In light of the recent National Insurance Crime Bureau report indicating that questionable claims involving staged vehicle accidents have substantially increased in Florida between 2008 and 2009, Florida Insurance Consumer Advocate Sean Shaw will host a roundtable discussion on Personal Injury Protection ("PIP") insurance-related issues on Wednesday, August 4, 2010 from 9:00 a.m. to approximately 4:00 [...]
The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles ("DHSMV") published its annual report on traffic accident statistics on June 29, 2010. According to the report, statewide traffic-related fatalities have dropped to a record low. To view the report, click here. Similar reports from previous years and additional DHSMV information can be accessed at: www.flhsmv.gov/html/safety.html. Other [...]
Home inspectors will have to get a state license for the first time in Florida. Although the regulations go into effect July 1, there will be a one-year "grace period" to let people in the profession get the new license, said Jenn Meale, communications director for the state Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Read [...]
Florida regulators have agreed to allow a once-troubled property insurer to enter hurricane season prepared not for a big hurricane, but multiple smaller ones. The Orlando-based Olympus Insurance is among the first to publicly take advantage of relaxed requirements for hurricane protection as Florida property insurers struggle to remain solvent even without a storm. First [...]
The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) has found that Olympus Insurance Company has satisfactorily addressed the issues raised in its Order dated April 9, 2010, that there are no other pending regulatory issues concerning Olympus, and that the Order has been vacated immediately, the Company announced. Read more here
Hurricanes aren't the real threat to the Florida insurance industry. It's the regulators that do the damage, the head of an industry-backed nonprofit said Wednesday at the annual Governor's Hurricane Conference in Fort Lauderdale. Read the entire story here
A North Miami Beach public insurance adjuster was suspended Friday by Florida's chief financial officer on allegations that he kept $34,000 worth of homeowners' claims payments. Read the entire story here
We applaud the legislature’s hard work in passing SB2044 that would have improved the availability and affordability of property insurance in the state by reducing fraud and claims abuse by a few to the detriment of everyone else. Unfortunately, it was erroneously portrayed by critics as a bill that would have raised rates without regulatory [...]
The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (“OIR”) held a public rate hearing today, June 1, 2010 on the recent homeowners insurance rate filing by the Hartford Insurance Company of the Midwest (“Hartford”). OIR Deputy Commissioner Belinda Miller, Deputy Director Michael Milnes, Actuary Ken Ritzenthaler and OIR Assistant General Counsel Stephen Thomas officiated the hearing. […]