Florida
Florida's Heritage Insurance Sees More Profits in Q1 This Year
Heritage Insurance Holdings Inc. (HRTG) on Wednesday reported earnings of $14.2 million in its first quarter of this year, about the same as earnings for Q1 of 2023, but down from the $31 million in net income reported for the fourth quarter of 2023.
The Tampa-based property and casualty insurance holding company is the parent company of Heritage Insurance, Narragansett Bay Insurance and Zephyr Insurance. The holding firm posted revenue of $191.3 million in Q1, up 8% from the first quarter last year, thanks in part to reduced exposure and to significant rate increases.
The firm’s combined ratio was 94% for Q1, a slight improvement over last year’s quarterly number, the company’s financial statements show.
The black ink reflects a significant improvement from the Heritage financial picture in 2021 and 2022, at the depths of what has been called the Florida property insurance crisis. At the end of Q1 2022, Heritage holdings reported a $31 million net loss.
Since then, a number of Florida insurers have seen a significant reduction in litigation expenses, a key metric behind the crisis. And Heritage has continued to reduce its exposure in Florida and other states. Heritage held 182,673 policies in Florida at the end of 2022 and 529,907 policies in all 17 states in which its subsidiaries write. By the end of the first quarter this year, the number of Florida policies had dropped to 147,9654. In all 17 states, policies in force fell to 436,955 — a drop of almost 18% in less than 18 months.
But the cutbacks were not across the board. Heritage said in a news release that it had increased its commercial residential premium significantly.
“As part of our exposure management strategy, we continue to grow our policy count in products and geographies which are profitable and reduce our policy count in unprofitable and over concentrated areas,” the release noted.
“The management team is resolute in our focus to generate underwriting profits across our footprint, maintain adequate rates, ensure selective underwriting, and employ meticulous but fair claims handling,” CEO Ernie Garateix said in a statement.
4,800 Heritage Irma Claims Handled by Unlicensed Adjusters, Lawsuit Charges
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Florida couple in alleged embryo mix-up have identified biological parents of ‘non-caucasian’ baby
A Florida couple who claimed a fertility clinic error led the woman giving birth to a “non-Caucasian child” who was not related to them said they have identified their child’s biological parents, according to reports.
“The results of testing delivered to us today confirm that our baby’s genetic parents have been identified,” Tiffany Score and Steven Mills said in a statement obtained by People on Wednesday.
Score and Mills filed a lawsuit in January against Fertility Center of Orlando and its head reproductive endocrinologist, Dr. Milton McNichol, alleging that another patient’s embryo was implanted in Score’s uterus in April 2025.
The mix-up led to the birth of their now 4-month-old daughter, Shea, who is not biologically related to them, the filing alleged.
“This ends one chapter in our heartbreaking journey, but it raises new issues that will have to be resolved,” the statement continued. “In addition, questions about the disposition of our own embryos are still unanswered and are even more unlikely to ever be answered.”
“Only one thing is as absolutely certain today as it was on the day our daughter was born —we will love and will be this child’s parents forever.”
The couple added that they will respect the privacy of Shea’s biological parents and will keep their identities “confidential.”
Score and Mills, who are both white, stored three viable embryos at the Longwood clinic in 2020 for in vitro fertilization, a process that creates embryos and stores them until pregnancy.
Five years later, after an embryo was implanted, the couple gave birth to a “beautiful, healthy female child” on Dec. 11, 2025, according to the lawsuit filed Jan. 22 in Orange County Circuit Court and obtained by Law & Crime.
“Tragically, while both Jane Doe and John Doe are racially Caucasian, Baby Doe displayed the physical appearance of a racially non-Caucasian child,” the lawsuit said.
Further genetic testing confirmed that baby Shea had no biological relationship to either parent — raising questions about where their embryos had gone or whether another woman was impregnated with their biological child.
The new parents had an “intensely strong emotional bond” with their child during pregnancy and wished to keep the girl, but recognized she “should legally and morally be united with her genetic parents so long as they are fit, able and willing to take her,” the lawsuit stated.
Scarola told People, following Wednesday’s development, that Shea’s biological parents have not made any requests to take her into custody.
“Remaining questions about the fate of Tiffany and Steven’s unaccounted for embryos…are still pending,” Scarola said.
“The current legal proceeding will remain open to address those matters,” the attorney added. “However, we expect that we will now also begin to focus on the need for our clients to be compensated for the expenses they have incurred and the severe emotional trauma that they endured and will continue to experience.”
The Fertility Clinic of Orlando announced earlier this month that it would close by May 20 — a decision leadership said was made after “thoughtful consideration.”
Neither Scarola nor the clinic immediately responded to The Post’s request for comment.
Florida
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Florida investigating AI role in mass shooting at university
Florida on Tuesday announced a criminal probe into whether artificial intelligence played a role in a deadly mass shooting at a university in the US state.
“If ChatGPT were a person, it would be facing charges for murder,” Uthmeier said.
Florida law allows anyone who assists or counsels someone in the commission of a crime to be treated as an “aider and abettor” bearing the same responsibility as the perpetrator, according to Uthmeier.
In exchanges with ChatGPT, the accused shooter sought advice on what type of gun and ammunition to use, as well as where and when on campus a lot of people would likely be found, the state attorney general said during a press briefing.
“Last year’s mass shooting at Florida State University was a tragedy, but ChatGPT is not responsible for this terrible crime,” an OpenAI spokesperson said.
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