Florida Office of Insurance Regulation Extends Order Allowing Self-Certification of Certain Personal Lines Property/Casualty Forms

 

Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty issued an Order today, June 24, 2013, effectively extending until December 31, 2013 a process allowing for self-certification of certain personal lines property and casualty insurance forms and exempting those forms from the requirements of Section 627.410, F.S.  The original Order, issued in 2012, was set to expire at the close of business today.

Among the requirements of the Order, which is attached in PDF format, are:

• The form filing must be sent at least 30 days prior to the proposed effective date.
• The filing must contain a notarized certification on the insurer’s letterhead and must be signed and dated by the insurer’s president, chief executive officer, general counsel, or an employee of the insurer responsible for the filing on behalf of the insurer.
• The certification must contain the language required by the order, and no other language.
• The certification includes language that every form contained within the filing is in compliance with all applicable Florida laws and rules. By “Florida laws and rules”, the Office means all applicable Florida Statutes and Rules.
• If the changes submitted in the filing would require a Notice of Change in Policy Terms, as required under s. 627.43141(2), Florida Statutes, the insurer must submit a completed Notice of Change in Policy Terms form with the filing.
• A detailed explanatory memorandum must accompany each filing. The memorandum should explain the filing’s contents, including a list of forms and endorsements within the filing, a listing of coverage changes being made to the forms and endorsements, and a side-by-side comparison of proposed policy language versus the current policy language to show each policy language change being made.

Similar language to the above was codified into Florida Statutes, effective July 1, 2013 for commercial lines filings (excluding workers compensation) by SB 468, enacted by Governor Rick Scott earlier this year.

The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation Communications Office issued the following statement regarding today’s Order:

 

Office Issues Certification Exemption Order

Commissioner Kevin McCarty has issued an Order today effectively extending a portion of a 2012 Order that established a Forms Certification Pilot Program for commercial and personal lines property and casualty insurance forms, excluding worker’s compensation insurance. The Program was designed to reduce the backlog of commercial and personal lines property and casualty insurance forms awaiting review and approval by the Office of Insurance Regulation by allowing insurers to certify compliance with Florida law. While the Office continues to accelerate and refine its property and casualty forms review process, it cannot practicably  address the backlog without extending the Program on a limited basis.

During its 2013 Session, the Florida Legislature recognized the importance of addressing the property and casualty  forms backlog by allocating new forms analyst positions to the Office.  However, these positions are not funded until July 1, 2013, and the Office must then hire, train and deploy these new analyst resources.   To provide sufficient time to concentrate on the backlog while hiring and training new staff, the Commissioner is extending the personal lines portion of the Program until December 31, 2013.

At the conclusion of the Program, the Office will complete an analysis of the results from the Forms Certification Pilot Program.

 

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