Preferred Legislative Pulse
The Trust takes an active role in monitoring changes that may occur at the State and Federal governmental levels which could potentially affect the quality and/or quantity of your insurance coverages.
As an added service to the membership, legislative summaries of insurance related issues are available for review. The summaries are prepared by the Trust's legislative liaison, the Pennington Law Firm, located in Tallahassee, Florida
2010 LEGISLATION OF INTEREST:
Insurance-RELATED Legislation
Issue |
Bill Number and Sponsor |
Status |
Description |
Workers’ Comp Claims by Law Enforcement and Correctional Officers |
Patterson |
Died on calendar; language passed as part of CS/SB 2176 |
Prohibits an association, fund, or pool created to manage a risk management program or self-insurance public entity from requiring its members to give more than a 45 day notice to withdraw from the association, fund, or pool; provides that a law enforcement officer, correctional officer, or correctional probation officer who suffers from tuberculosis, heart disease, or hypertension and departs from the prescribed course of treatment of a physician, and the departure is demonstrated to result in an aggravation of the condition, would lose a specified presumption for claims; authorizes a sheriff to include the sheriff’s proportionate cost of workers’ compensation premiums for the off-duty deputy sheriffs providing such off duty employment. |
|
Oelrich |
Died in messages; language passed as part of CS/SB 2176 |
||
FIGA |
Legg |
Approved by the Governor on May 11; Chapter 2010-49, L.O.F |
Consolidates the two automobile accounts in FIGA; streamlines the assessment recoupment process; exempts the recoupment of regular assessments from the imposition of commissions and fees; increases the coverage limits for some types of claims covered by FLAHIGA; permits insurance agents to provide information about FLAHIGA; makes numerous statutory changes to conform FLAHIGA to the NAIC model act; designates FWCIGA responsible for covering employment liability claims of insolvent workers' compensation insurers.; provides an effective date of July 1, 2010. |
|
Richter |
House companion, CS/CS/CS/HB 159, passed |
||
Red Light Cameras |
Reagan |
Approved by the Governor on May 13; Chapter 2010-80, L.O.F |
Provides that failure to stop at a traffic signal, when enforced by a red light camera, may not be used for the purpose of setting motor vehicle insurance rates. |
Administration of Life Insurance Contracts/Trusts |
Hukill |
Senate companion, CS/CS/SB 926, passed |
Prevents the Prudent Investor Rule and the Prudent Trust Administration Rule from applying to a life insurance contract insuring the life of the trust settler; removes certain duties from the trustee in specific situations; provides that a trustee is not allowed to receive compensation for performing certain services; eliminates the liability of the trustee to the beneficiaries for certain losses; and adds additional duties that are appropriate for a trustee’s delegation to an investment agent. |
|
Richter |
Passed Senate (38 Yeas, 0 Nays); Passed House (119 Yeas, 0 Nays); Presented to the Governor on May 17 |
||
Motor Vehicles |
Burgin |
Passed House (119 Yeas, 0 Nays); passed Senate (38 Yeas, 0 Nays) |
This bill has a number of provisions that indirectly impact insurance (towing, salvage title and driver improvement). Section 12 provides that an insured who engages a premium finance company to finance auto premium, establishes electronic payments system and has PIP, PD and 10/20 BI does not have to pay 2 months worth of premium up front; allows an insurer to cancel an insured within the first 60 days if the insured does not make payments. |
Minimum Risk to Capital Ratio for Mortgage Guaranty Insurers |
Nelson |
Approved by the Governor on May 11; Chapter 2010-56, L.O.F |
Allows the Insurance Commissioner to grant a temporary exemption to the minimum risk to capital ratio under certain conditions. |
|
Richter |
House companion, HB 661, passed |
||
Building Safety |
Aubuchon |
Passed House (11 Yeas, 3 Nays); passed Senate (39 Yeas, 0 Nays); Presented to the Governor on May 17 |
This bill makes numerous changes relating to building and elevator safety; allows home inspectors who have completed training in windstorm mitigation to be eligible to validate a windstorm mitigation inspection form; removes the requirement for a licensed engineer to complete the core curriculum in order to be eligible to validate the uniform mitigation verification inspection form; establishes instances when misconduct occurs in relation to mitigation inspection verification forms. |
Negligence |
Aubuchon |
Approved by the Governor on April 14; Chapter 2010-9, L.O.F. |
Provides that if person slips and falls on transitory foreign substance in business establishment, injured person must prove that establishment had actual or constructive knowledge of condition and should have taken action to remedy it; provides that constructive knowledge may be proven by circumstantial evidence; provides that such provisions do not affect any common-law duty of care owed by person or entity in possession or control of business premises; repeals provisions relating to duty to maintain premises and burden of proof in claims of negligence involving transitory foreign objects or substances. |
Life Insurance / Annuities |
Sachs |
Died in messages; language passed as part of CS/SB 2176 |
Expands the definition of "affiliated party" under the Insurance Code to include certain third-party marketers; includes family members of insurance agents in a prohibition related to the transaction of life insurance; prohibits the DFS from issuing certain licenses in certain circumstances; prohibits a family member of a life insurance agent from being a beneficiary of certain policies |
|
Bennett |
Died in messages; language passed as part of CS/SB 2176 |
||
Fire Sprinklers |
Bennett |
Passed Senate (38 Yeas, 0 Nays); Passed House (112 Yeas, 3 Nays); Presented to the Governor on May 17 |
Prohibits local governments from requiring a property owner to install fire sprinklers in a rental property. |
Life Insurance |
Tobia |
Approved by the Governor on May 11; Chapter 2010-61, L.O.F |
Specifies circumstances under which an insurer is not required to send notice of a replacement of a life insurance policy to the current insurer; allows for the coverage of a spouse and dependent children under a group life insurance policy up to the amount for which the employee is insured; bars the sale of annuities purchased as part of a settlement to satisfy Medicare secondary payer requirements to third parties not connected with the settlement; prohibits the creation of a class of employees for group life insurance covered under the employer’s group health plan; exempts certain inactive life insurance sales agents from continuing education requirements necessary for license maintenance. |
|
Thrasher |
House companion, CS/CS/HB 885, passed |
Sovereign Immunity |
Nehr |
Senate companion, CS/SB 2060, passed |
Allows a political subdivision of the state to pay judgment excess of the statutory limits on the waiver of sovereign immunity without an act of the Legislature; provides that such payment does not waive subdivision's defense of sovereign immunity or increase limits of its liability; provides for additional attorney fees in some circumstances |
|
Bennett |
Approved by the Governor on April 27; Chapter 2010-26, L.O.F. |
||
Public Adjusters |
Long |
Died in committee; language passed as part of CS/CS/SB 2044 |
Prohibits public adjusters from making certain employment solicitations; prohibits certain unsolicited written communications; provides exception requirements; revises prohibited solicitations; revises prohibited charges by public adjusters; specifies required information in public adjuster contracts; bars certain personal lines residential coverage insurance claims subject to certain notice requirements. |
|
Bennett |
Died in messages; language passed as part of CS/CS/SB 2044 |
||
Community Associations |
Fasano |
Passed Senate (38 Yeas, 0 Nays); passed House (107 Yeas, 4 Nays); Presented to the Governor on May 17 |
Revises the property insurance requirements of condominium associations and condominium unit owners; repeals the requirement that condominium unit owners must maintain property insurance coverage and the requirement that the condominium association must be an additional named insured and loss payee on policies issued to unit owners; repeals the provision that a condominium association may purchase property insurance at the expense of the owner when the unit owner does not provide proof of insurance; requires that residential condominium unit owner policies issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2010, include loss assessment coverage of $2,000, for certain assessments with a deductible of no more than $250 per direct property loss. |
Warranty Associations |
Kelly |
Died in committee; language passed as part of CS/SB 2176 |
Makes changes to Chapter 634, governing the regulation of service contracts in Florida; provisions increase criminal penalties for unlicensed activity and misleading direct mailers/telemarketing practices, and makes it an unfair trade practice to refuse to provide a copy of the service contract terms and conditions to the customer upon request; removes form and rate filing requirements for all three categories of service contracts, but the OIR maintains the ability to order a service contract company to cease using a form if it violates any disclosure provision; eliminates provisions requiring quarterly financial statements, but maintains OIR oversight of solvency of service contract companies; gives OIR more discretion in when they conduct examinations of service contract companies. |
|
Bennett |
Died on calendar; language passed as part of CS/SB 2176 |
||
Cat Fund Contract Year |
Richter |
Approved by the Governor on April 15, Chapter 2010-10, L.O.F |
Revises the contract year provisions. |
Commercial Insurance Rates |
Drake |
House companion, CS/SB 2176, passed |
Allows specified types of commercial lines insurance to be exempt from the rate filing and review requirements; requires notice to the OIR of rate changes within 30 days; requires these lines of insurance to continue to be subject to the requirement that rates are not excessive, inadequate, or unfairly discriminatory; prohibits an association, fund, or pool created to manage a risk management program or self-insurance public entity from requiring its members to give more than a 45 day notice to withdraw from the association, fund, or pool; provides that a law enforcement officer, correctional officer, or correctional probation officer who suffers from tuberculosis, heart disease, or hypertension and departs from the prescribed course of treatment of a physician, and the departure is demonstrated to result in an aggravation of the condition, would lose a specified presumption for claims; authorizes a sheriff to include the sheriff’s proportionate cost of workers’ compensation premiums for the off-duty deputy sheriffs providing such off duty employment; revises provisions related to unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts to provide that a Medicare supplement insurer is not prohibited from providing a premium credit to an insured for using an in-network inpatient facility; provides that an insurer offering Medicare supplement policy is not prohibited from entering into an agreement through a network with inpatient facilities that agree to waive the Medicare Part A deductible; requires an insurer to factor such a waiver of the Medicare Part A deductible and premium credit into the insurer’s loss-ratio calculation and premium; makes changes to Chapter 634, governing the regulation of service contracts in Florida; provisions increase criminal penalties for unlicensed activity and misleading direct mailers/telemarketing practices, and makes it an unfair trade practice to refuse to provide a copy of the service contract terms and conditions to the customer upon request; removes form and rate filing requirements for all three categories of service contracts, but the OIR maintains the ability to order a service contract company to cease using a form if it violates any disclosure provision; eliminates provisions requiring quarterly financial statements, but maintains OIR oversight of solvency of service contract companies; gives OIR more discretion in when they conduct examinations of service contract companies; enhances penalties for unethical annuities sales practices; prohibits annuity sales agents from making a member of his family the beneficiary of an annuity in certain situations; strengthens DFS’s ability to deny licensure to agents who have a history of financial misconduct involving seniors; requires more favorable annuity contract terms for seniors and requires sales agents to provide seniors with greater disclosures prior to the sale of an annuity contract; increases administrative fines for deceptive annuity sales practices towards seniors and gives DFS the authority to order the selling agent to pay restitution to a senior who is harmed by a violation of this section; provides an effective date of January 1, 2011. |
|
Peaden |
Passed Senate (37 Yeas, 1 Nay)’ Passed House (119 Yeas, 0 Nays); Presented to the Governor on May 17 |
||
Omnibus Property Insurance |
Richter |
Passed the Senate (32 Yeas, 6 Nays); passed House (83 Yeas, 34 Nays); Presented to the Governor on May 17 |
This bill gives the OIR enhance regulatory authority over managing general agents; increases the minimum capital and surplus requirements for companies; allows an insurer to non-renew policies with a 45 day notice (rather than 180 days) if the company is impaired; shortens the notice of non-renewal to 45 days for CPIC take-outs; provides that insurers have 90 days to pay or deny “supplemental” as well as “initial” claims; contains an expedited rate filing provision when the filing is limited to reinsurance costs, costs associated with financing products used to replace reinsurance, and an inflation trend factor; provides and appropriation for OIR to develop a consumer website; allows insurers to apply debits as well as credits to base rates for purposes of reflecting mitigated and non-mitigated features in rates; contains reforms to the wind mitigation inspection process to reduce fraud and abuse; provides that ACV will be paid on dwelling and that RC will be paid once the repairs are performed; allows a property insurer to change coverage without issuing a notice of non-renewal; allows an insurer to provide additional information to OIR on a rate filing without violating the certification requirement; repeals the uniform home grading scale mitigation provisions; extends by 2 years the CPIC HRA boundary reduction; addresses the ability of a general lines agent to serve on the CPIC board; provides a date of attachment of surcharge and ensures that assessments are fully collected from CPIC policyholders; prohibits OIR from requiring an insurer to remove “acquisition costs in a rate filing; continues the prohibition of “use and file” to December 2011; moves the date for implementation for the insurer report card to prior to June 1, 2012 and defines what are “valid” complaints for purposes of the report; contains a provision on crop insurance; re-names the Citizen HRA to the “coastal account”; exempts the National Association of Christian Catastrophe Insurance Adjusters from examination for licensure; contains a number of public adjuster reforms; continues the exemption for medical malpractice insurance from the assessment base of the Cat Fund; and requires that claims be filed with an insurer within 3 years of the storm event. This act takes effect July 1, 2010. |
OGSR/Florida Self-Insurers Guaranty Association |
Holder |
Approved by the Governor on May 11; Chapter 2010-72, L.O.F |
Amends and saves from repeal certain public records exemptions for the Florida Self-insurers Guaranty Association. |
|
Banking & Insurance |
House companion, HB 7089, passed |
||
OGSR/ Hurricane Loss Projection Methodology |
Government Affairs |
Approved by the Governor on May 15; Chapter 2010-89, L.O.F |
Amends and saves from repeal certain public records exemptions for the Florida Commission on Hurricane Loss Prevention Methodology. |
|
Banking & Insurance |
House companion, HB 7119, passed |
||
OGSR/Public Hurricane Model |
Government Affairs |
Passed House (113 Yeas, 0 Nays); passed Senate (37 Yeas, 0 Nays); presented to the Governor on May 17 |
Amends and saves from repeal certain public record exemptions for the public hurricane model. |
|
Banking & Insurance |
House companion, HB 7121, passed |
||
Cat Fund Assessments |
Nelson |
Passed House (111 Yeas, 1 Nay); Passed Senate (37 Yeas, 0 Nays); language also passed as part of CS/CS/SB 2044; presented to the Governor on May 17 |
Extends until 2013 the exemption from Cat Fund assessments for medical malpractice insurance. |