News & Resources

A host of life insurance companies announced recently that they are expanding their e-underwriting services to more states. The insurers hope that e-underwriting will speed up the process for term-life applicants enough to motivate even more consumers to purchase the coverage. In our last post, we talked about the service in general. This post is devoted to offering consumers a few things to think about before they go down the e-underwriting road.

The Internet is making serious inroads into the life insurance business, especially when it comes to term-life policies. Florida is just one of the many states where insurers are expanding their e-underwriting processes. It’s certainly faster, but consumers need to keep a few things in mind before they rush to the web.

Property insurance in Florida could soon see hefty changes. Republican lawmakers have recently proposed bills that would raise Citizens Property Insurance premiums by as much as 25 percent a year and could prevent many policyholders from receiving coverage.

In our last post, we were talking about the “Restoration of Legal Rights for Claimants under Holocaust-Era Insurance Policies Act of 2011” introduced by Florida’s senior U.S. Senator, Bill Nelson. Holocaust survivors groups have sought this kind of relief for years. The issue, of course, is denied and delayed life insurance payments from Holocaust-era policies. The last post covered the basic provisions of the bill.

Illinois National Ins. Co. v. Bolen, Case No. 5D10-2856, 2011 WL 248541 (Fla. 5th DCA, Feb. 4, 2011)

Florida’s senior U.S. Senator introduced the “Restoration of Legal Rights for Claimants under Holocaust-Era Insurance Policies Act of 2011” last week, answering the call of survivors groups all over the country. As noted previously in our blog, Holocaust survivors, their families and the families of victims of the Holocaust have long sought payment on life insurance policies purchased during the war. They claim insurers have failed to live up to their obligations by delaying or denying claims.

Residents near Christchurch, New Zealand were recently struck with a 6.3 magnitude earthquake, reminding the United States of their vulnerability to a natural disaster of this type.

State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Curran, Case Nos. 5D-09-1488, 5D09-2091, 2011 WL 248541 (Fla. 5th DCA Jan. 28, 2011)

In our last post, we were discussing Senate Bill 408. The Florida Legislature will convene next week, and SB 408, the insurance bill, will probably generate some heated discussions. Two provisions in particular have garnered some strong opinions from insurance companies and policyholder advocates: claims payment, discussed in our last post, and sinkhole coverage.

It is usually policyholders and health-care providers that must go to battle over health insurance. But many Florida lawmakers have been busy fighting within the health insurance arena, by attacking the federal law requiring health insurance coverage for all Americans. Many politicians, including Governor Rick Scott, have found the health-insurance mandate to overstep the role of government in the lives of Floridians.