Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Thursday, February 19
Feb 19, 2009
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Florida regulators and legislators target insurers’ use of credit scores
Florida insurance officials want to effectively ban insurers from using credit scores to set residential and automobile insurance rates.
Lawmakers move to protect seniors from annuity scams
A pair of Southwest Florida lawmakers have teamed with the state’s chief financial officer to introduce legislation aimed at tightening controls on the sale of annuities to seniors.
Lawmakers call for safer construction sites
Two legislators Wednesday called for uniform statewide rules to protect construction workers at job sites using large cranes.
Citizens Property Insurance ends 2008 with 18 percent gain
The state-run Citizens Property Insurance ended 2008 with $3.1 billion in the bank, an 18 percent gain over the past year. The insurer has $7.2 billion available to pay claims, including debt issued to raise cash to pay future losses.
State Farm Fla. Exec to State CFO: Agents Could Place Policies Directly in Some Companies
In a letter to Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, State Farm Florida’s president said the company is working on a plan that would allow its agents to find replacement coverage with “keep-out” insurers before they are placed in Citizens Property Insurance Corp.
Clock ticking for anxious State Farm policyholders
State agency still must approve of withdrawal
In the wake of last month’s announcement that State Farm Florida will discontinue providing property coverage in the Sunshine State, the countdown continues toward the date Florida insurance officials will issue a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ ruling on the company’s action.
NAIFA: State Farm policyholders–Beware
The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation recently announced that State Farm’s property insurance policies in Florida will eventually transfer to state approved insurers.
Fla. lawmakers still scrambling on wind insurance
Fla. legislators look to lower state’s hurricane insurance risk; billions could be lost
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist’s political mantra has been to hold down property insurance rates, taxes and almost anything else costly for people he wants voting for him next year.
Judges: Jury Should Hear Florida Carbon Monoxide Suit
A federal judge was wrong to dismiss a lawsuit that blamed an auto muffler maker for the carbon monoxide poisoning of a 19-year-old Florida woman and her boyfriend, rather than let a jury decide, an appeals panel ruled this week.
Senator seeks Chinese drywall probe
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., is asking the Environmental Protection Agency and the Consumer Product Safety Commission to investigate whether Chinese-manufactured drywall is toxic.
Trust fund for smoking claims reaches settlement with U.S.
The trustee of a $580 million trust fund created to compensate Florida smokers or their survivors for smoking-related illnesses has reached a settlement over claims made against the fund by the federal government.
Florida: HMO data clean-up will take another year
Despite spending hundreds of millions each year on Medicaid HMOs, state officials say it may be at least another year before they really know what they’re buying because the detailed data that would provide the answer still need “cleaning up.”
FLORIDA DHSMV DIRECTOR: Uninsured Motorists A Statewide Burden
I would like to take this opportunity to clarify Florida’s motor vehicle insurance requirements and distinguish the Insurance Research Council report identified in Russell Ray’s article (Business, Jan. 23).
Hukill files for 2012 state Senate bid
Maybe it’s never too early to start planning your next political campaign. Or the one after that.
Putnam Has Large Supporting Cast
U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam officially kicked off his campaign for Florida’s commissioner of agriculture and consumer services with a politically star-studded cast designed to get his platform across and to put his opponents for the job on notice.
Fla. redistricting financial statements revised
State economists have revised financial statements for two proposed state constitutional amendments on legislative and congressional redistricting.
Crist Tax Proposals Questioned
Gov. Charlie Crist sent up a trial balloon this week to see if a proposed property tax reform package will either fly or get deflated.
Panel OKs money to cut Fla. gun permit backlog
A legislative panel on Wednesday approved $3.8 million in new spending to help cut a backlog of 90,000 applications for concealed weapons permits that one top official attributed to Florida’s economic woes.
SunRail chugs through House vote, 14-3
The $1.2 billion SunRail transit deal to bring commuter trains to Central Florida cleared its first legislative stop Wednesday, over objections that it was a poor investment in the midst of a recession.
Corus Bank’s regulatory agreements could spell trouble for Florida condos
Corus Bank, one of the biggest lenders to South Florida condominium projects, has signed enforcement agreements with federal regulators that limit its ability to renew or extend troubled loans.
States fight for right to regulate equity index annuities
When the Securities and Exchange Commission declared that equity index annuities are securities last year, it ignored the McCarran-Ferguson Act, which grants states the right to regulate the insurance industry, state insurance regulators and legislators told a U.S. appeals court Tuesday.
Life Insurers Enjoy Relaxed Disclosure Rules
In New York, a 1906 Anticorruption Law Requiring Names, Salaries of Many Employees Is Overturned
Amid heightened scrutiny of financial-services pay, New York legislators have removed thousands of insurance employees from under a spotlight.
Ohio Gets 20 Requests For Accounting Variations
At least 20 insurers have asked states for relief from the usual capital and surplus statutory accounting rules.
Iowa Joins States Granting Capital And Surplus Relief
Iowa using permitted practice procedure, which allows for rules waivers, has approved 10 insurance companies for capital and surplus relief under a Feb. 3 bulletin it issued temporarily relaxing requirements for deferred tax assets.
Texas Governor Asks FEMA to Waive Proof of Loss Deadline
Texas Gov. Rick Perry wants the federal government to waive or extend for 180 days the deadline for filing proof of loss requirements for flood insurance policyholders whose homes were damaged by Hurricane Ike.
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