Florida Insurance Council - Covering Florida Since 1962
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel Two legal reform provisions are included in the House insurance omnibus bill, HB 301, filed last week by Rep. Santiago (R). Various stakeholders representing the insurance industry are the proponents of the omnibus bill. The Senate companion to the House omnibus bill has not yet been filed. One provision…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel Two AOB bills have been filed in the House the past week. Although they share some of the same language, one is more comprehensive. Language in both bills is similar to language proposed by the House last year. Both bills are filed by freshmen Democrat House members. Neither has…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel During its January 22, 2019 committee meeting, the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee held its first discussion on AOBs and restricting one-way attorney fees to the named insured. The Committee ran out of meeting time before the completing the discussion, so the Chair said the discussion will continue at…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The Florida Building Commission (Commission) gave the House Commerce Committee an overview of the Florida Building Code (Code), its adoption, and implementation during its committee meeting on January 22, 2019. The presentation can be found here. The process for updating the Code was discussed. According to the presentation, the…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel An insurance omnibus bill was filed last week in the House. HB 301 is sponsored by Rep. Santiago (R), the sponsor of last year’s insurance omnibus bill. A Senate companion has not yet been filed. Although there are several property insurance issues contained in the bill, the following three provisions…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel On January 16, 2019, HB 301, an insurance omnibus bill, was filed by Rep. Santiago (R) that contains language proposed by the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA) requiring life insurers to notify agents by mail or electronically of the impending lapse in coverage. A variation…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel Legislation on several auto insurance issues were filed this week. HB 323 deals with auto glass and prohibits motor vehicle repair shops, their employees, or their compensated nonemployees from offering rebates, gifts, gift cards, cash, coupons, or other things of value for making an insurance glass claim. This language…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel On January 15, 2019, Rep. Santiago (R) filed HB 271, a comprehensive bill on numerous pharmacy issues, prior authorization, and fail first/step therapy protocols. Many of the provisions of the bill are likely to be problematic for health insurers, HMOs, and PBMs. Some of the major components of…