The Florida Senate on Thursday gave final approval to a far-reaching bill aimed at helping shield businesses and insurance companies from lawsuits, with supporters saying it will rein in 'billboard lawyers' and opponents saying it will harm consumers.

Gov. Ron DeSantis says two state investigations have been launched following reports that insurance companies have been slashing Hurricane Ian payouts, leaving homeowners to foot the repair bill.

The House has passed a major legislative package to limit lawsuits against insurance companies and businesses.

When insurance adjuster Jordan Lee entered the cream-colored house battered by Hurricane Ian, the smell from the rain-soaked carpet made it hard to breathe. Piles of pink insulation covered the worn, white couches, he recalled, and poured from the collapsed ceiling, left gaping from the storm's 150 mph winds

The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) has applauded the Florida House Judiciary Committee and the Senate Committee on Banking & Insurance for passing two significant bills aimed at reducing insurance lawsuit abuse.

In Family Security Insurance Co. v. Stein, Florida's Fourth District Court of Appeal confirmed that, in a coverage action where the issue of coverage is in dispute, an insurer's claim file and claim investigation materials are protected by the work product privilege.

Just days after some 90,000 policies from troubled United Property & Casualty Insurance Co. were transferred to Slide Insurance as part of a wind-down of the carrier, it was announced that UPC is officially broke and will soon be liquidated.

Florida's Third District Court of Appeal recently affirmed a summary judgment entered in favor of a property insurer, holding that there is no conflict between the policy's three year limitation for reporting hurricane claims and the requirement that the insured give prompt notice.

Florida legislation proposed last week would prevent the state's motorists from assigning their legal rights in auto insurance claims to repair shops.

A Florida House Republican on Friday filed a proposal that would prevent motorists from assigning auto-insurance benefits to repair shops that can then pursue payments from insurers.

Former National Football League player Sharrif K. Floyd, whose career ended after knee surgery, sued a Sompo International Holding Co. unit, a The Doctors Co. unit, Marsh USA Inc. and USI Insurance Services LLC, charging a $10 million shortfall in insurance proceeds.

Bad news for one insurance company. After failing for nearly 400 days to tender its policy limit of $250,000 in coverage, according to plaintiff counsel, an insurance company took an $8.5 million hit to its bottom line to settle a lawsuit involving a catastrophic injury after a wild series of events.

As of yesterday, the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) had paid USD 2.2 billion in claims for Hurricane Ian, which made landfall in Florida as a major Category 4 storm in September 2022, an increase of almost 28% from the figure reported by the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on January 9th, 2023.

In First Mercury Insurance Co. v. First Florida Building Corporation, 20-cv-1929 (M.D. Fla Jan. 3, 2023), the court rejected an insurer's bid to have evidence considered outside the underlying complaint concerning the claimant's employment status to determine the duty to defend. This underlying suit involves a personal injury claim where the claimant sustained severe injuries while working at a construction site.

Parametric flood insurer FloodFlash has announced that it has entered into the US insurance market.