Tag: Florida insurance industry

Homeowners insurance reforms needed in Florida, says Governor

Insurance Industry Climate change

Gov. Scott and a panel of lawmakers have called for changes that will provide greater awareness. Governor Rick Scott, along with a number of lawmakers in Florida, have announced that they will be seeking to provide residents of the state with better education regarding the hidden costs linked with homeowners insurance and the “house of cards” that will collapse in the wake of a major storm. The governor spoke at a summit at Disney for the Florida Chamber of Commerce. He explained that solid efforts are required to make certain…

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Insurance news scandal and media fire response from Citizens

Julie Campbell
Florida Insurance News - Citizens insurance

The Florida homeowners insurer of last resort says that the dramatic reports are misleading. The homeowners insurer of last resort in Florida is now responding to the latest insurance news that includes heavy media fire regarding the scandal that surrounds the closure of the company’s watchdog department. Citizens says that much of the media coverage is highly misleading and is quite inaccurate. The CEO of the state backed insurer gave his own insurance news statement. Barry Gilway did agree that there have been a small group of supervisors within the…

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Florida legislators back new bill that will reform the state’s no-fault auto insurance laws

S.Vagus

As auto insurance fraud is thrusted into the limelight by the actions of federal and state regulators this week in New York, the eleven other states that host no-fault insurance laws are taking a hard look at what can be done to make fraud a less serious issue. Florida is currently the leader in terms of auto insurance fraud, much of which is spurred by the state’s no-fault laws. These laws require insurers to pay benefits to victims of car accidents no matter who may be at fault. Like in…

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Florida has yet to find an auto insurance reform consensus among the many opinions

Tallahassee, Florida Republicans have been reviewing a large number of competing proposals in the effort to introduce significant reforms to the state’s auto insurance system, but there doesn’t seem to be a direct or simple solution to be found. The lawmakers are currently struggling to find ways to make changes to the current no-fault auto insurance law in the state. At the moment, drivers are legally required to carry at least $10,000 in personal injury protection (PIP) coverage. This protection is no-fault in the state, which means that insurers are…

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Scott Wallace, CEO of Citizens Property Insurance, to step down

Julie Campbell

Scott Wallace, the President and CEO of Citizens Property Insurance Corp., has announced that he will be stepping down on April 6, 2012 from his positions in the corporation. Wallace has been the CEO for the insurer for over six years, and has been the head of the company throughout a time when it underwent a significant amount of growth and became the largest provider of homeowners’ insurance in Florida, reaching approximately 1.5 million policies. Citizens did face some scrutiny after state officials and Governor Rick Scott worked to find…

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Florida to join the Interstate insurance Product Compact

Nordstrom

Florida may be the latest state to join the Interstate Insurance Product Compact, a program established in 2006 in order to improve consumer protection and hasten the accreditation process for new insurance products. Currently, 41 states have joined the program, all of which have adopted universal standards regarding application procedures concerning life insurance and long-term disability coverage products. The program does not account for health insurance, but Florida legislators may seek to include these products into the program if the state joins. The Insurance Product Regulation Commission, a multi-state agency…

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Citizens board of governors submits new legislative agenda to Florida lawmakers

Marc

The governing board of Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance Corp. has agreed on a new legislative agenda that could save the state-run insurance program more than $1.5 billion in insured losses. The board met with state legislators this week in Orlando to discuss the agenda, particularly what legislators can do to make the insurance program more efficient. The board expressed the importance of making cuts to the types of properties the program can insure and has begun pressuring lawmakers to hasten the rate at which premiums can rise. Earlier this year,…

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