Flood maps changing for Treasure, Space coasts; some property owners getting good news

Lisa Broadt, lisa.broadt@tcpalm.comPublished 2:42 p.m. ET Aug. 18, 2017 | Updated 9:07 a.m. ET Aug. 19, 2017 Treasure Coast and Space Coast property owners now can find out if their flood insurance premiums are likely to increase next year. Six years after initiating a review, the Federal Emergency Management Agency earlier this summer released draft updated coastal hazard…

Congress has one month to fix flood insurance. Hurricane Harvey makes it harder.

Posted by Alex Daugherty on Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2017 at 6:42 PM @alextdaugherty For months, political foes like Marco Rubio and Elizabeth Warren united behind a push to overhaul the nation’s flood insurance program by capping annual premium increases and focusing on preventing damage in future floods. Hurricane Harvey could change all of that. Congress has spent most of 2017…

Florida Senator Renews Effort to Combat One-Way Attorney’s Fees in Assignment of Benefits Cases

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Insurance industry groups are backing a Florida state senator’s reintroduction of legislation intended to reduce water damage claims litigation by preventing attorney fee awards in cases involving assignment of benefits to third parties.   Senate Bill 62, offered by Republican Sen. Dorothy Hukill, is the same legislation she offered for the 2017…

Before Hurricane Katrina, before Superstorm Sandy, there was Hurricane Andrew.

Alan Gomez, USA TODAY 10:44am, August 10, 2017 Before Hurricane Katrina, before Superstorm Sandy, there was Hurricane Andrew. The intense Category 5 hurricane, a compact buzzsaw that ripped the roofs off thousands of South Florida homes 25 years ago, was so catastrophic that it led to sweeping changes in the insurance industry, weather forecasting and disaster response. And Floridians…

Miami faces greater hurricane danger than killer storm Andrew, study finds

August 9, 2017 Miami Herald By Jennifer Kay, Associated Press Twenty-five years after Hurricane Andrew struck south of Miami, the city’s vulnerability to catastrophic storm damage has grown exponentially, according to a new insurance underwriters’ analysis. At the time, the Category 5 storm was the most expensive natural disaster in U.S. history, causing more than $26 billion…