Capitol to Courthouse Florida Insurance Report–Thursday, August 21, 2014

Aug 21, 2014

 

Daily Florida Insurance-Related Events

 

2:00 p.m.–Florida Workers’ Compensation Joint Underwriting Association Reinsurance Committee meeting.  To view the meeting notice, click here.  To view the agenda, click here.

 

Daily Florida Insurance-Related News

Court rules for State Farm Florida in decomposed body dispute

An appeals court Wednesday sided with State Farm Florida Insurance Co. in a dispute about a claim stemming from a decomposed body in a condominium building, THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA reports via WZVN-TV.

 

Florida Opens, Closes Surplus Lines Opportunities

Some of what Florida lawmakers did this session could create opportunities for the surplus lines industry, whereas in other cases, their actions frustrated opportunities for the surplus lines industry, Andrew Simpson reports for Insurance Journal.

 

Florida home insurers’ premium margin expands

Last year, Florida homeowners insurance companies took in more than $8.5 billion from policy premiums while paying out $2.3 billion in losses and other expenses, for a net difference of $6.2 billion, a new financial analysis shows.

 

Veteran Insurance Regulatory Attorney Nate “Wes” Strickland to Lead Colodny Fass Nationally Known Practice

Veteran insurance attorney Nate Wesley “Wes” Strickland has joined Colodny Fass  as a Partner to head the Firm’s Insurance Regulatory practice in Tallahassee, the Firm reported today.

 

Redistricting lawsuit:  Plaintiffs take heat for using Democratic firm

A Harvard University political science professor hired to help the plaintiffs challenging the state’s congressional maps in court faced a blistering round of questions Wednesday from attorneys representing the Legislature, Florida Times-Union’s Matt Dixon reports via the “Political Fix Florida” blog.

 

Republicans “Scrambling” to Protect Florida Senate Incumbents

People trying to push Florida’s Republican Party further to the right say the state organization is “scrambling” as it defends a pair of incumbent lawmakers from primary opposition, THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA’s Jim Turner reports via SayfieReview.com.

 

Appeals court speeds up case involving disqualified Tampa write-in candidate

An appeals court has decided to speed up its consideration of the case filed by the disqualified write-in candidate in the House District 64 race, Tampa Tribune’s James Rosica reports via the “Fresh Squeezed Politics” blog.

 

Florida TaxWatch Looks at How Florida Matches Up on Education

Florida TaxWatch released “How Florida Compares — Education” looking at how education in the Sunshine State does against the other states.  The report finds Florida is third in the nation for K-12 enrollment and has the second best value for in-state tuition at state universities and colleges, Kevin Derby reports for SunshineStateNews.com.

 

Court Rules No Protection for Foreign Whistleblowers at Overseas Firms

Foreign whistleblowers who work for overseas companies can’t be protected from retaliatory firings for disclosing conduct that happens abroad, a federal appeals court held.  Bloomberg’s Victoria Slind-Flor reports via Insurance Journal. 

 

Regulators back away from PPACA “3 Rs” accounting draft

Health insurers — and other insurers — have persuaded state insurance accounting regulators to rethink proposed rules for reporting on the money coming from the big new federal health risk management programs, Allison Bell reports for LifeHealthPro.com.

 

Best’s Review Magazine to Host August 22 Industry Roundtable Wrapping Up NAIC Summer Meeting

A.M. Best announced yesterday that an insurance industry panel will review actions and developments from the NAIC Summer 2014 National Meeting and discuss next steps from the meeting in a special one-hour webinar set for Friday, August 22 at 2 p.m. EDT.  Register at no charge at http://www.ambest.com/webinars/naic-summer14.