Residential Property Insurers Face New Reporting Requirement
The new year brings the initial reporting period for a new closed claim reporting obligation applicable to residential property insurers. In the 2021 legislative session, the Florida Legislature adopted SB 76 which, among other things, amends Section 624.424 pertaining to insurers’ annual statements.
The new requirement specifies that beginning January 1, 2022, each authorized residential property insurer must file a supplemental report with its annual statement. The reporting requirement applies to both personal lines and commercial lines residential property insurers. The report submitted each year will contain numerous data elements about claims closed in the preceding calendar year. These data elements include:
- Date and location of the loss
- Type of peril
- Types of vendors involved
- Public adjusters involved
- Information about the claimants’ attorneys
- Indemnity paid
- Loss adjustment expenses paid
- Attorneys’ fees paid
- Any contingency risk multipliers applied
Sometimes new reporting requirements apply to claims or policies issued after a law’s effective date. However, in this case the new requirement applies to claims closed during the year regardless of when they opened. Therefore, the new requirement undoubtedly will encompass claims received well prior to the law’s effective date. This likely will mean that the data gathered under the new requirement will improve over time as insurers adapt, especially taking into account that some of the data elements are not items insurers historically have needed to track.
The Office of Insurance Regulation, through the Financial Services Commission, is tasked with adopting a reporting form for the new requirement. In late 2021, the OIR published notice of a rule workshop to begin the process for adopting the form. The OIR has not yet held the workshop, but can be expected to do so early this year.