The state representatives of the Non-Admitted Insurance Multi-State Agreement (NIMA) have elected the group’s first Governing Committee. The Chairman of NIMA will be Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney from Mississippi, the Vice-Chairman of NIMA will be Director of Insurance Merle Scheiber of South Dakota, and the Secretary of NIMA will be Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty of Florida. […]
The Florida Senate Banking and Insurance Committee released its issue brief (2012-226) regarding Citizens Property Insurance Corporation on September 1, 2011. As one would expect all of the numbers are very large. The brief provided up to date information on the total policies in force and the surplus in each of the three statutorily created […]
Governor Rick Scott issued Executive Order 11-01 as his first official act upon taking office earlier this year. The executive order directed all state agencies under the Governor’s control to suspend rulemaking and not to proceed with administrative rules until approved by a new Office of Fiscal Accountability and Regulatory Reform. The executive order also […]
Robin Westcott, Florida’s recently named Insurance Consumer Advocate, has indicated she will create a working group to develop policy recommendations to address concerns in the Personal Injury Protection market. PIP fraud has received considerable attention over the last year, but efforts to address problems in this area stalled in the 2011 legislative session. In announcing […]
Amidst discussion about Citizens Property Insurance Corporation’s proposed sinkhole rates, and more broadly about debt ceilings and credit ratings, a recent NOAA prediction did not receive much attention. With the recent demise of Tropical Storm Emily, we have now seen five named storms in the current hurricane season. In May, the NOAA predicted the season […]
Citizens Property Insurance Corporation got the insurance world talking recently when it announced that rates for sinkhole coverage would increase by an average of 400 percent, and by much higher amounts in certain areas. Citizens’ rate increases are capped at 10 percent per policyholder per year, but the 2011 legislature removed sinkhole coverage from the […]
The subject of annuities was addressed in the last days of the 2010 Florida Legislative Session in a general insurance bill (SB 2176), now Chapter 2010-175, Laws of Florida. The statute, section 626.99(4)(c), was amended to require cover pages for fixed and variable annuity contracts. For fixed annuities the statute requires the notice to be […]
Gov. Rick Scott recently indicated that he would support making personal injury protection coverage, or PIP, optional. Currently, Florida motorists are required to carry $10,000 in PIP coverage. PIP pays medical bills without regard to who as it fault in an accident. However, PIP coverage has been the subject of considerable fraud such as staged accidents and […]
The Florida Surplus Lines Office and the Department of Financial Services (collectively “Florida”) moved forward on July 1, to implement the Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act of 2010 (NRRA) enacted by Congress and chapter 2011-46, Laws of Florida, enacted by the Florida Legislature. Florida selected July 1 as the date the surplus lines risks for […]
Radey Thomas Yon & Clark, P.A. today announced that Florida Trend magazine ranked it among the Top 100 Best Companies to Work for in Florida. Florida Trend annually ranks the “Best Companies to Work for in Florida,” and its August issue lists the 2011 winners. The firm is one of only four Tallahassee companies to […]