INSURANCE

17 property insurance companies face ratings downgrade in Florida

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — More than a dozen property insurance companies are set to have their ratings downgraded in Florida.

The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation confirmed to 8 On Your Side Thursday that 17 insurance companies total are going to be downgraded by the rating agency Demotech. Industry experts say that downgrade will impact hundreds of thousands of families across Florida – including in the Tampa Bay area.

Mortgage providers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac require homeowners to have a policy with an A-rated company. Anyone who has a policy with any of the 17 companies that will be losing its A-rating could be forced to find a new policy – potentially one that could cost more and provide less coverage.

8 On Your Side is working to find out which companies are having their ratings downgraded.

Meanwhile, Demotech’s decision to downgrade the companies is being challenged by the FOIR. Commissioner David Altmaier is requesting the rating agency reconsider the conclusions they’ve reached about the viability of the companies.

Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office sent the following statement after the announcement was made:

“We share the concerns expressed by Florida’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jimmy Patronis and the Office

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July 27, 2022 by INSURANCE

Widower’s car insurance increases after wife’s death, practice is unfair| Betty Lin-Fisher

Joe Kline of Suffield got an unwelcome surprise when he phoned his insurance agent after his wife of 52 years, Angie, died in April of pulmonary fibrosis. 

Kline wanted to keep insuring two vehicles, but assumed that his insurance rate would go down with one fewer driver. 

Betty Lin-Fisher

Instead, it went up by about $20 per half. 

“That’s when I got my hackles up,” said Kline. “I didn’t think it would be cut in half, but it shouldn’t have gone up.” 

That made no sense, Kline said, since he was now half the liability to the insurance company. Kline said he knows it’s not much money, but it was the principle that irked him. He lost his multiple-driver discount. 

“So I guess they’re going on the assumption that if you no longer have your spouse in the passenger seat screaming at you to quit tailgating or slow down that makes you a bad driver, right?” he said.

Kline drove a truck for a living and never had an accident in 35 years. If he was a good driver the day before his wife died, why is he a bad driver the day after she died, he said? 

“Just give me a

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July 26, 2022 by INSURANCE

Rethinking insurance: how prevention is better than a claim

After completing her first 5km run, Annette Ball was in floods of tears at the achievement.

It was the first milestone on a journey, starting in 2019, that has seen the 56-year-old music teacher from Coventry lose more than three stone in weight and establish a new regime of strenuous exercise nearly every day of the week.

Ball’s story is the kind of inspiring tale of self-improvement that flourishes on social media feeds, but what is more unusual is the company that she credits for getting her moving: her insurer.

A points-based scheme offered by life and health insurer Vitality, which uses a wearable device to track physical activity and offers financial benefits and vouchers for progress, was instrumental to her lifestyle shift.

“The bottom line is that it is insurance, but what it has enabled me to do is get healthier,” Ball says. “It’s certainly changed how I live now.”

It is just one example of a shift that is reshaping the centuries-old insurance sector, fuelled by new technologies and real-time data that insurers are increasingly gathering on their customers.

Vitality calls it “shared-value insurance”, others call it “active insurance”, but the core idea is the same — focusing

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July 25, 2022 by INSURANCE

Murdaugh family saga: A timeline of death, alleged embezzlement and an insurance scam

But now, the family has been closely connected to a bloody tragedy, allegations of embezzlement and a bizarre murder-for-hire plot to score millions in life insurance.

The latest blow to the family’s name came this week as Alex Murdaugh was indicted on a charge of murder for the 2021 killings of his wife and son.

So what were the twists and turns that led to this point? Here’s a timeline of everything we know about the Murdaugh family saga:

Over three generations, a member of the Murdaugh family has served as the 14th Circuit Solicitor, which leads prosecutions for Allendale, Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton and Jasper counties in the southern part of South Carolina.

Randolph Murdaugh Sr. was elected to the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office in 1920 and served in the position until his death in 1940.

His son, Randolph Murdaugh Jr., then took over the position and served until his retirement in 1986.

Murdaugh Jr.’s son, Randolph Murdaugh III, was then elected to the role in 1987 and served through the end of 2005. Alex Murdaugh is his son.

In 2006, then-Gov. Mark Sanford appoints attorney Duffie Stone to serve as the 14th Circuit Solicitor, making him the first non-Murdaugh
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July 23, 2022 by INSURANCE

Adam Engel hits insurance homer in White Sox win

MINNEAPOLIS — Adam Engel wasn’t in the White Sox starting lineup on Friday night, despite the Twins sending left-handed starter Devin Smeltzer to the mound.

Engel stayed prepared and came through with the biggest at-bat of the game after he replaced Luis Robert in center field, as his three-run homer in the seventh helped Chicago win its fourth straight game with a 6-2 victory at Target Field.

Engel entered in the bottom of the second inning after Robert was taken out with lightheadedness.

“As soon as somebody goes down early like that, obviously you hope that there’s nothing seriously wrong with him,” Engel said. “You got to get right into game mode. You got to try and get going in a way that you can find a way to contribute and help the team win.”

Robert walked in his at-bat in the first inning and came around to score on Andrew Vaughn’s two-run single, sliding around Twins catcher Gary Sánchez to swipe his hand across the plate. Robert misplayed a liner from Carlos Correa in center field in the first, leading to an error.

White Sox manager Tony La Russa didn’t have an update on Robert after the game.

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July 22, 2022 by INSURANCE
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