Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Monday, July 21
Jul 21, 2008
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Crist sends long-distance criticism of State Farm
Gov. Charlie Crist took time out from his European trip Friday to fire off a letter to Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty voicing his concern about State Farm’s request for a statewide average 47.1 percent rate hike.
FIU to improve hurricane tool “Wall of Wind”
In an otherwise quiet corner of Florida International University, there comes a great roar – the sound of a howling wind that could rip apart mobile homes and leave coastal cities flooded.
Victims of 2004 hurricane get money from suit to rebuild
For nearly four years, Bobby Young has lived with either his mother or his girlfriend. The one place he hasn’t lived is 809 S Orange Ave. his home.
When Hurricane Charley ripped through the town on Friday, Aug. 13, 2004, it peeled part of the roof off Young’s wood frame home. Water poured through the ceiling, damaging most of his possessions. His insurance company sent him a check for about $10,000.
Fed up with insurers, Florida voters may take anger to polls
At a time when Floridians have their pick of pocketbook concerns, from record gasoline prices to lack of health care, one issue remains a high priority: property insurance.
Cover Florida health insurance appears to come up short
Cover Florida, the health-insurance policy touted by Gov. Charlie Crist and passed by the Legislature in May as a way to reduce the state’s 3.7 million uninsured, is unlikely to work, according to a report this month by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonprofit policy-research group in Washington, D.C.
Florida Web firms help consumers deal with insurance companies
People struggling to persuade insurers to pay property claims can get an assist from two Internet tools: MySmartClaims.com and MarineBidExchange.com.
Thousands with criminal records work unlicensed as loan originators
Gary Kafka, former body builder with a long rap sheet and violent past, wrote millions of dollars in mortgages in South Florida without ever applying for a state license.
Florida regulators have reacted coolly to calls for licensing of mortgage professionals, saying that the Legislature wouldn’t accept the idea.
With Florida’s housing boom revving up, Joseph Falk, the national mortgage industry’s top leader, went to Florida regulators in 2002 with an urgent plea: License all mortgage professionals.
Brown & Brown Sees Organic Growth Drop Further
Dayton Beach, Fla.-based insurance broker Brown & Brown Inc. reported second-quarter net income fell 22 percent and organic growth dropped 8 percent as declining prices continued to take a toll on earnings.
Scientists find link to X-rays, lightning
The University of Florida and the Florida Institute of Technology recently came closer to pinning down the source of X-rays emitted by lightning, which could lead to the ability to predict where lightning will strike and to determine after-the-fact strike locations.
EDITORIAL:Â A failed insurance market
Reading the recent headlines regarding Florida’s property insurance crisis is as depressing as watching gas prices rise. State Farm, the state’s largest private insurer, wants to increase rates by an average of 47 percent. The state is paying $224-million to Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway company for the privilege to borrow up to $4-billion to help the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund pay claims if it comes to that. But there isn’t any money left to cover free home inspections for responsible Floridians who want to learn how to harden their houses and qualify for discounts in premiums.
COLUMN:Â Just saying ‘booo!’ to State Farm isn’t enough
If it would make you feel better, we can start with a round of lusty boos for State Farm Florida’s request for a rate hike of 47.1 percent.
COLUMN:Â Blow lid off Florida’s reinsurance costs
If you think State Farm Florida’s call for a 54-percent increase in Leon County homeowners’ insurance premiums is bad, you should have been in the room last week when Gov. Charlie Crist and Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty talked money with Lord Levene, chairman of the famed Lloyd’s of London insurance firm.
COLUMN:Â Raise rates, see what happens
I know people who will only drive Mercedes or Chevy Suburbans. They know about good cars at lower prices. But they’re afraid to try anything they don’t consider the best or safest. That’s the same conundrum now faced by about 50,000 home and business owners in Brevard and Indian River counties. For them, State Farm Florida has proposed a 47 percent rate hike.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR:Â Spread the Burden
I thought the purpose of insurance was to spread the distribution of intake versus outgo over a wide range of people. State Farm recently announced it wants (another) 47-percent rate hike for Florida residents. Haven’t we already doubled, tripled and quadrupled our increases?
FORMER FEMA DIRECTOR JAMES WITT:Â Costs of catastrophes
This is in response to ‘Catastrophe ahead,’ which asked, ‘Why should the nation’s taxpayers subsidize Florida?’ (Editorial, June 29).
ACTION LINE:Â Healthcare available to uninsured
HEALTH HAZARD: The prohibitive costs of healthcare can deter the uninsured from seeking medical attention.
Q. I’m on a low income and don’t have insurance. I’ve had a heart attack recently, and I need to know how to access healthcare through Jackson Memorial’s health system. Can you point me in the right direction?
GOP state Sen. Jeff Atwater takes page from Obama playbook
State Sen. Jeff Atwater is as entrenched an incumbent as there is, a prodigious fundraiser and the Senate president designate.
A state legislator told a local congressional candidate “you should be ashamed of yourself” for campaigning at non-political community meetings about the toxic plume around Raytheon.
Dist. 64 Primary: ‘Members Only’
The Republican primary for Florida House District 64 is shaping up to be THE race of the Aug. 26 primary. That’s in spite of the fact that only the 31,986 registered Republicans in the northern county district will be able to vote.
Detert has support of Carlton for Senate
State Sen. Lisa Carlton cannot run for another term in the Florida Senate, but expect to see the Osprey Republican on the campaign trail this summer.
Judge ends Varn’s bid for place on ballot
An appeals court Friday ended former Leon County School Board member Fred Varn’s campaign for a seat in the Florida House.
Municipalities, agencies change policies, fleets to be ‘green,’ save green
With fuel taking a crushing bite out of government budgets, many are downsizing fleet vehicles, exploring hybrid technology and instituting no-idling policies to curb costs. Alternative fuels, especially biodiesel, are playing a greater role.
EDITORIAL:Â Growth outpaces our capacity to meet demands
OUR OPINION:Â Florida Needs Uncommon Leadership to Reinvent Itself
Old hands will be tempted to dismiss the latest Florida obituary in Time as media hyperbole. Our paradise has been declared ”lost” so many times before that we’ve stopped paying attention. Think again.
Open your senses to paradise in Florida
That’s what a long essay in last week’s Time magazine suggested. ‘We’re facing our worst real estate meltdown since the Depression,” Michael Grunwald, a Miami resident, said of Florida. ‘We’ve got a water crisis, insurance crisis, environmental crisis and budget crisis to go with our housing crisis. We’re first in the nation in mortgage fraud, second in foreclosures, last in high school graduation rates.”
In case you missed it, Time magazine recently did a number on Florida. At least that’s how tourism and chamber of commerce officials probably see it. I thought the story was a badly needed reality check in this state of denial.
Former Louisiana AG’s Katrina Lawsuit Stays in Federal Court
A former Louisiana attorney general’s lawsuit that contends major insurance companies manipulated prices on hurricane damage claims will remain in federal court, an appeals court ruled.
Three Insurance Reform Bills Clear Subcommittee; Full House Vote Looms
A House Financial Services Subcommittee has approved three key reform bills—two aimed at improving the insurance regulatory system, and the other increasing the availability of coverage by expanding access to risk retention groups.
GAO: Flood Program Lacks Funds to Face Future
The National Flood Insurance Program owes the federal Treasury more than $17 billion from hurricane-related losses and has been unable to set aside enough money to meet catastrophic losses that could arise in the future, congressional investigators said in a report released this week.
Producer Groups, Carriers Push National Coverage Plan For Windstorms
Two major producer groups and two leading property-casualty insurance carriers have banded together to ask Congress to promote a plan to spread coastal windstorm risks across state borders.
NCOIL Committee Passes Resolution Opposing NAIC’s MCAS Proposal               Â
Big names in the insurance industry continue to take sides over the Market Conduct Annual Statement (MCAS), proposed by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).
PCI Still Seeks Clarity on OII Preemption Language
The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) considers recent modifications to H.R. 5840 to be good steps forward and continues to seek more clarity on how a preemption proposal would impact existing laws such as the McCarran-Ferguson Act.