Florida OIR questions insurers about unpaid life benefits

Sat May 21st, 2011 on     Insurance Claims,    

The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation recently asked major life insurance companies to appear at a hearing regarding unpaid benefits. According to the OIR, life insurers have failed to pay at least $1 billion owed to beneficiaries, policyholders or state governments. Florida’s regulators, along with regulators from 15 other states, specifically want to know how insurers determine a policyholder has died.

Catastrophe model given credit where credit may not be due

Fri May 13th, 2011 on     Insurance Claims,    

As the South fights floods and tornadoes, Florida’s governor is deciding if he should sign an insurance bill that is heavily weighted for the industry and, according to critics, not so much for consumers. We’ve talked about the bill before, especially in light of the industry’s contention that reserves will be wiped out from hurricane claims after that overdue category 5 storm hits.

County wants to help. State says whoa. (concl.)

Mon May 2nd, 2011 on     Insurance Claims,    

Our last two posts have talked about a situation outside of Florida involving a conflict between a county and a state insurance authority. The county tried to establish a fund to help defray the medical costs of the victims of an accident at a county park. The insurance authority put a stop to the plan. It’s not the kind of insurance authority we’re used to thinking about, though. This isn’t the regulatory body; this is the division of the government that writes the government’s policies for property insurance, auto insurance, business insurance and so forth.

County says gov’t will pay. State says no. (p. 2)

Fri Apr 29th, 2011 on     Insurance Claims,    

We’re taking a brief break from Florida’s insurance woes. The sinkhole issue is being hotly debated by legislators and newspaper editorial staffs. The solvency of Citizens is at risk. Coastal communities will be paying exorbitant rates for homeowner insurance if something doesn’t change soon…. We’re heading north to look at a problem that’s arisen between a county government and its insurer.

County: ‘We’ll take care of victims.’ State: ‘No, you won’t.’

Wed Apr 27th, 2011 on     Insurance Claims,    

While the Florida General Assembly continues its debate over sinkhole coverage, rate increases and property insurance coverage in general — not to mention changing the name of Citizens Insurance to Taxpayer-Funded Property Insurance Corporation — a group of community leaders are trying to figure out a way to help the victims of an accident in a county park.

Job loss insurance gaining popularity in Florida (cont.)

Fri Apr 15th, 2011 on     Insurance Claims,    

We’re continuing our discussion of job loss insurance. It’s a different kind of coverage from homeowner insurance or auto insurance in terms of benefit triggers and maximum payments. Florida home buyers would come upon it when working with a mortgage lender, homebuilder or developer. The insurance will pay the mortgage if the borrower loses his job.

Job loss insurance gaining popularity in Florida

Thu Apr 14th, 2011 on     Insurance Claims,    

When you think about insurance for your home, you usually think about your property insurance and maybe mortgage insurance. (Mortgage insurance protects the lender if you die or become disabled.) In Florida, you’ll probably think about flood insurance, too. But would it ever occur to you to buy job loss, or “unintended unemployment,” insurance?

An unlikely pair: life insurance and cell phones

Fri Apr 8th, 2011 on     Insurance Claims,    

We’re taking a brief detour from Florida’s insurance woes today. We noticed a brief news article about an insurance company that’s taking full advantage of new technology while offering coverage to countries that have no insurance industry to speak of. The article talked about the insurance sale, but not claims payment, though, so we’ll leave that to speculation.

Need life insurance? There’s an app for that. (concl.)

Fri Mar 18th, 2011 on     Insurance Claims,    

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.

Need life insurance? There’s an app for that.

Wed Mar 16th, 2011 on     Insurance Claims,    

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.

Super Lawyers
Florida Legal Elite
Top Lawyer - South Florida Legal Guide
Association of Corporate Counsel - South Florida Chapter
Back to top