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Florida to weigh property insurer rate hikes next week

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Florida to weigh property insurer rate hikes next week


TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida regulators have scheduled three hearings subsequent week on proposals by property insurers to boost householders’ charges greater than 20%, whereas the state weighs a plan by one other insurer that has shed insurance policies amid monetary losses.

The Florida Workplace of Insurance coverage Regulation will maintain hearings Might 17 on proposed price hikes by First Floridian Auto and Residence Insurance coverage Co., Kin Interinsurance Community and Florida Farm Bureau Common Insurance coverage Co. and Florida Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance coverage Co.

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Notices printed Tuesday within the Florida Administrative Register mentioned First Floridian is in search of approval of an general 22.9% improve for householders “multi-peril” insurance policies; Kin Interinsurance is in search of approval of an general 25.1% improve; and the Farm Bureau firms are in search of approval of an general 48.7 p.c improve. The Farm Bureau firms are additionally in search of approval of an general 31.7% improve for what are often known as “dwelling hearth” insurance policies, based on one of many notices.

The hearings will come lower than every week earlier than the Might 23 begin of a particular legislative session that Gov. Ron DeSantis known as to grapple with widespread issues within the insurance coverage market. Key points through the session might embrace making an attempt to assist firms acquire reinsurance, which is backup protection that’s essential for Florida carriers.

Three Florida property insurers — Lighthouse Property Insurance coverage Corp., Avatar Property & Casualty Insurance coverage Co. and St. Johns Insurance coverage Co. — have been declared bancrupt since February.

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In the meantime, insurance policies have poured into the state-backed Residents Property Insurance coverage Corp., which was created as an insurer of final resort. Residents topped 850,000 insurance policies final week and is anticipated to hit 1 million insurance policies by the tip of the yr, officers have mentioned.

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Insurance coverage regulators are also weighing a plan that may have an effect on the way forward for FedNat Holding Co., which incorporates subsidiaries FedNat Insurance coverage Co. and Monarch Nationwide Insurance coverage Co., and had about 152,000 insurance policies in Florida as of March 31.

The holding firm mentioned in a federal Securities and Change Fee submitting Monday that it submitted the plan to regulators after the score company Demotech downgraded FedNat Insurance coverage final month. As a part of its technique, FedNat is leaving different states and specializing in Florida, the place its March coverage rely was down 23 p.c from a yr earlier and the place it has had giant price will increase in recent times.

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“FedNat has submitted a proposed motion plan to the OIR (Workplace of Insurance coverage Regulation), which, if authorized by them and regulators in different impacted states, could be anticipated to consequence within the firm changing into a lot smaller, with considerably fewer insurance policies in power, and probably end in extra capital coming into the holding firm or into our insurance coverage carriers,” Michael Braun, FedNat’s chief government officer, mentioned within the submitting. “If authorized, the proposed motion plan could be anticipated to allow the corporate to acquire excess-of-loss reinsurance on a smaller, Florida-only guide of enterprise. Our motion plan is at present being reviewed by the OIR and we’ll present an replace on the end result of their overview when obtainable.”

Throughout a name Tuesday with analysts concerning the firm’s first-quarter monetary outcomes, Braun mentioned it’s too early to know what adjustments within the property-insurance system might consequence from the particular session.

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“Clearly the Florida property market has been very difficult for the final variety of years,” Braun mentioned.

He mentioned the issues out there are having wide-ranging results.

“It’s very tough on the policyholders, it’s very tough on the brokers, it’s very disruptive. Individuals are having loads of bother discovering protection. Residents (Property Insurance coverage) is rising exponentially,” Braun mentioned.



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Florida

South Florida’s scorching temps make for a weekend record-breaker. Here’s what’s ahead.

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South Florida’s scorching temps make for a weekend record-breaker. Here’s what’s ahead.


A record-breaking heat wave has most of South Florida wilting — and wondering when it will end.

There’s no major cooldown ahead just yet, but temperatures will drop a touch on Monday, said George Rizzuto, a meteorologist at the Miami office of the National Weather Service.

Monday’s heat index will hit around 100 degrees, down from Sunday’s “feels-like” temps of 105 to 110 degrees.

“It will still be hot, but not as oppressively hot as it has been this weekend,” Rizzuto said. “For Tuesday and Wednesday you can expect indices in the upper 90s.”

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Next Saturday, the heat index will rise back up to 100 degrees, according to the forecast.

“Not too much of a break in the heat,” Rizzuto said.

Hot and humid conditions continued Sunday, with temperatures hitting to the low- to mid-90s and the peak heat index ranging from 105 to 110 degrees.

Both Broward and Miami-Dade counties were under a heat advisory until 6 p.m. Sunday.

The maximum heat index forecast for Sunday afternoon was 105 degrees in Fort Lauderdale; 106 degrees in West Palm Beach; and 109 degrees in Miami and Homestead.

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The heat index is a measure of how hot it really feels when relative humidity is factored in with the actual air temperature.

“If you’re spending any time outside (Sunday), it is imperative that you are hydrating nearly constantly and take breaks from the direct sun,” the National Weather Service warned on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Bennett Rodriguez runs along A1A in Fort Lauderdale on Friday. As the temperatures rise, the National Weather Service is warning people to stay hydrated and take breaks from the outside heat. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

Saturday’s blistering heat was a record-breaker.

“West Palm Beach set a new record with a temp of 97,” Rizzuto said. “Their old record was 94, set in 1922. It beat it by 3 degrees. Fort Lauderdale tied their maximum temperature record of 96. That was set back in 2008.”

The region’s nightly lows did not drop much below 80 degrees Friday night into Saturday morning, Rizzuto said.

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So now we have new records for minimum lows.

The new record low for West Palm Beach is now 80 degrees. That beat an old record of 78 degrees set back in 2003.

Fort Lauderdale set a new record low of 80 degrees. The previous record low was 77 degrees, set in 2015.

Miami set a new minimum low of 81 degrees. The old record of 79 degrees was set back in 1935.

Strong to severe storms were possible Sunday afternoon, according to meteorologists in Miami.

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“Primary hazards will be large hail and damaging wind gusts but a tornado or two can’t be ruled out,” the National Weather Service’s Miami office said in its Sunday advisory.

Deerfield Beach draws a crowd despite the scorching heat on Sunday. (John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Deerfield Beach draws a crowd despite the scorching heat on Sunday. (John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

Showers and thunderstorms might roll into Broward’s eastern metro areas late afternoon Sunday and into the evening, Rizzuto said.

But Palm Beach County’s eastern metro areas and Lake Okeechobee region are at a higher risk for thunderstorms Sunday afternoon and evening.

“I can’t rule out a strong cell for Miami-Dade County and its eastern metro areas,” Rizzuto said.

An isolated tornado might also be in the cards, he added.

“We can’t rule out hail either,” Rizzuto said. “The hail risk is more maximized toward northern Palm Beach County and the Lake Okeechobee area. We have a low pressure system pushing toward the east. That could allow raindrops to stay frozen in the upper atmosphere. But sometimes the hail melts before it gets to the ground.”

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Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com. Follow me on X @Susannah_Bryan

 



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This website is unavailable in your location. – Action News Jax

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This website is unavailable in your location. – Action News Jax


Revised figures for 2023 indicate that Florida welcomed over 140.6 million visitors, surpassing previous records. Additionally, the first quarter of 2024 saw 40.6 million visitors, the highest number ever recorded for a single quarter.



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Florida mother Destiny Byassee killed when fake airbags ‘detonated like a grenade,’ lawsuit alleges

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Florida mother Destiny Byassee killed when fake airbags ‘detonated like a grenade,’ lawsuit alleges


A young Florida mother was killed last year when her car’s counterfeit airbag “detonated like a grenade,” according to a lawsuit.

Destiny Byassee’s used 2020 Chevy Malibu passed through multiple conmen before its fake emergency airbags deployed in a June frontal collision, causing a blast that “shot metal and plastic shrapnel throughout” the car, her family alleges.

“Several fragments from the blast struck Ms. Byassee in the face, head, and neck, ultimately killing her,” stated the complaint, obtained by Law & Crime.

Destiny Byassee was killed last year when her car’s counterfeit airbag “detonated like a grenade.” Destiny Byassee /Facebook

The 22-year-old “was a mother of two young children and had her entire life ahead of her,” attorney John Morgan, who is also representing the family, said in a news release.

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According to the lawsuit, Byassee bought the doomed sedan from DriveTime, a national used car company, without being given a full history of the car.

The former Enterprise Rent-A-Car car was involved in a devastating September 2022 crash that caused damage that “was so significant that the vehicle should have been classified as a total loss, issued a salvage title, and removed from service,” the lawsuit alleges.

Rather than scrap the vehicle, Enterprise allegedly sold the car to DriveTime through Manheim Auctions, Inc., which bills itself as the largest wholesale automobile auction company in the world.

It was then repaired at Jumbo Automotive in Hollywood, Florida, the complaint continues, claiming that shop owner Haim Levy “purchased counterfeit and non-compliant airbag components” by a Chinese company to replace the Chevrolet factory airbag “and proceeded to install these components into the subject Chevy Malibu.”

Fake emergency airbags deployed in a June frontal collision, causing a blast that “shot metal and plastic shrapnel throughout” the car, her family alleges. Morgan & Morgan Law Firm

Not only were the dangerous fake bags used, but Levy allegedly repaired the deployed seatbelt pretensioner — the part of a complete system that tightens the belt during a crash — incorrectly, but in a cunning way that made it appear to work properly.

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Byassee “had no idea that the vehicle had been improperly and illegally repaired,” her family said.

Both the counterfeit airbag and faulty seatbelt pretensioner “were signaled to deploy” during the June 2023 collision, according to the lawsuit.

“However, because the subject Chevy Malibu’s front driver-side seatbelt pretensioner was inoperable, the pretensioner did not deploy as originally designed,” the lawsuit states. “Worse, because the subject Chevy Malibu’s front driver-side airbag system included counterfeit and non-compliant components, the airbag detonated like a grenade and shot metal and plastic shrapnel throughout the vehicle cabin.”

The filing pointedly said that photographs depicted the “horrifying event,” including one of the “shredded and blood-soaked front driver-side airbag.”

Rather than scrap the vehicle, Enterprise allegedly sold the car to DriveTime through Manheim Auctions, Inc., which bills itself as the largest wholesale automobile auction company in the world. Christopher Sadowski

Cathy King, Byassee’s grandmother, filed the lawsuit on behalf of the 6- and 4-year-old children the young woman left behind, as well as her husband and mother.

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Byassee “believed she was buying a safe and reliable vehicle, but our lawsuit alleges that several automotive companies worked to skirt the system by repairing what should’ve been a totaled vehicle, all just to make money,” Morgan said in the release.

“Because of that, Ms. Byassee lost her life, and her children will grow up without their mother.”

Byassee “had no idea that the vehicle had been improperly and illegally repaired,” her family said. Destiny Byassee /Facebook

The lawsuit seeks a jury trial on 14 various counts against the various defendants – including strict liability, negligence and deceptive trade practices.

Neither Enterprise, Manheim, DriveTime nor Jumbo Automotive immediately answered The Post’s request for comment.

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