Buyer beware

News
Your trip insurance may not be worth the paper it’s written on 
By Jim Gaines
Jessie Hall of Orlando always wanted to go to the Rose Bowl, and when she planned to go with her sister-in-law in December 2007, they built a flight and Carnival cruise to Mexico into the package. She booked through Legendary Journeys …
Read More »

Barney Bishop: Hurricane tax won’t stabilize insurance

Barney Bishop • My View • March 16, 2010
As the state legislative session kicked off this month, I began to wonder if I was experiencing deja vu.
While it is not unusual to champion a legislative cause for more than one year, how many years will it take for the Florida Legislature to return the Florida …
Read More »

Florida Legislature begins budget work

BY MARY ELLEN KLAS

Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau

TALLAHASSEE — As Florida legislators take out the scalpels and start making decisions this week on which programs will be sliced out of the state budget as a way to start closing the $3.2 billion budget gap, the House and Senate will showcase issues designed to show they’re doing some …
Read More »

Bennett’s bill on drywall comes under scrutiny

By SARA KENNEDY – skennedy@bradenton.com
MANATEE — State Sen. Mike Bennett has filed a bill that could limit a homeowner’s or condo association’s ability to sue over defective drywall, according to attorneys representing those dealing with contaminated property.
Bennett, R-Bradenton, disputed such views, saying the bill is still in draft form and that he does not plan …
Read More »

Balance insurance reform: No free-market solution for a broken market

Unfortunately, the Legislature doesn’t want to revisit one of the most creative proposals for Florida’s property insurance problem. So consumers will have to hope that the Legislature tries to improve the current system in a way that doesn’t give all the benefits to the insurers.
Some legislators would “fix” the problem by letting all companies charge …
Read More »

Bennett has filed a bevy of insurance bills

By SARA KENNEDY – skennedy@bradenton.com
MANATEE — State Sen. Mike Bennett is a prolific filer of bills, and again this year, he’s proposing a number of changes to state insurance laws. 
The Bradenton Republican has filed a bill dealing with title insurance, one addressing Citizens Property Insurance Corp., and even a bill about the director of the …
Read More »

More paperwork will be required of homeowners seeking discount

By Paul Flemming • Florida Capital News •
March 10, 2010
Homeowners can still get insurance discounts for
hurricane clips and window shutters, they’ll just
have to file more paperwork to get them.
It’s a change sought by the insurance industry, part
of addressing what companies say is a financial
squeeze of low rates exacerbated by fraudulent
discounts.
“Criminals are very ambitious and they’ll …
Read More »

Want Break On Insurance Bill? House Will Have To Pose

TALLAHASSEE – Sam Miller has good reason to keep his house as indestructible as possible.
As one of Florida’s top insurance gurus, he knows reinforced roof, thicker drywall, even a couple of hurricane shutters can lower his monthly bill.
It takes a private inspector to certify it all.
But with a vote by the Florida Cabinet Tuesday, now …
Read More »

Getting public records could be easier under bill developed by Crist panel

Posted: 7:55 p.m. Monday, March 8, 2010
TALLAHASSEE — Open government advocates and a state senator who’s had her own problems obtaining public records are backing a sweeping bill making it easier for people to get government records.
The measure (SB 1598, HB 1211) is the product of Gov. Charlie Crist’s Commission on Open Government, which has …
Read More »