TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida is trying to entice private insurance companies to sell flood policies in the state that’s the most vulnerable to storm surge. The Florida Senate voted Thursday 30-3 for the bill (SB 542) sponsored by Sen. Jeff Brandes, a Republican from St. Petersburg. It now heads to the desk of Gov.…
TALLAHASSEE — By 2007, Richard Corcoran was a well-paid and deeply entrenched Florida political operative tied to several House speakers and Gov. Jeb Bush. But, ambitious and restless, he quit his job as chief of staff to House Speaker Marco Rubio to run for office himself. “I’d get moments of frustration,” Corcoran said. “Someone finally…
AUSTIN, Texas — Florida dropped back to second place, but remains close to the top of the 18 hurricane-target coastal states in building codes in a 2015 rating report released Wednesday by the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety. The Institute, in an update of its 2012 findings, gave Florida 94 points out of…
TRINITY — The club with clout is suddenly the club without. The West Pasco Republican Club, a fixture in local political circles for four decades, faces a likely demise after party leaders declined to renew the group’s charter this week. The club president called it a political vendetta against one of the group’s former longtime…
We’ve all seen someone driving down the road distracted by their cell phone, food, or a GPS device. However, a recent survey of U.S. drivers reveals even more outlandish behavior happening behind the wheel. In an effort to discourage distracted driving in conjunction with National Distracted Driving Awareness Month in April, Harris Poll, on…
Another state is taking aim at automobile crash rings. Kentucky HB 153 goes into effect in late June and makes it illegal to solicit victims involved in an automobile crash for medical treatment for 30 days following the incident. Mark Treesh, executive director for the Insurance Institute of Kentucky, describes the scheme this way:…
On March 30, 2011, the Third District Court of Appeal issued its opinion in United Automobile Insurance Co. v. Levine, Case No. 3D09-3234, and made clear that bad faith litigation will continue to thrive without immediate action by the Florida Legislature. Bad Faith Litigation,Third DCA Decision Opens Door to Continued Abuse of Current Law
Can insurer be acting in bad faith for failing to settle a claim when the insured or claimant is deliberately attempting not to settle in order to create a bad faith “refusal to settle” claim against the insurer and thereby avoid low policy limits? Or must the insured/claimant be making a good faith effort to…
Bad-faith lawsuits targeting automobile insurers in Florida impose a heavy burden on the state’s auto insurance system and auto insurance consumers. The possibility of winning large bad-faith settlements and court judgments creates powerful incentives for potential claimants and their attorneysto file auto liability insurance claims that otherwise would not be filed. The Insurance Research Council…
View data demonstrating the shocking rise of AOB lawsuits in South Florida….Escalation of Assignment of Benefits Lawsuits