Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Thursday, April 10
Apr 10, 2008
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Allstate Still Fighting For Document Secrecy
Allstate’s release of 150,000 pages of a consultant’s controversial report on claims handling does not satisfy Florida insurance regulators who said the company is still fighting to keep reams of documents from public view.
Allstate is faced with 3rd inquiry
Behind a nondescript brown door on the second floor of a Senate office building, the Florida Legislature is investigating one of the nation’s largest insurance companies.
EDITORIAL: Office of Insurance Regulation
Watchdog shows it won’t let go of Allstate demand
Florida’s Office of Insurance Regulation is in this for the long haul.
SENATOR DON GAETZ: Senate looks to regulate insurance
As you may recall from previous reports, the Senate Select Committee on Property Insurance Accountability recently conducted an inquiry into why insurance rates were not reduced as much as expected based on legislation passed in 2007.
State gets ‘F’ for insurance climate, reports says
A nationwide study conducted by a nonprofit institute says Floridians are paying higher premiums for their homeowners insurance than necessary because of cumbersome state regulations.
Insurance premium ups, downs follow storms
Insurance companies, along with the stock market and banks, make up the financial service industry. All of these three sectors have their ups and downs.
Hurricane expo heavy on education
When a hurricane is coming, experts say putting tape on windows will make for a mess, not protection.
Hurricane forecast stirs up skepticism
This could be a tumultuous year for tropical weather with 15 named storms, including eight hurricanes, if storm prognosticators William Gray and Philip Klotzbach are to be believed.
Insurance industry releases crash tests
Several mid-size cars have made strides in protecting motorists in side crashes through standard air bags and improved designs, the insurance industry reports.
Ruling favors animals over insurance
A federal appeals court has upheld a 2-year injunction blocking new construction in the Florida Keys from receiving federal flood insurance in places where rare creatures such as the Key deer roam.
Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio announced to House members this morning that Rep. Don Davis, R-Jacksonville, died this morning after a long illness. He was 76.
Downsized state budget to be debated Thursday
The cutting continues for a second day at the state Capitol.
The Florida House is expected to vote Thursday on its budget measure, which lawmakers
began discussions on Wednesday.
OPINION: Save this, scrap that, so it goes in bad times
The yin and yang of a year without money — but with elections — is causing unusual tensions in Tallahassee.
Long odds for tax-assessment limits sought by Rubio
Property taxes may not have dropped like a rock, but a measure to set in stone a 1.35 percent yearly cap in the growth of all future property-tax bills got hearings in the House and Senate on Wednesday.
Slight Medicaid payment hike possible
In a budget full of cuts, there are a few little-noticed pieces of good news.
Commuter rail plan survives in Florida Senate budget
Central Florida’s commuter-rail deal survived an assault in the state Senate Wednesday, as lawmakers scrambled to find cash in an austere budget year to soften cuts to critical services.
Bill would ban cell use by teen drivers
A bill that bans those under 18 from using cell phones while driving narrowly squeaked through a Senate panel Wednesday, with the sponsor promising to deal with objections before its next committee stop.
Governor will sign Crotzer payback for prison bill
A man who spent 24 years behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit will be at the Capitol to watch the governor sign a bill compensating him for those years.
Guns-at-work bill heading to Crist
In the three-year duel over whether citizens should be allowed to conceal their firearms in locked vehicles at work, state lawmakers have decided Florida business owners will have to bite the bullet.
Democrat challenges Representative Holder
Recent party gains and a close race last time prompt a retiree to run
Democrats in the area hope their recent successes can lead them to more seats in the Legislature.
Martinez’s fundraising outpaces rival Diaz-Balart’s
Foreshadowing what is likely to be one of the most hard-fought congressional races in South Florida in years, Democrat Raul Martinez has raised more than $615,000 in just two months to try to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart.
Three answers posed to ease housing crisis
Senate and House all moved Wednesday to address the nation’s worsening housing crisis.
D&O Rates Seen Headed For The Outer Planets
The collapse of the subprime mortgage market has sent directors and officers liability insurance rates skyrocketing–and the upward spike is likely to continue for the foreseeable future, an industry professional predicted yesterday.
Bill Would Let RRGs Offer P-C Cover
Legislation that would allow risk retention groups to provide property-casualty insurance is scheduled to be introduced next week in the House of Representatives.
Lloyd’s Finds 25 New Risks for Industry to Worry About
As if the insurance industry didn’t already have a heaping plate full of risks, Lloyd’s has summarized the results of a scientific conference and added 25 more.
Mississippi: Insurer Wants Sisters to Pay for Providing Katrina Claims Records to Scruggs
State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. wants a federal judge to sanction two sisters who secretly copied Hurricane Katrina claims documents and gave them to a Mississippi lawyer whose clients were suing the company.
Appeals Court Vacates $1 Million Award in Mississippi Katrina Case
A federal appeals court threw out a $1 million punitive damage award Monday to a Mississippi couple who sued the nation’s largest insurance company over Hurricane Katrina damage.
Connecticut Supreme Court Allows State’s Damages Suit against Marsh
Connecticut’s Attorney General Richard Blumenthal can attempt to recover damages from Marsh & McLennan Inc. for harming the economy of the entire state, the state’s Supreme Court ruled.
Agents Balk as Mass. Permits 6-Month Auto Insurance Policies
Massachusetts will permit auto insurers to sell six-month policies in another change under the state’s newly operational managed competition system that gives insurers more freedom and drivers more options.
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