Capitol to Courthouse Florida Insurance Report–Monday, September 22, 2014
Sep 22, 2014
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Daily Florida Insurance-Related Events
There are no events scheduled for today.
Daily Florida Insurance-Related News
Commercial Rates in Florida’s Citizens Going Up 3.3 Percent
Rates for the almost 100,000 commercial property risks insured by Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance will rise an average 3.3 percent next February, Insurance Journal reports.
Watching Florida thunderstorms for tropical development; Tropical Storm Edouard forms in Atlantic
As forecasters are watching the thunderstorms over Florida carefully, the forecast for Tropical Storm Edouard is less interesting, the Washington Post’s Angela Fritz reports.
Citizens storm tax may get early retirement
State-run insurer Citizens is poised to end a 1 percent “storm tax” two years early when its board meets this week, a whiff of relief for consumers after years of mostly unrelenting price increases that helped give Florida the highest rates in the nation, Palm Beach Post’s Charles Elmore reports via the St. Augustine Record.
Why Americans are flocking to their sinking shores
The number of people living near the Florida seashore has jumped by about 1.1 million since 1990, to 4.8 million – an increase more than four times greater than in Washington, the state with the next highest increase. And Florida’s increase doesn’t count part-time residents who spend their winters in the state. Deborah J. Nelson, Ryan McNeill and Duff Wilson report for Reuters via ABS-CBN News.
The $400 question: Should you drop your flood insurance?
Letters from the lenders are notifying homeowners in Broward County that they are free to cancel their flood insurance. However, most banks will no longer collect escrow payments or allow homeowners to continue rolling their flood insurance payments into their monthly mortgage payments for properties where flood insurance is no longer required. Ron Hurtibise reports for the Sun-Sentinel.
Florida Escapes Insure.com’s Top 10 List of States With Rudest Drivers
Insure.com surveyed 2,000 drivers nationwide to find out which states have the rudest roadways.
Employers Insurance: Many employers must address heat-related workplace hazards
Extreme temperatures can create workplace safety risks in Tallahassee during the summer, and the forecast calls for more 90-degree days this week, Employers’ Compensation Insurance’s David Quezada cautions.
Florida’s unemployment rate slightly up in August
Florida’s August jobless rate announced Friday was 6.3 percent, up slightly from 6.2 percent in July. It’s roughly the same rate that Florida has had most of the year and it’s above the national unemployment rate of 6.1 percent, WESH-TV reports.
Six weeks until Election Day, but first wave of Florida ballots already in the mail
More than six weeks before Election Day, some voters are already casting ballots and helping elect Florida’s next governor. County elections supervisors have until Saturday to mail hundreds of thousands of ballots to Floridians living overseas, many of whom are active-duty military personnel, Tampa Bay Times’ Steve Bousquet reports via the “Naked Politics” blog.
As inmate death count mounts, Florida prison boss fires 32 guards
Thirty-two guards with the Florida Department of Corrections were fired last Friday afternoon in what union officials were calling a “Friday night massacre.” All were accused of criminal wrongdoing or misconduct in connection with the deaths of inmates at four state prisons. The Miami Herald’s Mary Ellen Klas reports via the “Naked Politics” blog.
All Aboard Florida train hearings set for October, November
A series of eight hearings have been set for October and November in Central Florida and along the East Coast to listen to public comments about the planned train system that would link Miami with Orlando International Airport, Orlando Sentinel’s Dan Tracy reports.
How the First District Court of Appeal ignored Florida voters
The split decision in Trotti v. Detzner gives Florida Governor Rick Scott the power to appoint the replacement for a Jacksonville judge who didn’t seek re-election and will serve all but the last working day of his term.
Scott-Crist race will impact Florida’s utilities regulatory board
The outcome of the governor’s race could have a significant impact on state energy policy and utility rates for millions of Floridians in the coming years, Sarasota Herald-Tribune’s Lloyd Dunkelberger reports.
A Florida Race Strains Wallets and Loyalties
In one of the nation’s closest, costliest and most-watched governor’s races, the Florida contest between Mr. Crist and the Republican incumbent, Rick Scott, requires voters to step through the looking glass, the New York Times’ Lissette Alvarez reports.
Declining median incomes becomes anti-Rick Scott talking point for Florida Democrats
The Florida Democratic Party is using U.S. Census data to highlight a key campaign talking point that Rick Scott has turned his back on the middle class in favor of wealthy donors and special interests, Janelle Irwin reports for SaintPetersBlog.com.
New York Times exposes Florida source in Gary Hart affair
In a bit of trivia that will fascinate historians of presidential politics, journalism and tawdry sex scandals, the New York Times has named a South Florida woman it says was the source of a Miami Herald story 27 years ago that wrecked the candidacy of Democrat Gary Hart. The Miami Herald’s Glenn Garvin reports.
Florida first to adopt national financial literacy standards
Florida became the first state in the country to follow the standards starting this year and all public school students must pass the class to graduate, Natalie Kornicks reports for the Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Some see niche in lending to Florida real-estate flippers
When banks cut back on real estate lending in the wake of the crash, some discovered opportunity in stepping into the breach, the Miami Herald’s Martha Brannigan reports.
Nation’s hurricane-planning software uses old census data, underestimates impacts
A Federal Emergency Management Agency computer model that’s used nationwide for disaster planning is supposed to estimate how many homes would be destroyed and how many people would need shelter if a major hurricane or earthquake were to strike. But there’s a problem, explains David Slade for the South Carolina Post and Courier.
U.S. Treasury Hasn’t Determined Boston Bombing Was Act of Terrorism Under TRIA
A U.S. Treasury Department spokesperson last week provided a statement to Boston news outlets that said “The Secretary has not determined that there has been an ‘act of terrorism’ under the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act” for the April 15, 2013, Boston Marathon bombing, Insurance Journal reports.
New law to reduce number of uninsured drivers on California’s roads
Senate Bill 1273, sponsored by California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones, expands and enhances California’s Low-Cost Automobile Insurance Program to include non-citizen individuals who qualify for California drivers’ licenses next year, thanks to legislation signed today by Governor Jerry Brown.
Research and analysis firm CoreLogic estimates that 85,730 Charleston area residences are exposed to risk from freshwater flooding, hurricane storm surge, or both. Of those, 45 percent are not in a flood zone, but those 38,579 residences still face flood risk from hurricane surges, David Slade reports for the South Carolina Post and Courier.
New York Probes Indexed Universal Life Sales Practices
Benjamin Lawsky Concerned Insurance Companies Giving Optimistic Projections, Wall Street Journal’s Leslie Scism reports.
A New Way Insurers are Shifting Costs to the Sick
Health insurance companies are no longer allowed to turn away patients because of their pre-existing conditions or charge them more because of those conditions. But some health policy experts say insurers may be doing so in a more subtle way: by forcing people with a variety of illnesses-including Parkinson’s disease, diabetes and epilepsy-to pay more for their drugs. ProPublica’s Charles Ornstein reports via the Long Island Press.
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