health care law and the president’s stumbles, Patricia Mazzei reports for the Miami Herald.
Florida Senators Cruising to Re-election in 2014
Less than a year until the general elections, it appears the Florida Senate will feature more of the same after November 2014. Not a single senator faces term limits in 2014 and only one of the current incumbents has drawn a major challenger, SunshineStateNews.com’s Jeff Henderson reports.
SenatorJeff Clemens files proposal to include texts to “Do Not Call” list
Florida Senator Jeff Clemens filed measure SB 450 to expand Florida’s “Do Not Call” list to include text and electronic communications to the landline, mobile or Internet phone services, Peter Schorsch reports for SaintPetersBlog.com.
Senator Clemens wants to tighten charter school focus
A Palm Beach County senator wants to narrow the mission of charter schools. Sen. Jeff Clemens, D-Lake Worth, Wednesday, filed SB 452 — revising the guiding principles listed in statute creating charter schools to meet “a specific instructional need or a need for additional educational facilities,” The Florida Current’s Gray Rohrer reports.
Meet John Morgan, the bombastic lawyer fueling Florida’s 2014 election
Insecurity runs deep, even for a bombastic multimillionaire who leads the country’s largest personal injury law firm, has hosted President Barack Obama at his 18,000-square-foot mansion and is poised to be the most important man in Florida politics this election cycle other than Charlie Crist and Rick Scott, Tampa Bay Times’ Adam Smith blogs for the Miami Herald’s “Naked Politics.”
Who Profits from Florida’s Mandatory Recycling Programs?
Can county governments run their own recycling operations and actually make money? Marianela Toledo reports for FloridaWatchdog.org.
Insurance Commissioner Denies Texas Windstorm’s Request to Raise Liability Limits
The primary windstorm insurer for Texas coastal properties won’t be raising limits of liability next year for property it covers, Insurance Journal reports.
Insurance Chief Asks FEMA to Waive Flood Coverage Rule for University of Iowa
Iowa’s top insurance regulator is backing the University of Iowa in a dispute with the federal government over how much insurance the campus must carry after rebuilding from the 2008 flood, the Associated Press reports via Insurance Journal.
Insurance Industry Wanted More From NCOIL Opioid Guidelines
The National Conference of Insurance Legislators adopted a resolution establishing certain best practices states can use as a framework for curbing abusive dispensing of opioids in cases where an insurance claim is involved, for example when dealing with workers compensation beneficiaries, National Underwriter’s Arthur Postal reports in PropertyCasualty360.com.
Angry New Zealand protesters demand answers from property insurers
More than 100 disgruntled quake claimants took over the grounds of Southern Response Insurance in Christchurch today claiming they have been cheated.
Childers Named Director of New Mexico Workers’ Compensation Administration
New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez selected Darin Childers as director of the state’s Workers’ Compensation Administration, National Underwriter’s Arthur Postal reports in PropertyCasualty360.com.
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