Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Tuesday, September 7
Sep 7, 2010
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Citizens Property Insurance Corporation asks to raise rates
Florida’s largest insurance company, the state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, wants to raise rates an average of 10 percent statewide.
Regions Financial to offer insurance in Florida next year
Regions Financial plans to expand its personal insurance lines to Florida next year.
Castle Key premiums to rise about 18 percent on average
Rates will jump 18 and 19 percent
Homeowners’ insured by Castle Key Insurance Company and Castle Key Indemnity will see higher rates effective Nov. 28, under a plan state regulators disclosed Friday.
Column: We’re building up to ‘beach-house bailout’ – aka national hurricane insurance
Not that I would wish anyone harm, but it wouldn’t have been such a bad thing for Florida if Hurricane Earl had maintained its wind speed and then hung a left at latitude 40 degrees north.
Florida CFO and State Fire Marshal Alex Sink’s Bureau of Forensic Fire & Explosives Analysis Investigations has received the prestigious honor of full international accreditation status from the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors/Laboratory Accreditation Board International.
Plant City street remains closed after sinkhole prompts massive repairs
What started out as a sinkhole repair in January has evolved into a replacement of 600 feet of waterline, the resurfacing of an entire block and a six-month delay in reopening a street near Bryan Elementary School.
Column: Man with flipping history targets drywall homes
When The Herald-Tribune started investigating contaminated Chinese drywall nearly two years ago, an initial focus was Lennar Corp.’s Heritage Harbour development in Manatee County.
Blog: What impact does the threat of a hurricane have on home closings?
A reader asks about the effect of hurricane threats on the ability to obtain property insurance during home sale closings.
Fire-Related Fatality after Broward Condo Cancels Insurance
Amid smoke and flames and hampered by belongings narrowing the entryway to about 18 inches, firefighters rescued an elderly woman from a burning condo Monday morning. But she died from her injuries soon after, authorities said.
Letter to the Editor: Clouds over Florida insurers
What I recall is that the large “capitalized” insurers, such as Allstate and State Farm, were requesting huge increases in premiums; specifically, State Farm requested a 47 percent increase from the Florida Insurance Commission in 2008.
Clearwater parasail accident investigated after tourist is severely injured
Labor Day is usually one of the biggest draws for parasailing operations along the beach.
Nursing home closure rare, weighed heavily in Florida
Only two facilities had licenses revoked in past decade
When state authorities made a move to shutter a Jacksonville nursing home for repeated problems, it was an uncommon step.
Florida church rebuffs top US general’s concern that Quran burning will endanger troops
A Christian minister said Tuesday that he will go ahead with plans to burn copies of the Quran this weekend to protest the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks despite a warning from the top U.S. general in Afghanistan that doing so would endanger American troops.
Blog: FPL gets green light on $31 million in nuclear costs
The Public Service Commission approved allowing Florida Power & Light to charge customers $31 million next year for nuclear costs.
Regulators Close Bayside Savings, Coastal Community
The banners and buildings look much the same as they did last week, but things are changing at Bayside Savings Bank and Coastal Community Bank.
Florida’s budget gap has shrunk by nearly $3 billion
Florida’s projected budget gap for the coming year has shrunk by nearly $3 billion, a new forecast released on Friday shows.
Column: Give Florida’s Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles a nod for a job well done
Annual report holds some good news
Things are looking up at DHSMV. The agency’s new annual report had some interesting stuff about the daily service of state employees.
Grant funds used to buy up, demolish blighted property on Space Coast
Two months ago, Brevard County hadn’t earmarked any of the $5.27 million in federal funds it received 16 months earlier to buy up bank-foreclosed homes and rescue them from disrepair and ruin.
Almost a quarter of all foreign buyers in U.S. choose Florida property
International buyers have helped buttress Florida’s real estate market with 22 percent of all foreign clients nationally choosing property in the Sunshine State.
Florida panel takes aim at legal injustices
Across the country, 258 men and women – all wrongly convicted of crimes – have been exonerated by DNA evidence.
Scott tries to tie Sink to Obama in governor’s race
Talking to GOP gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott about Democrat Alex Sink can feel like flipping from local television news to CNN.
Republican foes, lobbyists now flock to Scott
In the aftermath of a mean-spirited primary, supporters of vanquished Bill McCollum are eagerly boarding the Rick Scott bandwagon, especially those Tallahassee special interests Scott vilified in the primary.
Blog: Marco Rubio’s Florida Senate Campaign On Hold Following Death Of His Father
Republican Marco Rubio has placed his Florida Senate campaign on hold temporarily following the death of his father.
Scott, Sink divided on how to create jobs
Republican Rick Scott and Democrat Alex Sink are both former business executives duking it out in an increasingly hostile race to be Florida’s governor, but they agree on one thing: more jobs are needed.
A look at Rick Scott’s choice for GOP ticket, Jennifer Carroll
Trying to keep the outsider label that propelled him to victory in the Republican primary for governor, millionaire businessman Rick Scott announced last week that he had picked a fellow outsider for lieutenant governor in Jennifer Carroll.
The New York Times: Florida’s High-Speed Answer to a Foreclosure Mess
Ten days from now, a four-bedroom house on a cul-de-sac in Middleburg, Fla., is scheduled to be auctioned off at the Clay County courthouse, 25 miles south of Jacksonville.
Insurers Push For National Flood Insurance Program Extension Ahead Of September 30 Expiration
The property and casualty insurance industry is gearing up to battle for certainty for the National Flood Insurance Program when Congress returns for a short session Sept. 13.
Study: Malpractice liability costs U.S. $55.6 billion
Medical malpractice liability costs the U.S. healthcare system more than $55 billion a year, most of it in “defensive” medical practices such as extra tests and scans, according to a report released on Tuesday.
Chinese insurers allowed to invest in private equity, property
China will allow insurers to broaden investment channels into private equity and real estate, a move that could unleash as much as $100 billion worth of fresh funding into unlisted firms and the property sector.
Insurance Leader Clements — Founder of Arch, Ironshore, Integro — Dies at 77
Robert Clements, a global insurance industry leader who helped start several insurers and a brokerage died on Sept. 4, 2010 of cancer at age 77.
Arkansas Man Sentenced For Katrina Fraud
A federal judge has sentenced a Fort Smith, Arkansas, man to 18 months in prison for lying to the Federal Emergency Management Agency to get disaster assistance for Hurricane Katrina.
FDIC’s New Power to Dissolve Companies Raises Concerns
“A narrow hole, but very, very deep.” That’s how one leading bankruptcy lawyer described the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s new power to take over and liquidate nonbank companies whose failure would jeopardize the financial system.
Police, fire departments bill accident victims to offset cuts
First responders should ‘serve and protect, not serve and collect,’ insurers say
About a year ago Cary Feldman was surprised to find himself sprawled on the pavement in an intersection in Chicago Heights, Ill., having been knocked off his motor scooter by the car behind him.
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