In 2005, Florida and the nation were awash in hurricanes. The National Hurricane Center ran out of names and resorted to the Greek alphabet for the first time. Nightly newscasts extended the hurricane "season" by featuring video and stories about Katrina well into December. But, however devastating the past hurricane season was, it was not the only insurance story, and Florida Underwriter's coverage reflects that. In 2005, we also presented stories on MedMal, PIP, Workers' Compensation, Surplus Lines, EPLI, Citizens, Sinkholes, and a host of business-related subjects such as agency succession, employee relations, marketing, and technology.

To bring that overall perspective full circle, we asked three of Florida's top insurance experts to review the important issues of 2005 and to provide a forecast for 2006. Our thanks to Florida Association of Insurance Agents Executive Vice President Scott Johnson, Florida Insurance Council Executive Vice President Sam Miller, and Professional Insurance Agents of Florida Executive Vice President Mark O'Connell for their participation.

In 2005, mold, sinkholes and MedMal garnered a significant amount of press. In retrospect, were any of these issues overblown? How important will they be in 2006?