Omnibus Bill Heads to Governor’s Desk
The Florida legislature passed this year’s omnibus insurance bill on the final day of the session. The bill (HB 465) covers a range of topics relating to various aspects of the insurance industry. Many auto insurers will appreciate that provisions referring to delivery of cancellation notices have been updated to allow Intelligent Mail bar codes or similar tracking functions.
The legislature also has updated Florida’s implementation requirements for Gramm Leach Bliley privacy laws to account for the subsequent federal adoption of the FAST Act.
An existing requirement for insurers to execute their policies has been modified to provide that insurers may deliver non-executed insurance policies as long as the absence of company signatures does not affect the validity of the contracts.
An amendment to the statute providing for Notices of Change in Policy Terms clarifies that the notices should “summarize” the changes. The legislature found that the existing statute seemingly would allow mere notice with no explanation or identification of the changes.
Among other changes, the bill also expands confidentiality protections for insurers’ Own Risk and Solvency Assessment (ORSA) information.
Unless a provision’s effective date is specifically set forth in the bill, the changes will become effective immediately upon the bill’s becoming law.