Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Thursday, September 30
Sep 30, 2010
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Blog: Sunshine State Insurance proposes 25 percent rate hike
Regulators will question Sunshine State Insurance Co. today about its request to raise rates by an average 25 percent statewide for policies covering homes, condo units, renters and rented or vacation homes.
Blog: U.S. Representative Klein gets Florida congressional delegation to sign onto cat-fund letter
All 25 Florida members of the U.S. House – Republicans and Democrats – are promoting passage of a bill designed to curb the cost of homeowner insurance in disaster-prone areas by setting up a national catastrophe fund.
Banks not participating in Florida drywall case
Banks that own some Florida homes containing faulty Chinese drywall are refusing to participate in a class-action lawsuit brought by other homeowners.
Stuart firm denies using Chinese drywall
Gateway Drywall Inc. has never used defective Chinese drywall, an attorney for the Stuart-based firm said Tuesday in response to a lawsuit filed by a division of nationwide home builder KB Home.
U.S. Representative Vern Buchanan to host drywall forum in Sarasota
Federal officials will hear local residents’ concerns about corrosive drywall during an upcoming forum in Sarasota, U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan’s office said Wednesday.
Candidates for Florida governor grapple with issue of property insurance
Sink says her record as state CFO equips her to deal with the challenge
After crossing the state to win votes in the shadow of a hurricane season, the next Florida governor will almost certainly face an issue that has challenged lawmakers and officials for years: How to fix the property insurance market in one of the riskiest states in the nation.
Letter to the Editor: Homeowner insurance
The recent decision by the State of Florida Office of Insurance Regulation to allow Citizens Insurance Company to raise homeowner premiums an average of 10 percent is just another example of the inability of Florida to protect property owners from unwarranted rate increases.
Insurance Journal Names Florida-based Seitlin the Best Southeast Agency to Work For
The employees at Florida-based insurance agency and advisory services firm Seitlin appreciate their salaries, bonuses and wellness program. But for them, their working environment is exemplary not just for what the agency does for them but also for what the agency allows them to do for themselves and for their customers.
Report: Florida has 39th-worst traffic
South Florida drivers may beg to differ, but a new report suggests the region has the 39th-worst traffic in the country.
Red light cameras could be in St. Petersburg’s 20 most crash-prone intersections by summer
A program unveiled Thursday could outfit the city’s 20 most crash prone intersections with cameras as early as next summer to crack down on red light runners.
Lynne McChristian of the Insurance Information Institute: Criminals, Cars, Crashes and Cash
Welcome to Florida, the Auto Insurance Fraud Capital of the U.S.
Matching the PIP pocket pickers dollar-for-dollar in advertising to inform policyholders to call us first is one strategy to counter adversarial ads; however, a more practical approach would be to educate at the point of sale and every other chance we get.
South Florida workers’ compensation firm sues accusatory blogger
Automated HealthCare Solutions, a growing private firm in Miramar, is suing a solo blogger who accused the company of being part of a workers’ compensation system that benefits from “rampant greed.”
Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that Florida will receive a total of $8.5 million as part of a global settlement with Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation.
Medicaid HMO rates to increase statewide
Medicaid HMOs in much of Florida will receive average rate increases of almost 2 percent this week, after a numbers-crunching dispute between the industry and the state Agency for Health Care Administration.
Miami Assisted Living Facility owner/operator charged with Medicaid fraud
A 78-year-old Miami man is behind bars and charged with defrauding the state’s Medicaid program out of more than $45,000.
Another blow to Crist’s Cover Florida health insurance plan
Gov. Charlie Crist’s Cover Florida program was supposed to provide options to uninsured residents seeking health care coverage at an affordable price.
J. Hyatt Brown Talks About Business, Florida, and Politics
J. Hyatt Brown is the chairman – and for over 50 years, the driving force behind – Brown & Brown Insurance.
B&B was founded by Brown’s father and a cousin in 1939 as Brown & Owen.
New NASA policy: U.S. House passes bill to change direction for space agency
Vote adds shuttle flight, scraps Constellation
Congress and the White House finally agreed on a new space policy Wednesday night when the U.S. House voted 304-118 in favor of a plan that ends NASA’s goal of returning to the moon and instead tasks the agency with building a new spacecraft that could land on an asteroid by 2025.
Florida ranks second in illegal guns traced to crimes, Mayors’ Coalition study shows
Guns bought in one state often end up being used in crimes in another state, and a coalition of the nation’s mayors thinks tougher laws could reverse that trend.
Grand jury won’t probe ‘Taj Mahal’ courthouse
A grand jury decided Wednesday against investigating a citizen’s complaint about a $48 million appellate courthouse so opulent that critics are deriding it as a “Taj Mahal.”
EPA water rule affecting Florida lakes and rivers stalls, but avoids more delays in U.S. Senate
Florida senators’ Rule extension efforts thwarted
A clean-water rule opposed by many Florida businesses and utilities was delayed for 30 days Wednesday, but survived a bid by Florida’s two senators to stall it longer.
Securities and Exchange Commission charges two South Florida firms
The Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday charged two Florida-based corporations and their CEOs for orchestrating two separate pump-and-dump schemes in which they allegedly issued numerous misleading press releases hyping their operations or services while their respective CEOs repeatedly sold their stock for significant profits.
Feds approve additional housing aid for Florida
Floridians who are struggling to make mortgage payments are getting additional help from the federal government’s Innovation Fund for the Hardest Hit Housing Markets.
Libertarians challenge Florida campaign finance law
A libertarian group filed a suit in federal court challenging some aspects of Florida’s campaign finance law.
Blog: Florida CFO Sink opens BP claims complaint website
Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink has setup a web site to let disgruntled Floridians vent about their problems getting paid by BP claims czar Ken Feinberg.
POLITICO: Florida Dems aim death blow at Charlie Crist
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist is getting the full Arlen Specter treatment as he struggles to hold on to Democratic support in his independent bid for the U.S. Senate.
Defending pension blunder, GOP leaders undermine campaign slam of Alex Sink
Two of Florida’s top Republicans are criticizing claims made in one of their own party’s political ads savaging Democrat Alex Sink for her role in problems with the state’s pension fund.
Florida governor’s race may be decided by nonaffiliated voters
More than 2.5 million of Florida’s 11.1 million registered voters claim no party affiliation or belong to an assortment of parties other than Republican or Democrat.
Florida’s Back to Work program falls short of its goals
Florida’s Back to Work Program hasn’t quite worked as envisioned.
The Wall Street Journal: Car Insurers Defend Their Credit-Score Use
State regulators are drawing fire from auto insurers as they lay plans to revisit the use of factors such as consumers’ credit scores, occupations and education levels in determining rates paid by individual policy holders.
Judge Keeps Texas Windstorm Insurance Association Ike Settlement Information Private for Now
Galveston County Judge Susan Criss on Sept. 27 put on hold a Texas state representative’s request for information from the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association regarding a $189 million settlement in a class action lawsuit stemming from Hurricane Ike.
California Governor Vetoes Workers’ Compensation Measure
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has vetoed a workers’ compensation measure that would have required a physician who conducts a utilization review of workers’ comp medical treatment to be licensed in California.
Hearings in Chinese drywall suit continued in Orleans Parish
A hearing on three defense motions in Chinese drywall lawsuit has been continued in Orleans Parish Civil District Court.
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