Florida Insurance Council - Covering Florida Since 1962
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel Anne Bert, Chief Operating Officer of the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund (FHCF), provided an update on Hurricane Irma claims to the FHCF Advisory Council during their meeting on September 13, 2017. Ms. Bert stated the FHCF has not yet received any requests for reimbursement/Proof of Loss Reports from insurers,…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel A second and unfriendly AOB bill emerged in the Senate this week. This bill, SB 256, is not the bill drafted by the OIR and Citizens Property Insurance (Citizens) which is supported by the industry. The OIR and Citizens bill is SB 62. AOB reform is the top, and…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The OIR will likely implement their catastrophe data reporting for Hurricane Irma. In order to prepare for the data call, insurers may want to review the Catastrophe Reporting Form template on the OIR website (http://www.floir.com/Sections/PandC/ProductReview/CatastropheReporting.aspx) to become familiar with it. According to the OIR, it is very similar to…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel Last week, Rep. Santiago, vice chair of the House Insurance Committee, filed HB 97 which restructures part of the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund (FHCF). The 2018 bill proposes fewer changes to the FHCF than the 2017 FHCF restructuring bill (which did not pass). Following are some of the highlights…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel During the August 16th Cabinet meeting, Insurance Commissioner Altmaier presented the OIR’s 2018 legislative agenda to the Florida Cabinet. The only issue on the agenda was assignment of benefits (AOB) reform indicating the regulator believes that AOB reform is the most critical issue facing Florida’s insurers. In fact, Commissioner…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel Senate Bill 62, dealing with assignment of benefits (AOB) in property insurance was filed by Sen. Hukill on August 9, 2017. Sen. Hukill has been a tireless advocate for AOB reform the past few sessions. She was also the sponsor of the 2017 AOB bill that the OIR, Citizens…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel During its June 20th Board meeting, the Citizens Property Insurance Board of Governors adopted rate and policy changes to be submitted to the Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) for 2018. Despite lower reinsurance costs and lower rates for wind coverage and primarily because of rising water claim costs,…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel On May 9, 2017, Governor Scott signed the property insurance policy transfer bill, HB 805. The bill makes it easier for insurers to transfer homeowners’ policies to an affiliated company. It was supported primarily by Nationwide Insurance. The bill is effective July 1, 2017 and allows – under certain…
By: Greenberg Traurig, FIC Lobbyist Citizens Property Insurance Corporation (“Citizens”) recently announced they will begin offering two new programs in an effort to mitigate rapidly rising claims costs due to water losses. Citizens will now offer consumers emergency water removal services and add a managed repair contractor program to their claims services. Citizen notes that…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel On May 5, 2017, the last day of Session, the Florida Legislature passed HB 1021. Part of that bill changes the building code adoption process. The building code adoption changes were part of a myriad of additions to HB 1021 added by the Senate and when the bill returned…