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Florida legislation that could perhaps make life a little easier for insurance agents and for snowbirds and others with second homes passed major hurdles this week, moving them closer to approval by the full Legislature.
But an effort to allow the state-created Citizens Property Insurance Corp. to take on more condominium coverage in the midst of an extra-hard market has been left out of bills, thanks to opposition from Citizens officials.
Senate Bill 1716 and House Bill 1503 would allow surplus lines carriers to take out policies from Citizens on homes that are not primary residences. SB 1716, by Sen. Jim Boyd, was approved by the Senate Fiscal Policy Committee on Tuesday. HB 1503 sailed through the House Commerce Committee and is now awaiting a floor vote.
The bills address a long-standing concern among some lawmakers that Citizens, with its below-market rates in many cases, should not be writing vacation homes and second homes for out-of-state residents. Boyd told the Tampa Bay Times that the plan would help reduce the number of policies and exposure held by Citizens, which remains the largest property insurer in the state with about 1.2 million policies in force.
But others worried that surplus lines coverage would not have the backing of the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association in case of insolvency. HB 1503 would require surplus lines insurers to have an A.M. Best financial strength rating of “A-” or better and that residential policies be managed by a Florida broker. The measure also would modify the 2022 requirement that Citizens’ policyholders also must purchase flood insurance. If the bill becomes law, those insureds would have to buy flood coverage for a dwelling loss, not for contents.
The Florida Surplus Lines Association has said it supports the bills, as does Baldwin Risk Partners, the Times reported.
Also this week, what have been called “the agents’ bills,” SB 1104, and HB 1149, would bar cancellation or non-renewals of residential policies until 90 days after storm repairs have been completed. That would give some relief to insurance agents that have said they are often besieged by policyholders who have seen policies canceled while their homes are not fully restored after a hurricane, forcing agents to scramble to find new coverage.
HB 1149, by Rep. Adam Botana and Rep. Hillary Cassel, also would grant the state insurance commissioner the authority to bar insurers from canceling or nonrenewing policies in ZIP codes that have been hit by flooding after a hurricane, for up to 270 days.
“Such an order would apply regardless of whether flood is a covered peril under a personal residential or commercial residential property insurance policy in force at the time of loss,” a staff analysis of the bill explains.
The Florida Association of Insurance Agents and the Professional Insurance Agents of Florida have supported the bills, while the FSLA has raised concerns. “Many national carriers and large brokers believe (the change) will negatively impact capacity,” the FSLA said in a statement.
A bill that passed a House committee early in the session, HB 625, would have allowed Citizens to write condominiums that include rental properties, something now barred by law. But that bill has seen little action and an effort to include the language in SB 1716 and HB 1503 has not been successful, lobbyists have said.
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MIAMI (AP) — Two South Florida police officers claim Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s recent action thriller “The Rip” used too many real-life details in its fictionalized narrative, causing harm to the officers’ personal and professional reputations, according to a defamation lawsuit.
Jason Smith and Jonathan Santana, sergeants in the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, filed the lawsuit in Miami federal court earlier this month against Artists Equity, a film production company owned by Affleck and Damon. Court filings don’t say how much the officers are suing for, but the civil complaint says they’re seeking compensatory damages, punitive damages and attorney fees, as well as a public retraction and correction.
“The Rip” features Affleck and Damon as South Florida police officers who find millions of dollars inside a house. Parts of the movie were inspired by a real 2016 case, where police found over $21 million linked to a suspected marijuana trafficker in a Miami Lakes home.
An attorney for Artists Equity declined to comment when reached Monday by The Associated Press. But in a March 19 response to the plaintiffs’ demand letter, Leita Walker, an attorney for Artists Equity, wrote that the film does not purport to tell the true story of that incident or portray real people, which had been stated by a disclaimer in the film’s credits.
Although Smith and Santana aren’t named in the film, the lawsuit claims that Santana was serving as the lead detective assigned to the real case, and Smith was the sergeant who supervised the investigative team. The film’s inclusion of real details about the case gives the impression that the characters are based on the plaintiffs, the suit said.
And this, the lawsuit claims, has given friends, family members and colleagues the impression that the plaintiffs committed the criminal acts that appear in the film, which include (SPOILER ALERT) conspiring to steal seized drug money, murdering a supervising officer, communicating with cartel members, committing arson in a residential neighborhood, endangering the lives of civilians, repeatedly violating core law-enforcement protocols and executing a federal agent rather than making an arrest.
Walker wrote in March that the plaintiffs haven’t even identified which particular character is supposed to be based on Smith or Santana, so even if “The Rip” was actually about a real-life narcotics team, there’s no way to connect any of the characters to the plaintiffs.
“The Rip,” directed by Joe Carnahan, debuted in January on Netflix. It’s currently rated 78% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
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Brevard County couple gets married in NICU after birth of premature twins
A Florida couple, told they may not be able to have children, welcomed premature twins and had an impromptu NICU wedding.
Provided by AdventHealth for Children
Ben and Danielle Cassidy were told they likely wouldn’t be able to have children.
But this year they will celebrate Mother’s Day just months after having an impromptu wedding in the AdventHealth for Children hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit shortly after Danielle gave birth to twins prematurely — a week before the Palm Bay couple was scheduled to get married.
Both babies, Joshua and Rhett, are doing well despite arriving nine weeks ahead of schedule on Jan. 19, 2026, just one day after their scheduled baby shower. With a proper wedding out of the question with two premature babies in the NICU, a nurse took action.
Issabel Kenkel, the nurse behind the ceremony, said she was already in wedding planning mode for her own upcoming nuptials when she found out the Cassidy family’s ceremony would be interrupted.
“I couldn’t just let them do something small. They needed decorations and something fun, so I spoke to the music therapist and the chaplain,” Kenkel said. In short order, a wedding was being planned for their hospital room and the couple was saying their vows in the company of their safely delivered newborns.
“When we found out we could request staff members to be on our team, that’s when we requested Issabel and having that kind of consistency from someone who has such a big heart and is so kind,” Danielle said.
The hospital ceremony was all the more special because of the Cassidy family’s own health struggles.
“I have five autoimmune diseases and didn’t really think I would have kids. It’s been a rough journey. When Ben and I met, we were floored at how much a miracle it was to have kids,” Danielle said.
Ben, who battled and beat cancer, said he was worried that his prior treatment would result in negative health outcomes for his future children. Having twins for him was an unexpected blessing.
“When we found out we were pregnant, we found it so shocking. We said, wouldn’t it be great if it was twins? It filled out our hopes and dreams list,” Ben said. “They’ve been miracles for sure.”
The Cassidy couple said there was so much fear and uncertainty when their twins were born nine weeks early. Being able to get married right away just made them feel all the better about the future.
“It was nice getting married because we didn’t have to wait any longer to make it official. It made it that much harder for her to get rid of me,” Ben said.
“The unknown made it scary,” Danielle added. “We had no idea how long we would be in the hospital. Our wedding was going to be at the beach with immediate family and parents. Having NICU babies, we realized we’d never be able to get to the beach. It was really special having the people who care for our babies be part of the ceremony.”
The couple hadn’t even planned to have a band at their wedding ceremony and now the hospital’s music therapist was performing live for them and the chaplain was conducting the ceremony, something nurse Kenkel said was just part of her job.
“The babies are going to have the best outcomes if the families are taken care of and going home happy,” she said. “Being in the NICU is already so stressful. This is just one more thing I could do to take care of my patients.”
Tyler Vazquez is the Growth and Development Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Vazquez at 321-480-0854 or tvazquez@floridatoday.com. X: @tyler_vazquez.
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