Florida Administrative Hearing On Garage Door-Related Mitigation Form Language Scheduled for June 19, 2011
May 25, 2011
The Florida Division of Administrative Hearings has scheduled a final hearing on July 19, 2011 to determine the legislative authority of Rule 69O-170.0155, specifically in regard to Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (“OIR”) Forms OIR-B1-1802, known as the “Uniform Mitigation Verification Inspection Form,” and OIR-B1-1699, the “Uniform Mitigation Form.”
Originating from a petition for administrative determination filed against the OIR and the Florida Financial Services Commission on April 22, 2011 by Secure Enterprises, LLC (“Secure”), a manufacturer of residential garage door bracing systems, the July 19 hearing will seek to determine whether the Forms inaccurately state which types of garage doors qualify homeowners for property insurance discounts.
Secure’s petition asserts that Rule 69O-170.0155 should be declared invalid because of its “arbitrary and capricious” nature. Further, the company stated that Paragraph Nine of Form OIR-B1-1699 is contrary to Florida law, which requires insurers to afford savings to policyholders who install or implement windstorm damage mitigation techniques, alterations or solutions to their properties. Fixtures or construction techniques must simply meet the minimum requirements of Florida’s Building Code, Secure reminds.
Alleging a significant loss of sales over the past two years as a direct result of home inspectors improperly utilizing Form OIR-B1-1699 by assessing wind speed-resistant garage doors as “Not Rated,” Secure intimated in its petition that companies responsible for training these inspectors, coupled with their training materials that mis-educate as to the difference between “wind-speed resistant” and “impact-resistant” garage doors, have contributed to Secure’s loss of revenue, a problem that the company further described as having been fundamentally driven by the OIR’s failure to implement the correct garage door mitigation standard.
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