Florida Office of Insurance Regulation Issues Additional Information On Pending Form Filings and New Speed-to-Market Property Casualty Personal Lines Form Filings Review Process

The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (“OIR”) issued additional information pertaining to pending form filings following an Executive Order released yesterday, June 25, 2012, in which it established “speed-to-market” review of all property and casualty personal lines forms except workers’ compensation.  The certification process will be identical to the system established by the OIR for commercial form filings earlier this year.

The new information lists the following steps applicable to using the certification process on pending form filings:

1. Contact the analyst assigned to your filing and ask if the analyst has discovered any violations of Florida Statutes or Rules during his or her review of the filing.
2. If the analyst has not discovered any violations, you may submit a certification on the filing.
3. If the analyst has discovered a violation, you should either:
   • Submit the certification and revised forms that correct the violations, or
   • Withdraw the filing and submit a new filing with the certification and revised forms that correct the violations.
4. At the time of uploading the certification, please also specify the effective date for the filing. That effective date must be on or after the date that the analyst closes your filing as informational.
5. Please contact the analyst to let him or her know that you have uploaded the certification. Doing so will ensure that your filing is closed quickly.

Insurers with pending form filings can upload the certification form, which will be available along with the order, submit it and begin using the pending forms immediately.  Insurers must certify that the pending forms comply with all Florida statutes.

OIR officials have indicated that approximately 1,200 commercial form filings are eligible for the speed-to-market initiative, however, insurers have utilized the process for only 36 of these filings to date.

The Order will be effective for one year and carries certain requirements, specifically:

• The form must be submitted in an informational filing to the OIR 30 days prior to use;
• The form must contain the certification statement as prescribed in the attached Order;
• The certification must be signed by a company’s CEO, General Counsel or Chief Compliance Officer; and
• When the form requires issuance of a “Notice of Change of Policy Terms” pursuant to 627.43141, F.S., the Notice of Change of Policy Terms form must be filed as part of the self-certification informational filing.

The Order is attached for review.

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