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Michael Moline - page 44

Michael Moline has 306 articles published.

Michael Moline is a former assistant managing editor of The National Law Journal and managing editor of the San Francisco Daily Journal. Previously, he reported on politics and the courts in Tallahassee for United Press International. He is a graduate of Florida State University, where he served as editor of the Florida Flambeau. His family’s roots in Jackson County date back many generations.

Dodgy contractors share blame for high rates, last-chance insurer says

in Statewide by

By Michael Moline, Tallahassee correspondent Don’t blame us for rising premiums, administrators of Florida’s high-risk property insurance pool told state regulators Thursday—blame lawyers and unscrupulous building contractors. And a bunch of burst pipes and overflowing washing machines in South Florida. John Rollins, chief risk officer for Citizens Property Insurance Corp., pointed to an increased use since 2013 of assignment-of-benefits arrangements, whereby contractors persuade policyholders to let them assume their claims in exchange for fast repairs. He said that 55 percent…

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No deadline for decision on big workers’ comp hike

in Statewide/Top Headlines by

A public hearing this week represented a major battle in the war over a proposed major increase in workers’ compensation insurance premiums, but the fighting is by no means over. The Office of Insurance Regulation will accept public comments on the proposed 19.6 percent hike until close of business Aug. 23. “While there is no defined period of review, the office will take the time that is necessary to come to a fully informed decision,” spokeswoman Any Bogner said via…

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Attorneys defend Florida Supreme Court decision on workers’ comp rate increase

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Trial attorneys mounted an ardent defense Tuesday of Florida Supreme Court rulings blamed by business interests for threatening an increase in workers’ compensation insurance premiums of nearly 20 percent. Mark Touby, a Coral Gables attorney who helped persuade the justices to eliminate a limit on attorney fees in workers’ compensation cases, insisted during a public hearing that claimants wouldn’t need to hire lawyers if insurance companies played fair. “The carriers are the ones making these decisions. They wrongfully denied benefits…

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Open government activists back legal challenge to worker’s comp rate increase

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A leading open-government advocate offered strong support Monday for a legal challenge to a proposed workers’ compensation insurance premium increase of nearly 20 percent. “I think he’s got a cause of action,” First Amendment Foundation President Barbara Peterson said of Miami attorney James Fee, who is challenging the rate hike on open-government grounds. Fee filed suit in Miami-Dade Circuit Court last week alleging that the National Council on Compensation Insurance broke state open meetings and open-records laws when calculating its…

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Insurance Council counters challenge to big workers’ comp rate hike

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An insurance industry council moved Monday to block a legal challenge to proposed workers’ compensation premium increases of nearly 20 percent, warning that delay would threaten the solvency of Florida’s system for compensating injured workers. The state Office of Insurance Regulation is scheduled to take up the rate hike Tuesday morning in Tallahassee. Delay, the National Council on Compensation Insurance warned, “could cause severe public harm, as workers’ compensation rates are currently not adequate to meet claims.” The group said…

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