Capitol to Courthouse Florida Insurance Report–Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Sep 9, 2014
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Daily Florida Insurance-Related Events
There are no events scheduled for today.
Daily Florida Insurance-Related News
Palm Beach County to Add Thousands of Properties to Flood Zones
Thousands of properties would be added to flood zones in Palm Beach County under proposed new federal flood maps, the Sun-Sentinel’s Donna Gehrke-White reports.
Guy Carpenter Series Details Impact Of 2004 & 2005 Hurricane Seasons
Guy Carpenter released Part One today of a two-part series report detailing a ten-year retrospective on the 2004 and 2005 Atlantic Hurricane Seasons–two landmark years that were not only significant for their weather events, but for their lasting effects on the (re)insurance industry.
Judge Denies Class Action for Employees Suing Florida’s Darden Restaurant
A U.S. judge has ruled that food servers and bartenders employed by Darden Restaurants Inc., which owns chains including Olive Garden, the Capital Grille and LongHorn Steakhouse, cannot sue the company as a group for alleged wage violations, Reuters’ Barbara Liston reports via Insurance Journal.
Douglas Elliman makes a big push in South Florida
During the past year, Douglas Elliman has hired nearly 300 real estate agents in South Florida, increasing its ranks to 430 agents, part of a national network that reached 5,000 agents in July. It has eight offices from Palm Beach to South Beach, where it is bursting at the seams in its 3,000-square-foot space at 1111 Lincoln Rd, the Miami Herald’s Martha Brannigan reports via InsuranceNewsNet.com.
Orlando wrestles with new rules for Uber, Lyft
Orlando City Hall is working on a new set of rules that would allow Uber, Lyft and other so-called “ridesharing” companies to operate in Orlando legally, even as city regulators continue to ticket their drivers for ignoring the current rules, Orlando Sentinel’s Mark Schlueb reports.
Uber challenges Hillsborough Public Transportation Commission tickets
The debate over whether ride-share outfit Uber is a transportation or technology company continued in Hillsborough County on Monday as Uber’s attorney appealed nine tickets issued to the company since July, Tampa Bay Times’ Caitlin Johnston reports.
In Shadows of Redistricting Ruling, Senate Case Looms
While much of the state’s political establishment has focused on the congressional redistricting lawsuit and its possible effects on future elections, a related fight over the map for the state Senate is continuing. THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA’s Brandon Larrabee reports via SunshineStateNews.com.
Bowing to Criticism, Florida Health Regulators Agree to Delay Legal Pot Distribution Rule
Health regulators will almost certainly delay a rule that will eventually create the framework for the state’s new medical marijuana industry after an outcry from a legislative panel saying the proposed regulation went too far, FlaglerLive.com reports.
Dust-up puts Common Core front and center in the race for Florida governor
A dust-up last month in the Lee County school system, Florida’s ninth-largest district with 85,000 students, reignited the debate over the controversial education benchmarks – and put the issue front and center in the state’s governor’s race. Tampa Bay Times’ Kathleen McGrory reports via “The Buzz” blog.
Appeals court rules against Laura Rivero Levey, keeps her off House District 113 ballot
An appeals court ruled against Laura Rivero Levey, the Republican state House candidate who claimed a bank error kept her off the November ballot for House District 113, SaintPetersBlog.com’s Phil Ammann reports.
Florida child-welfare agencies battling high staff turnover — 80 percent in some parts of state
One of the worst problems facing Florida’s troubled child-welfare system, advocates say, is job turnover among the case managers who oversee adoption and foster-care services – 80 percent in some parts of the state. THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA’s Margie Menzel reports via the Florida Times-Union.
On new list of richest and poorest members of Congress, Florida has reps at both ends
Four Florida members of the U.S. House of Representatives are among the 50 richest members of Congress, according to a new analysis by CQ Roll Call, the Miami Herald’s Chris Adams reports via the “Naked Politics” blog.
Standard & Poor’s warns on climate change impact on catastrophes
Standard & Poor’s article, “Climate Change Could Sting Reinsurers That Underestimate Its Impact,” offers an element of the overall picture to be provided in the major reinsurance report to be issued to coincide with the Monte Carlo Rendezvous by offering a view of what it might mean to the reinsurance industry’s catastrophe exposure and, ultimately, to its ratings, if the catastrophe losses of 2005 and 2011 were to become the “new normal.” InsuranceNewsLink.com reports via Advisen.com.
Allstate Adjusters Pursue Class Action On State Law Overtime Claims, Court Rules
A federal district court didn’t abuse its discretion by certifying a class of about 800 current and former claims adjusters who allege Allstate Insurance Co. violated California law by having them work unpaid off-the-clock overtime hours, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled September 3, Kevin McGowan reports for Bloomberg BNA.
Treasury may soon decide on inversions, Lew says
The Treasury Department will decide in the “very near future” what actions it can take to deter U.S. companies from cutting tax bills by moving their addresses to other countries, Bloomberg’s Richard Rubin reports via National Underwriter’s PropertyCasualty360.com.
Communities at Risk in Wake of Failure to Address Rising Seas
Reuters’ Ryan McNeill Deborah J. Nelson and Duff Wilson report via Insurance Journal in the first of a series of articles examining the phenomenon of rising seas, its effects on the United States, and the country’s response to an increasingly watery world.
AIG vs. Coventry First: Competing lawsuits on life settlements
American International Group and Coventry First, a leader in the life settlement market, are trading strong charges in competing lawsuits dealing with the appropriate interpretation of a 2006 deal where an AIG affiliate hired Coventry to help it acquire life policies in the then-booming life settlement market, National Underwriter’s Arthur Postal reports for LifeHealthPro.com.
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