Capitol to Courthouse Florida Insurance Report: Tuesday, December 13
Dec 13, 2011
To go directly to the section of your choice, click on a hyperlink below. Other hyperlinks to meeting information, bills and news are noted in bold type.
- Daily Florida Insurance-Related Events
- Daily Florida Insurance-Related Bills Filed for 2012
- Daily Insurance-Related News
Daily Florida Insurance-Related Events
(CANCELED) 10:00 a.m.–Florida Surplus Lines Service Office National Clearinghouse Committee meeting. To view the meeting notice, click here.
12:30 p.m.–Citizens Property Insurance Corporation (“Citizens”) Market Accountability Advisory Committee meeting. Teleconference: 866-361-7525; conference code: 7849939192#. To view the meeting notice, click here.
2:30 p.m.–Citizens Consumer Services Committee meeting. Teleconference: 866-361-7525; conference code: 6487811620#. To view the meeting notice, click here.
4:00 p.m.–Citizens Finance and Investment Committee meeting. Teleconference: 866-361-7525; conference code: 2478401990#. To view the meeting notice, click here.
5:15 p.m.–Citizens Audit Committee meeting. Teleconference: 866-361-7525; conference code: 3877541849#. To view the meeting notice, click here.
Daily Florida Insurance-Related Bills Filed for 2012
HB 1011 Relating to Warranty Associations by State Representative Joe Abruzzo
HB 1011 would provide criteria for motor vehicle service agreement companies, home warranty associations and service warranty associations to effectuate refunds through an issuing salesperson or agent. It would also provide for recordkeeping requirements and require a salesperson or agent to provide a copy of these documents to a service agreement company if requested by the Florida Department of Financial Services (“DFS”). The Florida Office of Financial Regulation (“OFR”) would also be subject to certain requirements. The bill provides an exception to the requirement that motor vehicle service agreement companies, home warranty associations and service warranty associations undergo periodic examinations. It also would authorize, rather than require the OFR to examine service agreement companies, home warranty associations and service warranty associations within a limited examination period. HB 1011 would remove the requirement that the Florida Financial Services Commission establish rules for conducting examinations. It also would remove criteria for determining whether an examination is warranted. Finally, the bill would authorize certain entities to provide property or money to the DFS to pursue unauthorized entities operating as a motor vehicle service agreement company, home warranty association or service warranty association. Effective Date: July 1, 2012
HB 1007 Relating to Motor Vehicle Insurance by State Representative Mike Horner
HB 1007 would repeal Florida’s Motor Vehicle No-Fault Law and create the Florida Mandatory Emergency Payments Coverage Law and its purpose. The new law would requires every owner or registrant of motor vehicle required to be registered and licensed in Florida to maintain specified security under such law. The bill also specifies means by which such security would be provided, and provides for requirements with respect to filing and maintaining proof of security required under such law. Requirements with respect to filing and maintaining proof of required security are also among the provisions, along with requirements that insurance policies provide mandatory emergency payments coverage to specified persons. HB 1007 further provides for limits of coverage, as well as specifies limits for medical benefits. The bill also provides for subrogation rights. Effective Date: July 1, 2014
HB 1013 Relating to Residential Construction Warranties by State Representative Frank Artiles
HB 1013 provides for legislative findings and legislative intent to affirm limitations to the doctrine of implied warranty of fitness and merchantability or habitability associated with the construction and sale of new homes. The bill would prohibit a cause of action in law or equity based upon the doctrine of implied warranty of fitness and merchantability or habitability for off-site improvements, except as otherwise provided by law. It also provides for applicability of act, and provides for severability. Effective Date: July 1, 2012, and applies to all cases accruing before, pending on, or filed after that date.
Wall Street Journal: Florida’s Hurricane Reform Winds
Florida marked the end of its sixth straight season without a hurricane landfall last month, and the U.S. marked the longest stretch without a major storm since the beginning of reliable records in 1851.
Blog: Complaint — Citizens Property Insurance Corporation inflated rebuilding costs, premiums
Citizens Property Insurance’s board received a formal complaint Saturday that alleges it inflated the cost of rebuilding homes to raise premiums more than the 10 percent a year allowed.
Blog: Two Miami women arrested for alleged staged accident
Two women in Miami were arrested recently in connection with an alleged staged accident scam earlier this year, Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater announced today.
Governor Rick Scott’s proposed budget includes $2.1 billion cut in Medicaid
When Governor Rick Scott unveiled his proposed $66.4 billion budget last week, many people in the capital and around the state cast it as schools versus hospitals.
Prison health care outsourcing stalled by bid protests
The Department of Corrections last week suspended its effort to outsource health care services for Florida prisons after receiving bid protests from three potential vendors.
Florida Supreme Court to hear term limits case
The Florida Supreme Court decided Monday it will rule on whether county commissioners in the state can face term limits, a choice that could shake up the Sarasota County Board of Commissioners and permanently change county politics.
Blog: Florida Representative Jeff Brandes qualifies for 2012 ballot by petition
Jeff Brandes announced that he officially qualified for the 2012 ballot by voter petition.
Senator Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, filed two proposals Friday in effort to deter “cozy employment and investment relationships” between officials of the State Board of Administration and executives of firms in which the agency invests.
Inspections decline as elder watchdogs are muzzled
For five weeks, the leaders of Florida’s assisted-living watchdog group pondered what to do with volunteer advocate Bill Hearne.
Former Florida House speaker John Thrasher speaks out
State Senator John Thrasher met Monday with The News-Journal editorial board. The former speaker of the Florida House talked about the redistricting process, the governor’s proposed budget and some legislative priorities for 2012.
Blog: New Florida House Website — Same Lawmakers and Bills.
The Florida House has launched a new Web site described as featuring “more content,” an “all new simplified page layout,” and “new member pages.”
Bill would create alternative review option for larger developments
A bill filed last week by the chairman of the Senate Committee on Community Affairs would create an alternative review process supported by developers for certain large development projects that remain subject to state review.
Appeal court hears arguments in barrel racing case
Two quarter horse associations want barrel racing at a Gretna track halted while they press their case challenging what they see as encroachment into traditional horse racing.
Insurance representatives sitting on three separate panels failed to provide a consensus on what the role of the Federal Insurance Office should be in insurance regulation.
Texas Lawmakers Named to Coastal Insurance Study Committee
A joint committee of state lawmakers over the next year will be looking in to alternatives for providing property insurance along the Texas coast.
Connecticut Updates Underwriting Guidelines for Hurricane Deductible
Connecticut insurance department announced that it has updated its coastal underwriting guidelines to clarify when hurricane deductibles can be applied.
Federal Emergency Management Agency issued a new bulletin telling insurers that they should cooperate with state regulators on questions regarding federal flood insurance.
There has been a paradigm shift away from the state-versus-federal regulation debate in the U.S. to concerns about international regulatory proposals, according to the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America.
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