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Court ponders attorney fees in worker cases

TALLAHASSEE — In an issue watched closely by business, labor and trial-lawyer groups, the Florida Supreme Court weighed the constitutionality of limits on attorneys’ fees in workers-compensation insurance cases. Justices heard arguments Wednesday in a case that stemmed from injuries suffered in 2009 by a South Florida man, Marvin Castellanos,

Office Approves Removal of up to 182,567 Policies from Citizens

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (Office) has approved the removal of up to 180,040 personal residential policies and 2,527 commercial residential polices from Citizens Property Insurance Corporation (Citizens) by the following nine companies: ·         Anchor Property & Casualty Insurance Company – approved to remove up to 50,000 personal residential policies (36,000

Mid-Year Service Contract Report:

Consumers will pay nearly $40 billion this year for product protection plans, despite the best efforts of the watchdogs who tell them not to. It’s mostly for smartphones and passenger cars, though, because everything else is perceived to be disposable and not worth fixing. The service contract industry is huge

Office Issues Citizens Rate Filing Order on Commercial Lines

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (Office) has established the 2015 commercial residential and non-residential rates for Citizens Property Insurance Corporation (Citizens), Florida’s largest property insurer. Overall, statewide average commercial rates will increase 3.3%, compared to the 5.2% increase requested by Citizens. The rate filing decision for Citizens homeowners accounts was made earlier

Rating agency blasts small Florida insurers

As Florida seeks to revive its private home insurance market after almost a decade without a hurricane, homeowners are pouring $6 billion a year in premiums into a new generation of small, in-state insurance companies with an unproven record of withstanding a major hurricane. A consumer-oriented rating agency, Weiss Ratings,

Editorial: Regulators should ensure ride-share safety

Hillsborough County’s Public Transportation Commission on Wednesday will take another crack at bringing the unlicensed ride-share companies into the legal taxicab business. There is every reason to open up competition, but these companies must first comply with public health and safety standards. The ride-sharing services Uber and Lyft have operated

Crist makes property insurance an election issue

TALLAHASSEE — Democrat Charlie Crist said Thursday he successfully reduced rising property insurance rates as governor and will do so again if elected, vowing to repeal a law enacted under Republican Gov. Rick Scott that he said provides weaker coverage at a higher price. It’s a familiar theme for Crist,

Florida Decides Poll: Voters not quite warm yet for 2016 candidates

When it comes to 2016, Florida’s likely voters are not yet warming-up to the field of possible candidates for president. The exclusive Florida Decides Statewide Poll took the temperature of voters and how they feel about a select set of Republican and Democratic candidates. The favorability ratings were based on

Office Issues Citizens Rate Filing Order

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (Office) has established the 2015 rates for Citizens Property Insurance Corporation (Citizens), Florida’s largest property insurer. Overall, the statewide average homeowners rate will fall 3.7% compared to the 3.4% decrease requested by Citizens. The Order sets rates for Citizens Homeowners’, Dwelling