Florida Developments

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Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty (McCarty) announced this week that the Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) has filed an administrative complaint seeking to suspend the certificates of authority of numerous Allstate Companies to write new insurance policies in Florida. 

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Read More Florida Office of Insurance Regulation Files Formal Complaint to Suspend Allstate Companies’ Licenses

The House of Representatives’ Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a field hearing in West Palm Beach, Florida regarding the “crisis related to availability and affordability of homeowners’ insurance in Florida and other disaster-prone areas.” …
Read More Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Holds Florida Field Hearing on Homeowners Insurance in Disaster Prone Areas

In Auto-Owners Ins. Co. v. Pozzi Window Co., No. SC06-779 (Fla. Dec. 20, 2007), the Florida Supreme Court, in response to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, answered the following certified question in the negative:

DOES A STANDARD FORM [COMMERCIAL] GENERAL LIABILITY POLICY WITH PRODUCT[S] COMPLETED OPERATION HAZARD COVERAGE, SUCH AS THE POLICIES DESCRIBED HERE, ISSUED TO A GENERAL CONTRACTOR, COVER THE GENERAL CONTRACTOR’S LIABILITY TO A THIRD PARTY FOR THE COSTS OF REPAIR OR REPLACEMENT OF DEFECTIVE WORK BY ITS SUBCONTRACTOR?

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Read More Florida Supreme Court Rules that Cost of Repairing or Replacing Subcontractor’s Defective Work Is not “Property Damage” Under CGL Policy

In a press release dated January 29, 2008, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott announced the settlement of a bid-rigging investigation involving American International Group Inc.   Click here to review the press release, petition and final judgment with AIG.  The press release states that the agreement was spearheaded by Texas Attorney General Abbott’s Antitrust Division.

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Read More Texas Attorney General Settles Bid-Rigging Charges With Insurance Carrier

In Mills v. Foremost Insurance Co., No. 06-16458 (Jan. 4, 2008), the 11th Circuit recently overturned the dismissal of Florida hurricane victims’ class-action lawsuit relating to mobile home damages.  The plaintiffs claimed that their insurer underpaid for the damage to their mobile homes. …
Read More 11th Circuit Reinstates Hurricane Class-Action Lawsuit

Last week, three Allstate Companies (Allstate Insurance Co., Allstate Indemnity Co. and Allstate Property and Casualty Co., collectively “Allstate”) were suspended from writing new automobile insurance policies in the state of Florida by Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty. 

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Read More Allstate Suspended from Writing New Business in Florida

After a three-month break, effective January 1, 2008, Florida returned to a no-fault system and again mandated that Florida drivers carry personal injury protection (“PIP”) coverage.  PIP coverage pays the first $10,000 of medical costs for injuries related to automobile accidents, regardless of who was at fault. 

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Read More Florida No-Fault Statute Returns after Short Hiatus

As we reported here, Florida is dealing with several issues concerning its approved rates for property insurance.  Last Thursday, several property insurers were subpoenaed by Florida lawmakers to provide testimony before Florida’s Senate Banking and Finance Committee as to why homeowner’s insurance rates in that state have not declined a year after the state’s hurricane insurance pool was doubled. …
Read More Property Insurers Subpoenaed by Florida Legislature Over Rates

As one of his first actions upon taking office in January 2007, Florida Governor Charlie Crist asked the state legislature to increase the state’s hurricane catastrophe fund.  Crist’s initiative was designed to lower insurers’ costs, and insurers, which bought reinsurance from the state, were supposed to pass their savings on to policyholders. 

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Read More Governor Crist Assembles Trial Team To Review Insurers’ Compliance With Rate Reform

Florida’s Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) has announced that it has settled its differences with Universal Health Care Insurance Company (UHCIC) through a consent order.  UHCIC had previously commenced numerous court actions to fend off receivership proceedings. 

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Read More Florida Regulators Reach Settlement with Universal Health Care Insurance Company