The 2011 session of the Florida Legislature came to a close late last night (or this morning, as it went until about 3:00 a.m.). Most of the insurance related issues were resolved one way or the other by Thursday, including the chambers’ passing the major property insurance bill. One of the final insurance bills that […]
After a long and sometimes bitter battle, the Florida Legislature passed a property insurance bill, CS/CS/CS/SB 408 that makes significant changes even if it did not go as far as earlier drafts. The 129 page bill’s next stop will be the Governor. We will have a more complete report up soon, but here are some […]
A bill, CS/CS/HB 155 Privacy of Firearms Owners, that assures doctors are limited in their ability to protect kids by inquiring about fire arms from their patients became one of the first bills to pass both chambers. The bill also provides that insurers are prohibited from discriminating, denying coverage, or increasing premiums on the basis […]
The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation has announced a public hearing at which it will investigate claims settlement practices in the life and annuity industry. The OIR has directed that representatives of two insurers appear in Tallahassee on May 19 to address its concerns, and OIR advises that it continues to examine other insurers. According […]
On April 13, 2011, a judgment for more than $76 million was handed down by the Complex Litigation Division of the Miami-Dade Circuit Court against the former owners of Aries Insurance Company. The judgment announced by CFO Atwater, follows an extensive investigation by the Department of Financial Services (Department) that determined that Marcos Fraynd and […]
OIR issues informational memorandum OIR-11-02M in late March to promote the Partners in Recovery Program, “a not-for-profit organization whose primary mission is to expedite the payment of property insurance claims following a disaster.” The memo makes the following observations: Partners in Recovery provides year-round insurance disaster preparation and response communications among the Department of Financial […]
The Florida Department of Revenue (“DOR”) has issued a Taxpayer Information Publication (TIP #11B8-01) describing changes to its electronic address/jurisdiction database. Insurance companies use these database files for allocating premium tax to the various firefighters’ and police officers’ pension trust funds and local taxing districts. Insurers can register at http://geotax.state.fl.us to download the address/jurisdiction database […]
The Office of Insurance Regulation has issued a document called “Report on Review of the 2011 Personal Injury Protection Data Call.” The OIR recently issued a report compiling the results from its recent voluntary data call from insurers writing personal auto line of business. Thirty one companies responded representing more than 80% of the market. […]
As we have now reached the midpoint of the 2011 legislative, some of the key elements of this year’s property insurance legislation still differ in significant ways between the House and Senate versions. Property legislation tends to go down to the wire each year, and this year looks like it will be no exception. Some […]
Senator J.D. Alexander ran an amendment to this year’s Senate property insurance bill to underscore a point he has been making for quite some time– if Citizens Property Insurance Corporation does not charge premiums commensurate with its risks, the shortfalls in the form of assessments in essence are a form of tax on all Floridians. The […]