Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Monday, November 23
Nov 23, 2009
To view a complete story, click on a headline below:
Insurance based on credit scores stirring controversy in Florida
Despite efforts at the capitol in recent years to end the practice, property and automobile insurance companies in Florida are allowed to use a customer’s credit history in setting premiums, something opponents say could ensnare more Floridians as the economy weakens.
Insurers Looking To Adjust Windstorm Discounts
Homeowners who shelled out big bucks to storm proof their homes with shutters, impact resistant windows and other measures to qualify for a big discount on their insurance may soon see that discount shrink, or vanish all-together.
THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA: AIF Criticizes Citizens Decision
One of the state’s largest business lobbies is taking issue with the decision by state regulators on how much to allow Citizens Property Insurance to increase its rates for policy holders in high risk areas.
Citizens rate hike not as harsh as expected
Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty approved an average 5.9 percent hike for single-family homeowners and 9.3 percent jump for businesses, according to an order issued Friday.
Crist’s $10M recession-relief package finally reaching small businesses
It’s been 11 long months of record unemployment and frozen capital markets since announced his “emergency” $10 million plan to help small businesses.
Cretul: Special session ‘a little closer,’ but no support for raising taxes
House Speaker Larry Cretul said Thursday that legislative staffers were ‘probably a little closer than we have been’ to hammering out an agreement over the $1.2 billion SunRail project that could bring lawmakers back for a special session next month.
Some lawmakers leery of revenue promised by oil
To lawmakers staring down the barrel of a $2.6 billion budget deficit next year, the prediction of $2.3 billion a year in direct revenue from oil and gas drilling in Florida waters may sound like a dream come true.
Florida’s military bases could feel drilling’s impact
Eglin Air Force Base, an economic engine in Northwest Florida and home to key national security missions, lays claim to 123,000 square miles of water range and 134,000 square miles of airspace over water.
Florida Lawsuit Claims TD Bank Was ‘Epicenter’ in Alleged Ponzi Scheme
TD Bank was hit with a multimillion-dollar lawsuit Friday calling it the “financial epicenter” of an alleged Ponzi scheme run by disgraced Florida lawyer Scott Rothstein.
Florida banking regulators have shut down Commerce Bank of Southwest Florida, marking the 124th U.S. bank to succumb this year to the struggling economy and rising loan defaults.
COLUMN: Texas billionaire trolling for failed Florida banks
A billionaire Texas banker received swift approval from Florida banking regulators to buy failed or ailing banks
COLUMN: Florida Makes List for Unfair Taxing
The poorest Floridians pay a rate more than six times greater than the state’s millionaires when it comes to state and local taxes, a nonpartisan group says in a new report.
E-mails show Texas state-run wind insurer had early wave of complaints
Myrna Cedars had a feeling something was amiss when she couldn’t get through to her nonprofit’s property insurer months after Hurricane Ike.
Texas’ public insurance counsel won’t appeal State Farm order
Texas’ public insurance counsel said Friday that she won’t appeal an order from the state insurance commissioner that calls on State Farm to refund $310 million in overcharges on homeowners policies dating to 2003.
Feds find association between Chinese drywall, corrosion
The federal government said Monday that it has found a “strong association” between problematic imported Chinese drywall and corrosion of pipes and wires, a conclusion that supports complaints by thousands of homeowners over the last year.
Chinese drywall deadline looms
Homeowners should try to find out soon whether their wallboards were made by Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin Co.
Katrina MRGO Ruling Could Bring New Deluge of Lawsuits
A landmark court ruling blaming the Army Corps of Engineers’ “monumental negligence” for some of the worst flooding from Hurricane Katrina could lead to a new deluge: billions of dollars in legal action from thousands of storm victims.
No P&C Implications In Latest Katrina Ruling
A federal court ruling holding the Army Corps of Engineers, and the U.S. government by extension, liable for damage in New Orleans caused by Hurricane Katrina is unlikely to have much effect on the property-casualty industry, an Insurance Information Institute representative said.
Insurance Department Takes Action in Commonwealth Court Against Kingsway Financial Services
The Pennsylvania Insurance Department today filed a complaint in Commonwealth Court to force Kingsway Financial Services to unwind a set of sham transactions that negatively impacted one of its subsidiaries in Pennsylvania.
Kingsway intends to dispose of its majority interest in Jevco Insurance Company
Kingsway Financial Services Inc. announced today that it has undertaken to dispose of its majority interest in Jevco Insurance Company.
New Law Prohibits Genetic Discrimination
The first federal anti-discrimination law in nearly 20 years takes effect today, prohibiting employers from hiring, firing or determining promotions based on genetic makeup.
To unsubscribe from this newsletter, please send an e-mail to ccochran@cftlaw.com.