News & Resources

After the cruise ship accident off the coast of Italy last week, many of us will look a little differently at the ships docked at the Port of Miami. In the insurance business, it is hard not to wonder if cruising has become so mundane that travelers forget the risks involved. Granted, the situation with the Costa Concordia was unusual. But the question lingers: Are passengers assuming that the cruise line will take care of everything in an emergency, or have they protected their own interests by purchasing trip insurance?

During presidential campaign years, early primary states like Florida can benefit as candidates and their entourages make their ways from corner store to neighborhood restaurant, wooing voters at every turn. Business owners should check their general liability insurance, though, because a candidate visit can be a mixed blessing. In our last post, we were talking about some of the problems businesses have to deal with during campaigns, including having a large group of people in a small café or boutique.

The Florida primary is coming up, and the state is gearing up for the campaign stops and the stump speeches. This summer, Florida will host the Republican National Convention. The state’s hospitality industry is looking forward to the economic boom that comes with all this political activity, but individual business owners may want to think about the risks that come with large crowds. Now is the time to review property and commercial general liability insurance coverage.

We are picking up the discussion from our Dec. 4, 2011 post. We were looking at a study of insurance policy language that is scheduled to be published this month. The author, a law school professor, compared homeowners insurance policies, focusing on policies at the top 10 insurance groups in six states. He found that changes from the standard forms are “systematically less generous” to consumers.

As Florida’s insurance industry and lawmakers gear up for the coming legislative session, a trade association for risk managers is asking for more sweeping reform. The Risk and Insurance Management Society, Inc. wants the federal government to promulgate uniform, national regulations for commercial insurance.

There’s a silly ad on television right now, for a smart phone. The phone is reading messages to Santa (Mrs. Claus writes to stay away from the cookies, for example), ending with a summary of Santa’s schedule. “You have 3.7 billion appointments today,” the electronic voice croons.

Every year, an untold number of Florida’s families wonders what would happen if a big storm rolled in on Christmas Eve and Santa couldn’t make it. Rudolph can only get so far with the shiny nose thing. In hail and sleet and even a major wind storm, Santa could be grounded — or worse, he could be in an accident along the flyway or on the slippery roof of someone’s house.

We have been talking about the proposals that officials of Citizens Property Insurance Corp. presented to a panel of lawmakers at the specific request of Florida Gov. Rick Scott. The insurance company has been under fire for some time, with the governor and others sounding the alarm about the company’s financial stability and its rate of growth. Citizens was designed to be the insurer of last resort in the state, but it now boasts 1.5 million policyholders and $500 billion or more in exposure.

Back in November, Florida Gov. Rick Scott asked Citizens Property Insurance Co. to come up with a plan that would help the company stay afloat. The state-backed company has long struggled with financial viability, and lawmakers are beginning to wonder aloud if the problem can’t be traced to business practices rather than legislative and regulatory limitations.

We are continuing our discussion of proposals presented to Florida’s governor and other lawmakers by Citizens Property Insurance Co. The governor directed the insurer several weeks ago to devise a plan that would improve its viability — and not just any plan, but a plan that did not involve legislative action.