Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Thursday, April 3
Apr 3, 2008
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Lawsuit: Enforce insurance mediation
A Broward attorney filed a lawsuit Wednesday demanding the Department of Financial Services and the Office of Insurance Regulation enforce the state statute that provides homeowners with access to mediation to quickly settle still-open claims from the storms of 2004 and 2005.
The Hurricane Law Group announced today that it has filed a lawsuit in the Circuit Court of the Second Judicial Circuit in Leon County against CFO Alex Sink, Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty, the Department of Financial Services and the Office of Insurance Regulation to force the State to enforce Florida laws designed to protect Floridians in the wake of the 2004 and 2005 hurricanes.
State let insurers underpay hurricane claims, lawsuit says
Petition says homeowners were not told they could seek mediation.
The state’s financial- and insurance-regulation departments are accused in a lawsuit of violating consumer-protection laws and allowing insurance companies to underpay hurricane claims.
As insurance firms’ money vanished, Poes played politics
As Poe insurance companies sank toward insolvency after two record hurricane seasons, Poe family members and managers were not just collecting hefty payments, they were also flexing their political muscle.
OPINION: Cheaper insurance does exist
Rockledge insurance agent Carl Moulton is selling more homeowner’s insurance lately but making less money from it.
Ruling: Insurance can’t threaten rare species
A federal appeals court has upheld a 2 ½-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.
Crist, Marino want insurance companies to cover autism treatments
Gov. Charlie Crist and former Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino spoke strongly in favor of legislation Wednesday that would require insurance companies to cover autism screenings and treatment.
A measure that would shield online travel companies such as Expedia Inc. and Hotels.com from potentially millions of dollars in annual taxes cleared its first hurdle in the Florida Senate on Wednesday.
DNC chief will seat Fla. delegates, but details up to rivals
A pledge from Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean to seat Florida convention delegates sets a new tone for how the state will be treated and puts pressure on the presidential candidates to find a compromise, party leaders said Wednesday.
Norman To Run For State Senate
Facing term limits in two years, longtime Hillsborough County Commissioner Jim Norman on Wednesday filed papers to run for the state Senate in 2010.
Democrat running against Stearns
Longtime Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns will have a Democratic opponent in November’s election for Florida’s 6th Congressional.
State panel honors former U.S. Rep. Clay Shaw as a Great Floridian
Panel honors ex-member of Congress
Clay Shaw, whose work in Congress helped lead to national welfare reform and an unprecedented state-federal partnership to clean up the Everglades, was honored Wednesday night as a Great Floridian.
Plan would end sewage-to-ocean pumping
The Legislature is moving ahead with a plan that would halt South Florida from pumping sewage into the ocean.
South Florida’s everyday practice of pumping about 300 million gallons of sewage into the ocean would be phased out under a plan unanimously approved Wednesday by a state Senate committee.
U.S. court upholds flood insurance ban
A federal appeals court has upheld an injunction prohibiting the Federal Emergency Management Agency from issuing flood insurance to new homes and businesses on about 49,000 properties in Monroe County.
State Farm, USAA Back Paulson OFC Scheme
Personal lines property-casualty insurers USAA and State Farm both said this week that they supported the optional federal insurance charter concept embodied in the Treasury Department’s new financial services regulation blueprint.
Regulators Discuss Action On Paulson Plan
Reacting to the U.S. Treasury Department financial reform blueprint calling for an optional federal charter for insurers, one state insurance commissioner said she would be contacting every member of her legislature for feedback.
After more than two years on the hot seat, Floridian R. David Paulison said Wednesday that he plans to resign as director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency – regardless of who takes over the White House.
Report: FEMA not ready for next Katrina
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is better prepared for the next disaster, but it is not completely ready for another Hurricane Katrina-scale catastrophe, the agency’s watchdog says.
All FEMA-issued mobile homes will be tested, agency head says
The Federal Emergency Management Agency will continue to use mobile homes for residents displaced by disasters but will test all housing for harmful levels of formaldehyde beforehand, the agency’s director said Wednesday.
FEMA puts post-hurricane freebies on ice
The federal agency says it will focus on basics — and won’t give out generators, either, except in medical emergencies.
Don’t expect to receive free ice from the federal government in the aftermath of a hurricane.
Storm forecasts get more precise
Dramatic improvements in hurricane track predictions are allowing forecasters to narrow the areas placed on long-range alert as a storm approaches.
Experts say faulty storm predictions get too much press
Is too much Gray clouding hurricane forecasts?
Some storm experts think so. And on Wednesday, they urged the news media to pay less attention to the hurricane season predictions that have made veteran researcher William Gray one of the nation’s most prominent weather prognosticators.
Storms can intensify rapidly, experts warn
The preseason burst of hurricane advice began with a plea to take all storms seriously — because they can intensify unexpectedly.
You go to bed at 11 p.m. with a relatively mild tropical storm predicted to arrive overnight. You awaken at 4 a.m. with a 90-mph hurricane blowing through your house.
NAIC: We’re Tracking Insurance Complaints Monthly
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) will begin regularly monitoring and summarizing consumers’ top complaints against insurance companies, beginning in April.
TEXAS: State Farm homeowners insurance rate hike approved
Customers with auto, house coverage to see drop in Dallas County
State Farm Insurance has been given approval to raise homeowner rates 2.8 percent statewide, but Dallas County policyholders with auto and home coverage will see premiums decrease an average 2.3 percent.
Mobile Homes –Not Trailers–Arrive for Tennessee Tornado Victims
Tennessee is taking delivery of mobile homes from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to temporarily house Macon County tornado victims.
Rev up research before buying auto coverage
Whether you’re a first-time buyer of auto insurance or already have it but are looking for a better deal, you should be asking several questions.
America’s Young Insurance Agents Love Their Jobs
A substantial majority of America’s young independent insurance agents –81 percent–say they have found their permanent career and are in the agency business for the long haul, according to a new Insurance Journal survey.
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