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A two-year PIP fraud (personal injury protection) investigation involving Integrated Healing Clinic in Tampa, Fla., has concluded with the arrests of 7 residents, according to a statement by the Florida Department of Financial Services’ Division of Insurance Fraud. The Division’s investigation discovered that clinic staff had filed several patient claims with multiple insurance carriers for prices that far exceeded actual treatment costs and, in some cases, for treatments that never took place.

“These individuals orchestrated a complex operation to defraud insurance companies and, ultimately, all Floridians,” said Deputy CFO Jay Etheridge. “I’m proud of the results of this collaborative investigation and hope this serves as a deterrent for anyone considering or currently engaged in similar criminal acts in our state.”

Please call L & S Insurance at 1-888-244-7400 for quotes on Home, Auto, Flood, Business & Commercial, & Life & Financial products as well.  Please  enjoy the full article below.

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2015/04/15/364341.htm

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A jury has found Cantonment, Fla., insurance agent Randall Petersen guilty of racketeering and money laundering. An investigation by the Department of Financial Services’ Division of Insurance Fraud revealed that Petersen conspired with others during 2010 and 2011 using the business name College Consultants of the Gulf Coast to defraud insurance companies out of more than $891,000, according to a statement from the Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater. Sentencing is scheduled for May 22nd.

Petersen’s scheme enticed victims to attend employment seminars in Florida, Georgia and Mississippi using fraudulent job listings placed on Craigslist. When enough potential applicants were identified, the applicants were invited to the seminars where Petersen took their personal information and life insurance applications, which were presented as employee life insurance policies funded by payroll deductions.

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2015/04/14/364171.htm

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Senate Bill 836 by Senator Latvala passed out of the Appropriations Subcommittee on General Government with a unanimous vote in support and now heads to the Appropriation Committee, its last stop before the Senate floor. Its companion, House Bill 557 by Representative Raburn passed out of the Regulatory Affairs Committee, and now heads to the House floor. The bills would revise the process in which insurers pay and recoup assessments levied against them by the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA). The revised procedure would:

• Create a uniform assessment percentage which would be collected from all policyholders.
• Allow FIGA to require payment of assessments in advance, prior to the insurer’s recoupment from policyholders, or by monthly installments, or by both.
• Eliminate rate filings for FIGA assessments.
• Require insurers to submit a reconciliation report that reflects actual collections compared to initial payments.
• Require new companies to pay assessments even if they had no prior year premium, by estimating their premium in the actual year of assessment.
• Allow insurers to obtain credits against future FIGA assessments for collections that are less than the insurer’s initial payment.
• Allow for payment of excess assessment collections to FIGA.

We have worked with the sponsors and staff at every step along the way to make certain this legislation does not dramatically increase assessments to Florida’s insurers or increase exposure.

Citizens Property Insurance Corp.’s Board of Governors has approved the issuance of up to $1 billion in pre-event bonds to provide Citizens with readily available cash flow for the 2015 hurricane season and beyond.

By unanimous vote on Tuesday, board members approved a recommendation by Citizens Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Montero to continue Citizens’ ongoing liquidity financing program and replace coverage from similar bonds that begin to expire in June.

Citizens now has access to approximately $2.6 billion from such pre-event bonds, but most of that will mature over the next three years, with $490 million expiring in June 2015, and $1.7 billion expiring over the next two years.

Please call L & S Insurance at 1-888-244-7400 for quotes on Home, Auto, Flood, Business & Commercial, & Life & Financial products as well. Please enjoy the full article below;

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2015/04/08/363595.htm