Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Monday, May 21

Crist in West Palm, signs into law paper-trail ballots and early primary

WEST PALM BEACH – Gov. Charlie Crist came to elections-challenged Palm Beach County on Monday to sign into law two far-reaching measures that eliminate electronic voting and make the state’s presidential primary among the earliest in the nation.

 

Wildfire spots spook insurance companies

Spooked by devastating wildfire seasons, the nation’s top insurers are inspecting homes in high-risk areas throughout the West and threatening to cancel coverage if owners don’t clear brush or take other precautions.

 

`Hurricane hunter’ flights out of MacDill to be pared

TAMPA · Federal officials plan to significantly reduce the number of “hurricane hunter” flights from Tampa’s MacDill Air Force base this year, even though predictions call for a busy hurricane season.

 

Flexibility serves public

U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, citing a constituent whose home insurance premium rose $12,900, in two years, says “older Americans … are not able to plan for the increasingly volatile rate increases …with no place to turn for help.” Klein criticizes insurers who withdraw from high-claim states, wants national backup catastrophe insurance, and doesn’t think catastrophic losses correlate with high-risk locational decisions (flood plains).

 

Grand Jury Subpoenas Allstate, Nationwide over Katrina Claims

Allstate Corp. and Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. have been subpoenaed by a federal grand jury investigating the insurance industry’s handling of Hurricane Katrina claims in Mississippi, the companies said.

 

U.S. Surplus Lines Bill Draws Opposition

WASHINGTON —Opposition is growing in Florida and Georgia to federal legislation reforming regulation of surplus lines markets.

 

Hate paying premiums? ROPs give money back

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Next to taxes, the payment many of us most hate to make is insurance. It’s money most of us will never see again, but without it our lives and finances are in danger.

 

S. Florida governments hiring costly lobbyists to thwart property tax cuts

TALLAHASSEE — Local governments across Florida are spending wads of taxpayer money — possibly millions — lobbying the Legislature as they battle members’ efforts to slash property taxes.

 

AP Interview: Clinton says U.S. needs new approach on disasters

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton believes the federal government needs to do more to prepare for hurricanes and other disasters, and said Monday she support the creation of a national insurance backup fund.

 

Data on the elderly offered to thieves

Criminals end up emptying retirees’ bank accounts

The thieves operated from small offices in Toronto and hangar-size rooms in India. Every night, working from lists of names and phone numbers, they called World War II veterans, retired schoolteachers and thousands of other elderly Americans and posed as government and insurance workers updating their files.

 

Foreclosure crisis looms:  Lenders warn thousands who fail to make mortgage payments

The fear of foreclosure has South Floridians on edge.

Thousands of homeowners in Broward and Palm Beach counties can’t make their monthly mortgage payments and are getting sternly worded letters from lenders who threaten to seize their properties and resell them, likely at a loss.

 

Medical Firm Plans IPO

CCS Medical Holdings, which contracts with insurers for home delivery of medical supplies, told regulators Friday that it wants to raise $172.5 million in an initial public offering. The Clearwater-based company has five major distribution centers, including Tampa. In a preliminary prospectus, CCS plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol CCSM.

 

Florida agents send vehicle to help out in Kansas

GREENSBURG, KAN. – The Florida Association of Insurance Agents’ state-of-the-art catastrophe response vehicle (CRV) arrived in Greensburg, Kan., earlier this week to assist insurance agents whose offices were demolished by tornado last week. The fully equipped mobile response unit will provide the agents with immediate access to customer records and policies so they can process claims faster.

 

Settlement comes through in Anderson case

The parents of Martin Lee Anderson will get $5 million in a state settlement in the 14-year-old’s death, less $630,000 for lawyers and lobbyists who worked on the case.