Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Monday, Nov. 12

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Our view on catastrophic coverage: When the government sells insurance, everybody pays

Last January, Floridians decided they’d had enough of rising homeowners’ insurance rates. 

 

Opposing view: Spread the risk

It suddenly appears Congress may create a national catastrophe-assistance program to brace millions of homeowners against natural disasters – and disastrous insurance rates.

 

Sink takes stock of investments

Sub-prime market woes has CFO worried about state treasury

Wall Street barons are dropping like flies, the Federal Reserve is trying to head off a recession panic and Florida’s top financial cop is nervous.

 

Insurance worker arrested for writing fake policies

Safety Harbor, Fl. – State Farm Insurance customers trusted 36-year-old Robert S. Garcia Junior to make sure they were covered but now he’s charged with felony scheme to defraud and forgery.

 

Glimmer of hope for windstorm rate relief 

Stung by exorbitantly priced windstorm insurance, Floridians haven’t had much hope for relief from Congress in years. Now there is some.

 

Brown & Brown buys Wittner

Brown & Brown inc. has acquired the assets of Wittner National Group Inc., a Pinellas County agency that specializes in employee benefits.

 

A dry year ignites wildfire fears in Florida

From his yellow John Deere fire plow, Harry Mortimer has endured scorching blasts from flames as high as the trees and choked in smoke so thick he couldn’t see.

 

Group, residents fight the demise of trailer parks

Mobile-home parks have been slowly disappearing for the past three years, and the parks’ owners have helped accelerate the demise of about 20 of them, say members of Jobs for Justice, a nonprofit group dedicated to supporting workers in South Florida.

 

Wrong way, Fla.

Property insurance rates are about to turn John Melkun into a Pasco County refugee, as he considers following in his brother’s footsteps to sink new roots in South Carolina.

 

In pursuit of renewable energy, but how far?

Since Gov. Charlie Crist’s climate summit four months ago, it seems nary a week passes without a much-hyped announcement of yet another renewable energy project. Biomass! Ethanol! Solar! Suddenly it seems Florida’s energy future will be green, indeed.

 

Personal Finance questions: National insurance, with strings

We asked: Should we have national windstorm insurance or some other type of federal catastrophe fund?

 

Early voting begins for House District 101 seat in SW Broward

Both candidates pledge to look out for the people. Both promise positive campaigns without mud-slinging. And both candidates who want to represent southwest Broward in the state House come from Florida’s west coast.

 

Property tax plan’s support slim

TALLAHASSEE A majority of Florida voters support the property tax amendment on the Jan. 29 ballot, but not enough to approve the changes, according to a new Palm Beach Post poll.

Glisch: Sherman’s march through Fla.

As my Tennessee-born wife would say, ‘Lord a mercy.’The insurance industry is at it again, continuing its march through Florida with the same scorched-earth zeal that Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman used on his campaign to the sea.

 

Gelber: attorney, legislator, family man

State Rep. Dan Gelber is the Democratic House Leader of the Florida House of Representatives from Dist. 106 in Miami.

 

Countrywide’s Chief Salesman and Defender

As the credit crisis sent financial markets into a tailspin in August, Countrywide Financial, the nations biggest mortgage lender, was in dire need of cash. In a move that fueled anxiety among investors, it decided to tap an $11.5 billion credit line it held with a number of other banks.

 

Hurricane forecasts are hard. Bad ones are even harder.
 
Joe Bastardi says he was born to forecast hurricanes. His father was a meteorologist. His great-great-great grandfather was a town weatherman in Sicily.

 

Insurers reject bid by AG to get details on how rates are set

Automobile insurers this week denied a request by Attorney General Martha Coakley for detailed information they will use to set their premiums and to make policy changes under the state’s new, competitive insurance system.

 

Insurance company agrees to $50,000 fine over mailing

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — GMAC Insurance has agreed to pay a $50,000 fine to settle charges that the company sent deceptive direct mail advertising to 22,000 New Hampshire residents last year. 

 

Spitzer: ‘Wait and see’ on license plan

Facing growing pressure from his own party, Gov. Eliot Spitzer indicated he had not ruled out rescinding a heavily criticized plan to issue driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants, according to published reports.

 

Company adds collision benefit for pets

To a dog that loves drives in the car while sticking a head out a window to feel the wind, insurance isn’t a concern.