Insurer Report Card Rule Re-Proposed
The Financial Services Commission has republished notice of proposed rulemaking relating to an insurer report card rule. The current version of the rule was scheduled to be presented to the Financial Services Commission at its August 26, 2010 meeting. However, due to procedural requirements, the rule will not be presented to the FSC at that time and instead will be the subject of another rule hearing on September 8, 2010. After the public hearing, the rule then may be presented to the Financial Services Commission for adoption or may be revised based upon input received at the public hearing.
The Florida Insurance Code specifies that the Insurance Consumer Advocate will publish a report card grading insurers in the areas of consumer complaints and timeliness of claims handling. The proposed rule sets forth the methodology by which the grades will be assigned. Insurers have expressed concerns with prior and current drafts of the rule because, among other reasons, the rule does not distinguish between valid and invalid consumer complaints and the rule does not account for legislative changes in claims-handling timelines. A legislative proposal to revise the report card grading criteria met its demise with the Governor’s veto of SB 2044 earlier this year. The Financial Services Commission has since continued to move forward with rulemaking, leading to the upcoming September hearing.