The Home Insurance Guru

Four of the top eight cities most vulnerable to a major storm surge are located in Florida, according to a new report released by Karen Clark & Company (KCC).

The 2015 “Most Vulnerable U.S. Cities to Storm Surge Flooding” study released by the company in August names Tampa as the most vulnerable U.S. city with loss estimates of $175 billion to residential, commercial and industrial properties in the event of a 100 year hurricane. Miami came in at no. 4 with estimated losses of $80 billion; Fort Myers came in at no. 5 with estimated losses of $70 billion; and Sarasota came in at no. 7 with losses

“While much attention has been focused on New York and New Orleans, the Tampa/St. Petersburg metropolitan area is the most vulnerable to large losses from storm surge flooding,” the report states. “This is due to unique coastline features, local bathymetry, and the low coastal elevations.”

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

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2015/09/15/381499.htm

Please be sure to call L & S Insurance at -1-888-244-7400 for quotes on Home, Auto, Flood, Private Flood, Business & Commercial & Life & Financial products as well. The new Maps are still Preliminary and could be updated again. The new changes will start in Mid January and about 76,000 homes will need to start to have a new Flood Policy where one was not needed before. Most people do not understand the risk of Flood, but ask people in N.J. from Hurricane Sandy and they will tell you otherwise. Please be prepared and check your information now. You can call Lee at L & S at x-209 for a class at your office soon to review the maps with your agents.

http://maps.co.palm-beach.fl.us/gis/floodzones.aspx?

I currently run the Broward county program in 4 High Schools. Deerfield Beach High, Stoneman Douglas High, Flannigan High and cooper City High. The program is to have High school students learn about The Insurance industry and possibly consider a career or just learn about what they will need to know. The program is basic, but scholarships are given to up to 8 students each year and about 125 or more kids each year are taken around the county to see real life offices and  career possibilities. If you would like to volunteer for the program or be a sponsor of a school, please let me know. Also, if you are working in an Insurance agency or company or any affiliated business like Real Estate, Mortgage ect.. please see if you have any jobs to be filled and we will have resumes sent to you so you can train them while they are still young and eager to learn. The article below was just placed in the National Insurance magazine IA and you can read it there or the link is below; Please call L & S Insurance at 1-888-244-7400 for quotes on Home, Auto, Flood, Business & Commercial, & Life & Financial products as well.

PPlease call L & S Insurance at 1-888-244-7400 for quotes on Home, Auto, Flood, Business & Commercial, & Life & Financial products as well.

The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation has approved a slate of 2016 property insurance rates for Citizens Property Insurance Corp.

In an order signed September 8 by Florida Commissioner Kevin McCarty, FLOIR set the rates for Citizens multi-peril and coastal homeowners that reflect an overall statewide rate decrease of 1.8 percent increase for homeowners’ multiperil policyholders across the state

According to a statement from FLOIR, the office modified some of Citizens’ recommended rates to address key issues cited as causes for increasing homeowners’ insurance costs for policyholders in South Florida and on the coast. These included Citizens’ purchase this year of more private reinsurance (insurance for insurance companies) and pre-event financing (a short-term loan to recover claims costs payable by the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund).

Citizens presented its rate proposal at a public hearing on August 25 in front of Florida insurance regulators and addressed questions FLOIR had on its rate requests. Citizens highlighted the surge in water loss trends in three South Florida counties as the main reason for rate increases. The combination of these factors drove up overall rates despite reductions to most policyholders living farther from the coast. The Office’s subsequent findings are described in more detail within the order shown below.

According to a statement from Citizens, the FLOIR-approved rates reflect a decrease for 60 percent of Citizens customers but an average overall 1.8 percent increase for homeowners’ multiperil policyholders across the state as of Feb. 1, 2016 for new and renewal business. This probably means increases here in S. Florida from 5-10% or more in some cases.

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

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2015/09/09/381094.htm

On Wednesday, September 2, 2015, the Supreme Court of Florida heard oral arguments in the case of Sebo v. American Home Assurance Company. The issue raised in Sebo is whether the Supreme Court should abolish the long-standing “concurrent cause doctrine” in all first party property insurance matters. The concurrent cause doctrine holds that when a property loss can be attributed to multiple independent causes, one or more of which is covered and one or more of which is excluded, the loss will be covered.  The Supreme Court was considering the issue in Sebo because a lower appellate court rejected this well established doctrine in favor of a pro-insurer “efficient proximate cause doctrine.”  The efficient proximate cause doctrine focuses instead on which peril was the most substantial or responsible factor in the loss and to exclude the loss if the most substantial factor falls within an exclusion.

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.flabusinesslaw.com/uncategorized/will-the-supreme-court-of-florida-abolish-the-long-standing-concurrent-cause-doctrine/

The Florida Department of Financial Services’ Division of Insurance Fraud (DIF) announced the arrests of Miami residents Alina Del Prado, 60, and Karla Patricia Figueroa, 40, who are accused of deceptively using unsuspecting licensed insurance representatives’ licenses to defraud Florida consumers and allegedly illegally conducting more than $200,000 in insurance transactions while operating Quality Insurance Agency (Quality) in Hialeah, Fla.

Please call 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/2015/09/08/380917.htm

The Florida Division of Insurance Fraud announced the arrest of Tania Michel, 41, for failing to notify the Department of Financial Services of a federal fraud conviction, continuing to work in the insurance industry after having her license expire, and knowingly misappropriating premium funds while working at an insurance agency.

For a period of nine months, Michel worked at a North Miami Beach insurance agency with an expired professional license and with an unreported federal felony conviction. By failing to reapply for her license, she was able to further conceal the felony fraud conviction that would cause her to become permanently barred from the insurance industry. She was fired by the insurance agency owners for suspected misappropriation of funds and sought employment at another Miami insurance agency where she continued the same unlawful behavior of diverting, or stealing, clients’ monthly premium payments for personal use.

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

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2015/09/02/380349.htm