News & Resources

Miami-Dade County may have its share of windstorms and hurricanes, but sinkholes are extremely rare in this part of Florida. That may be a selling point for one Marion County family looking to relocate after losing their home to two sinkholes. If there is any good news, it could be that this happened before Citizens’ new premiums go into effect — families with sinkhole insurance could be paying hundreds of dollars more in premiums after the first of the year.

Officials from NASA announced recently that an expired climate satellite lhad ost its orbit and would fall to Earth. People in Florida and elsewhere in the country had been wondering if their home or even their person could be hit by falling debris. It is no surprise that people question whether their insurance company will pick up the tab to repair any damage — the satellite weighs 6 tons.

We have talked a lot about hurricane season and the storm modeling software used by insurance companies. As insurers have evaluated the storm risks, they have proposed higher rates — Florida homeowners could be faced with huge premium increases based on the hurricane projections alone. But what would happen if actuaries factored climate change into loss projections?

We are wrapping up our discussion of regulatory compliance in the property and casualty insurance industry. Every state has an agency that monitors insurance companies’ financial and service records. When the results are a little out of whack, the departments — in Florida, it’s the Office of Insurance Regulation — conduct a full examination of the company’s operations.

We all make mistakes. Many times we don’t realize it until someone else points it out to us. If we make a mistake on our tax return, say, the IRS lets us know. If we make too many mistakes, the IRS is going to do a lot more than just let us know. We’re going to be audited.

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is set to expire at the end of September. In light of recent budget debates, the fate of the program is uncertain, adding another insurance worry to Floridians’ plates. It was hard for residents here to watch the news coverage of the windstorm that took down stage rigging at a state fair — not from a lack of empathy, but from that sense memory of living through hours of 60- to 70-mile-an-hour winds and flooding that come with a hurricane.

We’re discussing a recent Florida appellate decision in a workers’ compensation case. The employer and insurance company primarily denied the claim because the worker was illegal at the time of his accident.

A Florida appellate court has ruled against an employer and an insurance company, saying that they must pay a workers’ compensation claim. The claim was denied because the employee was undocumented.

A federal judge ended the dispute between an insurance company and Florida’s insurance commissioner this week — for the moment. The judge dismissed the claim without prejudice, which means the insurance company can file again in the future. The case wasn’t about improper claim procedures or undue delay in paying claims. It was about an alleged personal vendetta.

We are continuing our discussion of a relatively unknown insurance product, tuition insurance. Offered through K-12 private schools and colleges in Florida and elsewhere, the insurance pays the policyholder if the insured — say, a child just entering college — cannot complete the term for a health reason.