Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Tuesday, Aug. 14

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State Farm preps for duel in Tallahassee

A (postponed) bout between Crist and the insurer shapes up.

Property insurance rate hearings in Tallahassee usually have all the drama of a calculus lecture. But one such hearing is shaping up as a Dodge City showdown: Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty vs. State Farm Florida, the state’s largest private insurance company.

 

S.C.: Audit Requested of Insurance Rates
 
COLUMBIA, S.C. – A state Senate leader is asking the Legislative Audit Council to review practices at the state Insurance Department that may have let insurance companies raise rates without adequate oversight.

 

Fla. Says 3 Insurers’ Rate Cuts Insufficient

The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation announced it has denied the rate requests of three home insurers, saying they had not substantially lowered rates as required by the state’s recently revised insurance law. 

 

Congress Study Finds No Flood Insurance Finagling

WASHINGTON—The Department of Homeland Security said today in an interim report to Congress that it has uncovered “no evidence” that insurers improperly shifted Hurricane Katrina wind damage losses to the government’s flood program.

 

State Farm Will Write More La. Home Insurance

Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon announced today that State Farm, the state’s largest home insurer, would resume limited writing of new home insurance policies for current residents in coastal parishes.

 

Rove’s Exit May Open Door For Crist’s Stances

TAMPA – The resignation of White House political guru Karl Rove is part of a change of leadership in the Republican Party, a change in which Florida Gov. Charlie Crist wants to play an important part.

 

Five banks plan private stock platform

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Five of Wall Street’s biggest banks, including Citigroup (C.N), Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (LEH.N) and Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. (MER.N), said on Tuesday they were setting up a system to trade privately placed stocks.

 

Mass. Lawmakers Anxious About Auto Change, Socioeconomic Factors

Massachusetts lawmakers are anxious about the Patrick Administration’s decision to try competitive rating in auto insurance in 2008 but have stopped short of asking Insurance Commissioner Nonnie Burnes to halt her transition plan.

 

Comegys, Florida Contractor Insurance To Merge

Comegys Insurance Corner and Florida Contractor Insurance said they have agreed to merge the two Florida insurance agencies on Sept. 1.

 

AIR Founder Launches New Cat Consulting Firm

The founder of Boston-based catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide announced this morning that she is launching an independent firm.

 

Doctors Sue Insurers Over Designations
 
HARTFORD, Conn. – A Connecticut physicians group has sued three insurance companies, claiming they steer patients to certain doctors designated as elite to cut costs.

 

Crist selects a green team

The Governor names 21 people to create a long-term energy plan.

TALLAHASSEE – Gov. Charlie Crist on Monday appointed 21 people, including several environmental activists, to persuade the Legislature to lower greenhouse gas emissions and lessen reliance on fossil fuels in Florida.

 

State loses cash if needy kids aren’t insured

J.W. Loucks looked a bit bored as he listened to speeches promoting Florida KidCare, the state’s health-insurance program for needy children.

 

State seizes Weston’s SunCoast Medicare HMO

Florida insurance officials seized control of a small, financially ailing Medicare HMO in Weston, saying Monday the health plan no longer had enough emergency cash reserves required by state law.

 

Fort Lauderdale: Initiative gets condos ready for emergencies

The city earlier this year started the Condominium Preparedness Initiative, an information-gathering project organized by the fire-rescue department and the city manager’s office.

 

Feds OK money for ‘Lexus lanes’ on Interstate 95

Drivers will soon be able to buy their way out of traffic jams on a 21-mile stretch of Interstate 95 between Fort Lauderdale and Miami.

 

Florida e-mails make false traffic fine claims

TALLAHASSEE — Hundreds, if not thousands, of Floridians are getting e-mails warning of new traffic fines including $285 for improperly using a cellphone and $1,068.50 for illegally driving in a carpool lane.

 

“Blood In The Water” In Florida Property Market

CAPE CORAL, Florida (Reuters) – Phone books that were delivered but never opened rot away next to empty driveways and overgrown lawns, telltale signs that once-booming southwest Florida is now the center of the U.S. housing storm.

 

Eyeing mortgage crisis, panel could strike deal on FHA bill 

As investors and lenders stampede away from risky home loans, the Senate Banking Committee is hashing out a narrow bill that may be the most serious response by Congress to the troubles rocking the mortgage market.