Category: Florida News

Florida upped its score—achieving the top ranking in this year’s annual Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety “Rating the States” report, but with a strong codicil from the organization.

Florida Peninsula Insurance, one of the largest home insurance firms in Florida, has opened a new underwriting and operations center at 101 Paramount Drive, Suite 250, Sarasota, where it will consolidate a team of 16 underwriters and five customer services agents. …

What precisely caused the bridge to crumple remains very much an open question, independent experts say.  Mary Ellen Klas, Andres Viglucci and David Ovalle report for the Tampa Bay Times. http://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buzz/2018/03/19/blame-game-escalates-in-pedestrian-bridge-collapse-that-killed-six/

The budget (HB 5001) is the largest in Florida history but it also contains one of the smallest packages of tax cuts in years (HB 7087), valued at about $171 million.  Mary Ellen Klas, Emily L. Mahoney and Elizabeth Koh report for the Tampa …

Scott’s decision was surprising since last year he vetoed more than $37 million in payments that legislators had approved for homeowners in Broward and Lee counties, WPLG.com reports https://www.local10.com/news/florida/thousands-of-florida-homeowners-will-be-paid-for-lost-trees

In a brief exit interview last week with Jim Rosica of FloridaPolitics.com, outgoing Senate President Joe Negron said lawmakers over the last two Sessions “made tremendous progress” on goals he set out in his 2015 designation speech, “a blueprint of things I tried …

A report being released on Monday shows Florida isn’t alone in easing up on building regulations even as the effects of global warming escalate.  Bloomberg’s Christopher Flavelle reports via Insurance Journal. Storm-prone states ease up on building codes despite growing risks …

The North Carolina Department of Insurance has expanded its criminal investigations division with the addition of 15 new special agents, according to a statement from North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey.  Insurance Journal reports. https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2018/03/19/483725.htm

The U.S. market for privately written flood insurance grew by 51.2 percent last year, with state-level markets growing both more competitive and less profitable, according to 2017 statutory insurance filings compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence.  Ray Lehmann reports via Insurance …

New Hampshire Insurance Commissioner Roger Sevigny is planning to retire this summer after 16 years with the New Hampshire Insurance Department. His current term ends on June 11.  Insurance Journal interviews him, with video. https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/east/2018/03/19/483529.htm