News
Lawmakers in Legislature scramble as session nears an end
By Aaron Deslatte Tallahassee Bureau April 26, 2010 TALLAHASSEE – Florida lawmakers are set to close a 60-day session dominated by election-year rancor, symbolic appeals to anti- Barack Obama voters, and a civil war that has pitted Republicans against their own governor. With five more days until the curtain falls on the 2010 legislative session, …
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No sunny outlook for Florida’s insurance market
By Benjamin Zycher April 25, 2010 The sun doesn’t always shine in the Sunshine State. But for many career public officials, maybe the sun will come out tomorrow, and every day until the next election; and after that, the weather will be someone else’s problem. That mindset explains the willingness of Gov. Charlie Crist to …
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Fla. sponsor of property insurance reform measure pulls bill after unfriendly amendments
BRENT KALLESTAD Associated Press Writer 8:07 a.m. EDT, April 23, 2010 TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Property insurance reform has eluded state lawmakers for several years, and it seems as if it could slip out of their grasp this year as well. With a week to go in the 2010 legislative session, the Republican-led Legislature appears …
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Risky insurance regulation
Florida bends over backward to keep shaky insurers afloat Published: Friday, April 23, 2010 at 1:00 a.m. Last Modified: Thursday, April 22, 2010 at 6:56 p.m. Whose side are Florida’s insurance regulators on: the consumers’ or the companies’? That a question that the public and the Legislature should be asking, in light of a Herald-Tribune …
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Property insurance bills seemingly collapse in Florida Legislature
Posted: April 21, 2010 – 8:19pm By Brandon Larrabee TALLAHASSEE – Efforts to ease regulations on property insurance premiums appeared to collapse Wednesday, with both the House and Senate postponing votes on measures that would overhaul insurance rules. But a key House lawmaker said some changes could still gain approval before the legislative session ends …
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Insurance proposals don't have consumers in mind
A Times Editorial In Print: Wednesday, April 21, 2010 It is no secret that Florida’s property insurance market is far from healthy. More than 1 in 4 homeowners are insured by the state-run Citizens Property Insurance Corp., and private coverage remains unaffordable or unavailable in many areas. But it also is no secret that too …
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Senate's insurance bill fair: But House bill would let premiums skyrocket
As usual, the property insurance bills before the Legislature are long and technical, but it’s easy to tell which one is better for consumers. The House continues to push for deregulation, which would allow all of Florida’s 200-plus property insurers to charge whatever premiums they wanted — without review by the Office of Insurance Regulation. …
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Property insurance changes in works
By JOHN FRANK – Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau TALLAHASSEE — State Rep. Rick Kriseman is a reluctant expert on property insurance. A fire torched his home. His previous Florida-based insurer faltered. His rates jumped 90 percent in the last year. And now the St. Petersburg Democrat is sounding an alarm about legislative efforts to revamp the …
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Consumer choice insurance best plan
Posted: April 18, 2010 – 12:11am State Rep. Bill Proctor’s House Bill 447 — aimed at consumer choice in property insurance and deregulation of rates — heads to the state House floor Tuesday. Backers are optimistic it will pass both the House and the Senate, where a companion bill (SB 876) is moving through committees. …
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Tussle in Tallahassee over insurance rates control
By LLOYD DUNKELBERGER H-T Capital Bureau Published: Wednesday, April 14, 2010 at 1:00 a.m. Last Modified: Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 11:51 p.m. TALLAHASSEE – Call it Round 3 between the Legislature and Gov. Charlie Crist. Earlier in the session, Crist vetoed a campaign fundraising bill championed by top Republicans. This week, lawmakers and the …
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Florida insurers’ fees to affiliates questioned
Consumer advocates call for more scrutiny as insurers report losses and request rate hikes By Julie Patel, Sun Sentinel 2:54 a.m. EDT, March 29, 2010 Florida property insurers are pressing state legislators to allow them to raise rates without regulator approval, citing losses in recent years. But consumer advocates and regulators question the legitimacy of …
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Head or heart? The Florida Legislature tackles the property insurance reform package
Posted: April 11, 2010 – 10:10am In the next few weeks, members of the Florida Legislature will have to choose between their heads and their hearts. If they listen to their heads, they will pass Rep. Bill Proctor’s property insurance reform package. If they listen to their hearts, or their political instincts, they will reject it. …
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Expect insurance chaos if hurricane hits hard
Mike Thomas COMMENTARY 10:01 p.m. EDT, April 10, 2010 The water is warm, the upper atmosphere is calming, and so the hurricanes are predicted to howl this season. If we get hit hard, this is what will happen: A number of small, startup insurance companies that now dominate Florida’s market will fail. The state-owned Citizens …
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Miami-based Northern Capital Insurance goes under
With Miami-based Northern Capital Insurance no longer solvent, thousands of South Florida homeowners will need to find a new insurance company. BY NIRVI SHAH nshah@MiamiHerald.com Less than two months before the start of hurricane season, Miami-based Northern Capital Insurance is going under. State insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty said this week that Northern Capital, with about …
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Insurers giving second look to windstorm mitigation discounts
By GRACE GAGLIANO – ggagliano@bradenton.com BRADENTON — Homeowners whose insurance premiums have a windstorm mitigation discount could be getting a reinspection notice from their insurance provider. Due to widespread property inspection fraud, insurance companies are starting to reinspect homes that have received favorable marks for hurricane protection, said Sam Miller, executive vice president of the …
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