Bill Text: FL S0784 | 2018 | Regular Session | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Insurance
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (? 2-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-03-08 - Laid on Table, refer to CS/CS/HB 465 [S0784 Detail]
Download: Florida-2018-S0784-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Insurance
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (? 2-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-03-08 - Laid on Table, refer to CS/CS/HB 465 [S0784 Detail]
Download: Florida-2018-S0784-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2018 SB 784 By Senator Brandes 24-00599C-18 2018784__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to insurance; amending s. 624.307, 3 F.S.; specifying certain persons are not consumers for 4 purposes of calculating complaint ratios; amending s. 5 625.151, F.S.; providing an exception from valuation 6 rules for stocks in subsidiaries for certain foreign 7 insurers under certain conditions; amending s. 8 625.325, F.S.; exempting foreign insurers from 9 investment requirements relating to subsidiaries and 10 corporations under certain conditions; amending s. 11 626.914, F.S.; revising the definition of the term 12 “diligent effort” to decrease the replacement cost 13 threshold for a residential structure for purposes of 14 proving rejection of coverage by authorized insurers; 15 amending s. 626.918, F.S.; increasing the amount of 16 capital and surplus required for an insurer to waive a 17 requirement to be an eligible surplus lines insurer; 18 amending s. 626.932, F.S.; deleting a provision 19 relating to a surplus lines tax threshold; amending s. 20 626.9651, F.S.; revising requirements for rules 21 adopted by the Department of Financial Services and 22 the Financial Services Commission relating to the 23 privacy of certain consumer information; amending s. 24 626.9891, F.S.; authorizing, rather than requiring, an 25 insurer to report certain data; amending s. 627.4136, 26 F.S.; providing applicability; amending s. 627.7015, 27 F.S.; authorizing insurers to participate in 28 mediations requested by third parties; revising 29 terminology; revising the definition of the term 30 “claim” to specify that any material issue of fact 31 must relate to a loss arising from a declared state of 32 emergency; amending s. 627.728, F.S.; providing that 33 an Intelligent Mail barcode or a similar United States 34 Postal Service tracking method is sufficient proof of 35 notice for certain motor vehicle insurance notices; 36 amending s. 627.748, F.S.; revising circumstances in 37 which insurers may exclude coverage for owners or 38 operators of transportation network company vehicles; 39 amending s. 628.8015, F.S.; revising the type of 40 documents that are confidential; amending s. 636.044, 41 F.S.; providing an exemption from licensing 42 requirements for a person who sells certain prepaid 43 limited health service contracts; providing an 44 effective date. 45 46 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 47 48 Section 1. Paragraph (e) is added to subsection (10) of 49 section 624.307, Florida Statutes, to read: 50 624.307 General powers; duties.— 51 (10) 52 (e) For purposes of this subsection, a third-party vendor, 53 as an assignee of policy benefits, is not a consumer. Inquiries 54 or complaints from a third-party vendor, as an assignee of 55 policy benefits, may not be used when calculating a complaint 56 ratio pursuant to s. 624.313. 57 Section 2. Paragraph (c) is added to subsection (3) of 58 section 625.151, Florida Statutes, to read: 59 625.151 Valuation of other securities.— 60 (3) Stock of a subsidiary corporation of an insurer may 61shallnot be valued at an amount in excess of the net value 62 thereof as based upon those assets only of the subsidiary which 63 would be eligible under part II for investment of the funds of 64 the insurer directly. 65 (c) This subsection does not apply to stock of a subsidiary 66 corporation or related entities of a foreign insurer that is 67 permissible under the laws of its state of domicile if the state 68 of domicile is a member of the National Association of Insurance 69 Commissioners. 70 Section 3. Subsection (7) is added to section 625.325, 71 Florida Statutes, to read: 72 625.325 Investments in subsidiaries and related 73 corporations.— 74 (7) APPLICABILITY.-This section does not apply to a foreign 75 insurer’s investments in its subsidiaries or related 76 corporations if: 77 (a) The foreign insurer is domiciled in a state that is a 78 member of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners 79 (NAIC). 80 (b) Such investments in the foreign insurer’s subsidiaries 81 or related corporations are: 82 1. Permitted under the laws of the foreign insurer’s state 83 of domicile. 84 2.a. Assigned a rating of 1, 2, or 3 by the NAIC’s 85 Securities Valuation Office (SVO); or 86 b. Qualify for the NAIC’s filing exemption rule and 87 assigned a rating by a nationally recognized statistical rating 88 organization that would be equivalent to a rating of 1, 2, or 3 89 by the SVO. 90 Section 4. Subsection (4) of section 626.914, Florida 91 Statutes, is amended to read: 92 626.914 Definitions.—As used in this Surplus Lines Law, the 93 term: 94 (4) “Diligent effort” means seeking coverage from and 95 having been rejected by at least three authorized insurers 96 currently writing this type of coverage and documenting these 97 rejections. However, if the residential structure has a dwelling 98 replacement cost of $750,000$1 millionor more, the term means 99 seeking coverage from and having been rejected by at least one 100 authorized insurer currently writing this type of coverage and 101 documenting this rejection. 102 Section 5. Paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of section 103 626.918, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 104 626.918 Eligible surplus lines insurers.— 105 (2) An unauthorized insurer may not be or become an 106 eligible surplus lines insurer unless made eligible by the 107 office in accordance with the following conditions: 108 (b) The insurer must be currently an authorized insurer in 109 the state or country of its domicile as to the kind or kinds of 110 insurance proposed to be so placed and must have been such an 111 insurer for not less than the 3 years next preceding or must be 112 the wholly owned subsidiary of such authorized insurer or must 113 be the wholly owned subsidiary of an already eligible surplus 114 lines insurer as to the kind or kinds of insurance proposed for 115 a period of not less than the 3 years next preceding. However, 116 the office may waive the 3-year requirement if the insurer 117 provides a product or service not readily available to the 118 consumers of this state or has operated successfully for a 119 period of at least 1 year next preceding and has capital and 120 surplus of not less than $30$25million. 121 Section 6. Subsection (3) of section 626.932, Florida 122 Statutes, is amended to read: 123 626.932 Surplus lines tax.— 124 (3) If a surplus lines policy covers risks or exposures 125 only partially in this state and the state is the home state as 126 defined in the federal Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act of 127 2010 (NRRA), the tax payable mustshallbe computed on the gross 128 premium.The tax must not exceed the tax rate where the risk or129exposure is located.130 Section 7. Section 626.9651, Florida Statutes, is amended 131 to read: 132 626.9651 Privacy.—The department and commission mustshall133 each adopt rules consistent with other provisions of the Florida 134 Insurance Code to govern the use of a consumer’s nonpublic 135 personal financial and health information. These rules must be 136 based on, consistent with, and not more restrictive than the 137 Privacy of Consumer Financial and Health Information Regulation, 138 adopted September 26, 2000, by the National Association of 139 Insurance Commissioners; however, the rules must permit the use 140 and disclosure of nonpublic personal health information for 141 scientific, medical, or public policy research, in accordance 142 with federal law. In addition, these rules must be consistent 143 with, and not more restrictive than, the standards contained in 144 Title V of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999, Pub. L. No. 106 145 102, as amended in Title LXXV of the Fixing America’s Surface 146 Transportation (FAST) Act, Pub. L. No. 114-94. If the office 147 determines that a health insurer or health maintenance 148 organization is in compliance with, or is actively undertaking 149 compliance with, the consumer privacy protection rules adopted 150 by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, in 151 conformance with the Health Insurance Portability and 152 Affordability Act, that health insurer or health maintenance 153 organization is in compliance with this section. 154 Section 8. Subsection (5) of section 626.9891, Florida 155 Statutes, is amended to read: 156 626.9891 Insurer anti-fraud investigative units; reporting 157 requirements; penalties for noncompliance.— 158 (5) Each insurer is required to report data related to 159 fraud for each identified line of business written by the 160 insurer during the prior calendar year. The data mustshallbe 161 reported to the department by March 1, 2019, and annually 162 thereafter, and maymustinclude, at a minimum: 163 (a) The number of policies in effect; 164 (b) The amount of premiums written for policies; 165 (c) The number of claims received; 166 (d) The number of claims referred to the anti-fraud 167 investigative unit; 168 (e) The number of other insurance fraud matters referred to 169 the anti-fraud investigative unit that were not claim related; 170 (f) The number of claims investigated or accepted by the 171 anti-fraud investigative unit; 172 (g) The number of other insurance fraud matters 173 investigated or accepted by the anti-fraud investigative unit 174 that were not claim related; 175 (h) The number of cases referred to the Division of 176 Investigative and Forensic Services; 177 (i) The number of cases referred to other law enforcement 178 agencies; 179 (j) The number of cases referred to other entities; and 180 (k) The estimated dollar amount or range of damages on 181 cases referred to the Division of Investigative and Forensic 182 Services or other agencies. 183 Section 9. Subsection (5) is added to section 627.4136, 184 Florida Statutes, to read: 185 627.4136 Nonjoinder of insurers.— 186 (5) This section applies to surplus lines liability 187 insurers. 188 Section 10. Subsections (1), (3), (6), and (9) of section 189 627.7015, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 190 627.7015 Alternative procedure for resolution of disputed 191 property insurance claims.— 192 (1) This section sets forth a nonadversarial alternative 193 dispute resolution procedure for a mediated claim resolution 194 conference prompted by the need for effective, fair, and timely 195 handling of property insurance claims. There is a particular 196 need for an informal, nonthreatening forum for helping parties 197 who elect this procedure to resolve their claims disputes 198 because most homeowner and commercial residential insurance 199 policies obligate policyholders to participate in a potentially 200 expensive and time-consuming adversarial appraisal process 201 before litigation. The procedure set forth in this section is 202 designed to bring the parties together for a mediated claims 203 settlement conference without any of the trappings or drawbacks 204 of an adversarial process. Before resorting to these procedures, 205 policyholders and insurers are encouraged to resolve claims as 206 quickly and fairly as possible. This section is available with 207 respect to claims under personal lines and commercial 208 residential policies before commencing the appraisal process, or 209 before commencing litigation. Mediation may be requested only by 210 the policyholder, as a first-party claimant, or the insurer. An 211 insurer may, but is not required to, participate in mediation 212 requested by a third party, as an assignee of policy benefits. 213 If requested by the policyholder, participation by legal counsel 214 is permitted. Mediation under this section is also available to 215 litigants referred to the department by a county court or 216 circuit court. This section does not apply to commercial 217 coverages, to private passenger motor vehicle insurance 218 coverages, or to disputes relating to liability coverages in 219 policies of property insurance. 220 (3) The costs of mediation mustshallbe reasonable, and 221 the insurer mustshallbear all of the cost of conducting 222 mediation conferences, except as otherwise provided in this 223 section. If a policyholderan insuredfails to appear at the 224 conference, the conference mustshallbe rescheduled upon the 225 policyholder’sinsured’spayment of the costs of a rescheduled 226 conference. If the insurer fails to appear at the conference, 227 the insurer mustshallpay the policyholder’sinsured’sactual 228 cash expenses incurred in attending the conference if the 229 insurer’s failure to attend was not due to a good cause 230 acceptable to the department. An insurer will be deemed to have 231 failed to appear if the insurer’s representative lacks authority 232 to settle the full value of the claim. The insurer shall incur 233 an additional fee for a rescheduled conference necessitated by 234 the insurer’s failure to appear at a scheduled conference. The 235 fees assessed by the administrator mustshallinclude a charge 236 necessary to defray the expenses of the department related to 237 its duties under this section and mustshallbe deposited in the 238 Insurance Regulatory Trust Fund. 239 (6) Mediation is nonbinding; however, if a written 240 settlement is reached, the policyholderinsuredhas 3 business 241 days within which the policyholderinsuredmay rescind the 242 settlement unless the policyholderinsuredhas cashed or 243 deposited any check or draft disbursed to the policyholder 244insuredfor the disputed matters as a result of the conference. 245 If a settlement agreement is reached and is not rescinded, it is 246shall bebinding and actsactas a release of all specific 247 claims that were presented in that mediation conference. 248 (9) For purposes of this section, the term “claim” refers 249 to any dispute between an insurer and a policyholder relating to 250 a material issue of fact other than a dispute: 251 (a) With respect to which the insurer has a reasonable 252 basis to suspect fraud; 253 (b) WhenWhere, based on agreed-upon facts as to the cause 254 of loss, there is no coverage under the policy; 255 (c) With respect to which the insurer has a reasonable 256 basis to believe that the policyholder has intentionally made a 257 material misrepresentation of fact which is relevant to the 258 claim, and the entire request for payment of a loss has been 259 denied on the basis of the material misrepresentation; 260 (d) With respect to which the amount in controversy is less 261 than $500, unless the parties agree to mediate a dispute 262 involving a lesser amount; or 263 (e) With respect to a windstorm or hurricane loss that does 264 not comply with s. 627.70132. 265 Section 11. Subsection (5) of section 627.728, Florida 266 Statutes, is amended to read: 267 627.728 Cancellations; nonrenewals.— 268 (5) United States postal proof of mailing,orcertified or 269 registered mailing, or other mailing using the Intelligent Mail 270 barcode or other similar tracking method used or approved by the 271 United States Postal Service of notice of cancellation, of 272 intention not to renew, or of reasons for cancellation, or of 273 the intention of the insurer to issue a policy by an insurer 274 under the same ownership or management, to the first-named 275 insured at the address shown in the policy isshall be276 sufficient proof of notice. 277 Section 12. Paragraph (b) of subsection (8) of section 278 627.748, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 279 627.748 Transportation network companies.— 280 (8) TRANSPORTATION NETWORK COMPANY AND INSURER; DISCLOSURE; 281 EXCLUSIONS.— 282 (b)1. An insurer that provides an automobile liability 283 insurance policy under this part may exclude any and all 284 coverage afforded under the policy issued to an owner or 285 operator of a TNC vehiclewhile driving that vehiclefor any 286 loss or injury that occurs while a TNC driver is logged on to a 287 digital network and driving a motor vehicle, or whenwhilea TNC 288 driver provides a prearranged ride. Exclusions imposed under 289 this subsection are limited to coverage while a TNC driver is 290 logged on to a digital network or while a TNC driver provides a 291 prearranged ride. This right to exclude all coverage may apply 292 to any coverage included in an automobile insurance policy, 293 including, but not limited to: 294 a. Liability coverage for bodily injury and property 295 damage; 296 b. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage; 297 c. Medical payments coverage; 298 d. Comprehensive physical damage coverage; 299 e. Collision physical damage coverage; and 300 f. Personal injury protection. 301 2. The exclusions described in subparagraph 1. apply 302 notwithstanding any requirement under chapter 324. These 303 exclusions do not affect or diminish coverage otherwise 304 available for permissive drivers or resident relatives under the 305 personal automobile insurance policy of the TNC driver or owner 306 of the TNC vehicle who are not occupying the TNC vehicle at the 307 time of loss. This section does not require that a personal 308 automobile insurance policy provide coverage while the TNC 309 driver is logged on to a digital network, while the TNC driver 310 is engaged in a prearranged ride, or while the TNC driver 311 otherwise uses a vehicle to transport riders for compensation. 312 3. This section must not be construed to require an insurer 313 to use any particular policy language or reference to this 314 section in order to exclude any and all coverage for any loss or 315 injury that occurs while a TNC driver is logged on to a digital 316 network or while a TNC driver provides a prearranged ride. 317 4. This section does not preclude an insurer from providing 318 primary or excess coverage for the TNC driver’s vehicle by 319 contract or endorsement. 320 Section 13. Subsection (4) of section 628.8015, Florida 321 Statutes, is amended to read: 322 628.8015 Own-risk and solvency assessment; corporate 323 governance annual disclosure.— 324 (4) CONFIDENTIALITY.—The required filings and related 325 documents submitted pursuant to subsections (2) and (3) are 326 privileged such that they may not be produced in response to a 327 subpoena or other discovery directed to the office, and any such 328 filings and related documents, if obtained from the office,are 329 not admissible in evidence in any private civil action. However, 330 the department or office may use these filings and related 331 documents in the furtherance of any regulatory or legal action 332 brought against an insurer as part of the official duties of the 333 department or office. A waiver of any applicable claim of 334 privilege in these filings and related documents may not occur 335 because of a disclosure to the office under this section, 336 because of any other provision of the Insurance Code, or because 337 of sharing under s. 624.4212. The office or a person receiving 338 these filings and related documents, while acting under the 339 authority of the office, or with whom such filings and related 340 documents are shared pursuant to s. 624.4212, is not permitted 341 or required to testify in any private civil action concerning 342 any such filings or related documents. 343 Section 14. Subsection (5) of section 636.044, Florida 344 Statutes, is amended to read: 345 636.044 Agent licensing.— 346 (5) A person who sellsregistered as a seller of travel347under s. 559.928 is not required to be licensed under this348section in order to sellprepaid limited health service 349 contracts that only cover the cost of transportation provided by 350 an air ambulance service licensed pursuant to s. 401.251 is not 351 required to be licensed under this section. The prepaid limited 352 health service contract for such coverage is, however, subject 353 to all applicable provisions of this chapter. 354 Section 15. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.