Capitol to Courthouse Florida Insurance Report: Tuesday, June 5
Jun 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
9:30 a.m.–Florida Division of Insurance Agent and Agency Services Proposed Rule Hearing. Proposed amendments to Rule 69B-211.004, F.A.C. would update statutory references in the definition section and revise several definitions. Further, the amendments would clarify the renewal fees and filing deadlines for appointments as an agent, customer representative, adjuster, service representative, managing general agent, title insurance agent, sales representative, reinsurance intermediary or bail bond agent. The Florida Department of Financial Services’ notification procedures to holders of the above-referenced appointees relative to the appointment renewal process would also be amended. To view the hearing notice, click here.
10:00 a.m.–Florida Self-Insurers Guaranty Association meeting. To view the meeting notice, click here.
Florida and Other States Fine American International Group $100 Million; Reach Settlement Agreement
Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty today announced that a settlement agreement between the American International Group, Inc. and its affiliates with all 50 states and the District of Columbia has become fully effective
Blog: Feud over Citizens Property Insurance is becoming a North versus South fight
It’s deja vu all over again.
Lawmakers back plans to cut Citizens Property Insurance
Days after industry representatives called for higher premiums and other changes to state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp., 25 state lawmakers on Monday called on the insurer to cull its ranks, raise its rates and make other changes necessary to encourage private insurers to come back into the market.
Citizens Property Insurance customers may need to seek other insurers
Florida’s hurricane insurance pool has too many homes to cover and not enough money to pay foreven onecatastrophe, said the new president of Citizens Property Insurance on a stop in Miami on Monday.
Blog: Mostly inland legislators don’t like “single payer” Citizens Property Insurance
Likening it to a “single payer” socialized system, a cadre of two dozen legislators – most of them from Central Florida and other inland locales – has written an open letter to the new head of the state-run Citizens Property Insurance Corp., encouraging him to support shrinking the company.
Florida Courts Insurance Companies
Florida is open for business for companies or groups that want to set up units to provide their own insurance.
R Street report card ranks Vermont best, Florida worst regulatory environments for insurance
The R Street Institute published its first research project as an independent institution today, a report card of the insurance regulatory environments in each of the 50 states.
Editorial: Raise Rates, Keep Florida Citizens Property Insurance
The Fort Meade Leader, a smallish Florida Newspaper, has a bang up editorial today about the Florida Citizens Property Insurance Corporation continuing woes.
When you want to get to the bottom of things, and particularly a topic involving sinkholes, you want to talk to the experts.
North Naples church sues over sinkhole
A North Naples church is suing over a sinkhole.
RenaissanceRe expands reinsurance offering in Florida
Bermuda-based RenaissanceRe Holdings has established Timicuan Reinsurance III Limited to offer additional reinsurance capacity for the Florida homeowners market.
Calculator Shows Costs for Homeowners After Major Hurricane
The 2012 hurricane season is officially underway.
Hurricane Havoc wreaks its namesake in Palm Beach Gardens drill
Packing category 3 winds, hurricane Havoc slammed into Frenchman’s Reserve on Monday morning, flooding streets, damaging homes and knocking out power in the residential community off Hood Road.
411-PAIN ordered to change ads, contribute to charity as part of settlement
1-800-411-PAIN Referral Services must change its advertising practices and contribute $550,000 to charity as part of a settlement agreement in a lawsuit filed by the State of Florida over the company’s alleged misrepresentation, the Attorney General’s Office said.
Florida Governor Rick Scott: State Will Work with Counties to Ease Impact of Overdue Medicaid Bills
Governor Rick Scott said Monday that the state will work with counties to lessen anticipated fiscal hits as they pay back years of unpaid Medicaid bills.
Candidate qualifying week opens for fall elections
This year, because of redistricting, all 160 seats in the Florida Legislature and the 27 congressional seats are up for grabs.
State government layoffs are coming, but more slowly than last year
After vetoes by Governor Rick Scott, the new $69.9 billion state budget eliminates 4,358 positions.
Julia Gill, director of the Division of Disease control for the Department of Health, is the latest in long string of high-profile departures from the agency.
Blog: Florida Representative Shawn Harrison to run for re-election, not Senate nomination
Representative Shawn Harrison of New Tampa has announced he’ll run for re-election to his House seat in November, and won’t enter the GOP primary for East Hillsborough’s state Senate seat.
Slot machines poised to set revenue records
The debate over whether to allow slot machines outside of South Florida is just beginning, but there is no question about the ability of the one-armed bandits to generate revenue.
Federal Advisory Committee on Insurance Sets Next Washington Meeting for August 6
The Federal Advisory Committee on Insurance will be hosting its second in-person meeting on Aug. 6, weeks later than the proposed June meeting date.
Wall Street Journal: Auto Insurers Criticized for Using Injury-Evaluation Database
The auto-Insurance industry’s use of a database called “Colossus,” and other similar programs, to determine how much injury victims are compensated from accidents has led to millions of “lowball” payouts, a consumer-advocacy group alleged.
Insurance-industry executives need to involve themselves more in the rule-making process as regulations and laws develop, as changing rules afterward is a difficult process, a former New York State regulator says.
Workers’ Compensation Institute Launches as National Workers’ Compensation Resource
The Workers’ Compensation Institute has formed as an outgrowth of the Florida Workers’ Compensation Institute to provide the workers’ compensation community across the country with news and resources.
Wall Street Journal: China Insurance Regulator is Loosening Controls on Insurers’ Investments
China’s Insurance regulator is loosening controls on insurers to give them more flexibility in making investment decisions, an unnamed official says.
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