Florida
Florida’s biggest insurer cuts over 600K policies after Hurricane Helene
An property insurer of last resort in Florida is set to hand over hundreds of thousands of policies to the private sector later this month due to overwhelming demand.
Earlier this year, regulators in the Sunshine State approved proposals that would allow private insurers to take policies from the state’s Citizens Property Insurance Corporation. Citizens, which was created by the Florida Legislature in 2002, provides insurance to eligible Florida property owners unable to find insurance coverage in the private market. It is the largest insurer in the state.
On August 2, insurance commissioner Michael Yaworsky signed an order allowing 10 private insurance carriers to take on 413,808 policies from Citizens beginning in late October. According to a report by Florida Politics, in the last two weeks, a further 235,035 were approved for removal beginning in November.
Newsweek has contacted Citizens for verification on this number via email outside of normal working hours.
The number of Citizens policies has soared in recent years as private insurers dropped customers and raised rates due to losses caused by payouts and litigation. Citizens has 1,250,791 policies in force as of August 2024. In August 2019, five years ago, it had 420,366 active policies.
MANDEL NGAN/AFP/GETTY
“Citizens is committed to helping its policyholders find coverage in the private market,” its website reads. “As required by Florida law, Citizens’ Depopulation Program matches Citizens policyholders with insurance companies interested in removing their policy from Citizens and providing private-market coverage for their policy.”
The depopulation will arrive not long after Hurricane Helene hit Florida and other eastern states at the end of September. With a death toll that has now surpassed 200 people, with hundreds more still reported missing, it is shaping up to be one of the worst storms in U.S. history.
The latest data released by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation shows that 84,400 claims have been made by homeowners and businesses since Hurricane Helene hit, with 42,219 of these being for residential properties. So far, 1,340 of these claims have been closed with a payment, while 2,712 have been closed without a payment. More than 38,000 insurance claims are still open.
Florida residents are grappling with some of the highest home insurance rates in the country. According to Bankrate, the average insurance cost for a home valued at $300,000 in October 2024 is $5,527 per year—way higher than the rate for a home of the same value in neighboring Georgia ($2,071) and Alabama ($2,745).
The average home insurance premium in Florida is $3,242 more expensive than the national average of $2,285. In some areas, costs can climb to in excess of $8,000. The state average is second only to Nebraska, where the average premium on a $300,000 home is $5,652.
Florida
Tiger Woods charged with DUI after rollover crash in Florida
Tiger Woods showed signs of impairment and was arrested at the scene of a car crash in which he struck another vehicle and rolled his Land Rover.
Published On 27 Mar 2026
Tiger Woods was arrested on a DUI charge following a rollover crash in Jupiter Island, Florida, that did not cause any significant injuries.
Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek said Woods and the person in the other vehicle were not injured. Woods was able to crawl out of the passenger side of his Land Rover.
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The crash occurred just after 2pm (18:00 GMT), not far from where Woods lives on Jupiter Island. Budensiek said Woods attempted to pass a pressure cleaner truck while driving on a two-lane road. He swerved to avoid a collision as he was passing the truck, but clipped the back end of its trailer. Woods’s vehicle then rolled onto its driver’s side.
Budensiek said investigators at the scene found Woods to be showing signs of impairment. He did a breathalyser test, which came out negative, but he refused to take a urine test. Authorities charged him with driving under the influence with property damage and refusal to submit to a lawful test, Budensiek said. Both charges are misdemeanours.
Woods’s manager at Excel Sports did not immediately respond to a text message seeking information.
This was at least the third time Woods has been involved in a car crash, most recently in February 2021, when his SUV ran off a coastal road in Los Angeles at high speed, leading to multiple leg and ankle injuries. Woods said later doctors considered amputation.
Woods has played 11 tournaments since that 2021 crash, not finishing closer than within 16 shots of the winner the four times he finished 72 holes.
He was also arrested on a DUI charge in 2017 when South Florida police found him asleep behind the wheel of his car that was parked awkwardly with damage to the driver’s side. Woods said he had taken a bad mix of painkillers. He later pleaded guilty to reckless driving.
Woods won his fifth Masters and 15th major in 2019. He has 82 wins on the PGA Tour, tied for the all-time record with Sam Snead.
Woods, 50, had been working his way back to golf from a seventh back surgery in September. He had not decided whether he could play in the Masters on April 9-12.
His last official tournament was the British Open in 2024. Woods ruptured his Achilles tendon in March 2025, and that kept him off the course all season, even before the back surgery. He managed to play in his indoor TGL golf league on Tuesday night.
He has kept deeply involved in PGA Tour affairs as chairman of the Future Competition Committee that is restructuring the model of the tour.
Woods also faced a soft deadline at the end of the month to decide whether to become the US Ryder Cup captain for the 2027 matches in Ireland. Woods was offered the job for the last Ryder Cup and did not turn it down until June. The PGA of America wants a decision much sooner this time.
Florida
House ethics panel finds Florida congresswoman Cherfilus-McCormick committed 25 violations
WASHINGTON — The House Ethics Committee found Friday that Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida had committed numerous violations of House rules and ethics standards, a ruling that could add weight to Republicans’ push to expel her from Congress.
After meeting for over seven hours Thursday night, an ethics panel composed of four Democrats and four Republicans found that Cherfilus-McCormick had committed 25 ethics violations. The panel said it would recommend a punishment in the coming weeks.
The allegations center around her receipt of millions of dollars from her family’s health care business after the state of Florida made an overpayment of roughly $5 million in disaster relief funds. Cherfilus-McCormick is accused of using that money to fund her 2022 congressional campaign through a network of businesses and family members.
The congresswoman, who is running for a fourth term representing a southeastern Florida district, has denied wrongdoing, and her attorney stridently criticized Thursday’s public hearing — the first open proceeding in nearly 15 years. But the ruling from the Ethics Committee could fuel a potential vote on her expulsion and divide a Democratic Caucus that is trying to make a comeback to power in the November elections.
Cherfilus-McCormick also faces federal charges for allegedly stealing the $5 million in COVID-19 disaster relief funds and using it for purchases like a 3-carat yellow diamond ring. Her brother, former chief of staff and accountant were also charged in the alleged scheme. She pleaded not guilty to those charges, and her attorney indicated Thursday that the trial is expected to start in the coming months.
Florida
Driver arrested after allegedly plowing onto Florida airport tarmac
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