The Florida Senate Budget Subcommittee on Finance and Tax passed as amended, CS/SB 1816 Relating to Surplus Lines, during its meeting today, April 13, 2011. The bill is sponsored by Senator Mike Fasano (R-New Port Richey) and cosponsored by Senator Garrett Richter (R-Naples), and the Committee Substitute is sponsored by the Senate Banking and Insurance [...]
Joining representatives from the Florida Association of Insurance Agents ("FAIA") in a teleconference with media members today, April 11, 2011, Senator Alan Hays called Citizens Property Insurance Corporation ("Citizens") a "fraudulent company that is state-owned" and said that it would be "irresponsible to continue what we've been doing" with regard to Citizens.
As published in the Sunshine State News, "Every day Floridians are targeted by individuals seeking to use them as pawns in schemes to defraud and collect millions, and it is costing Florida families as much as $100 in higher auto insurance premiums every year. It’s called personal injury protection (PIP) fraud and efforts are under [...]
According to National Underwriter, legislation in Florida aimed at curbing personal injury protection (PIP) insurance fraud stalled in state Senate Banking and Insurance Committee yesterday. The discussion related to SB 1930, a bill to tackle alleged fraud by medical clinics and staged auto crash rings, took too long and a vote on the measure was put [...]
The following article by FPCA legal counsel Richard Fidei explains how Florida public adjusters are joining to file a lawsuit for a declaratory judgment against the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR). The article was published in National Underwriter. Read the entire story here
According to the St. Petersburg Times, Governor Scott's shift of emergency management authority has changed very little. Read the entire story here
According to the Tampa Tribune, high coastal exposure to hurricanes is one reason Florida has the highest property-insurance rates in the country. Read the entire story here
As published in the Suncoast News, "sinkhole claims continue to frustrate state lawmakers trying to contain fraud and staggering losses the past five years or so. Now some legislators are contemplating essentially doing away with full insurance coverage for sinkhole damage. Only a catastrophic ground collapse that renders a house uninhabitable would be covered." Read [...]
Sen. Garrett Richter, R-Naples, drafted the following letter on SB 2044, a bill that was intended to strengthen the insurance market, attract more competition and reduce rampant fraud. Read the entire letter here
The Sun-Sentinel reports on the rising number of sinkhole claims in the state - and why things just don't add up. Read the entire story here