FPCA-Automobile Division SIU Meeting Scheduled for March 7

Please be advised that there will be a meeting of designated SIU personnel on Friday, March 7, 2008 at 10:00 a.m. at the Tower Club in Fort Lauderdale. This meeting is only open to those persons whose names have been provided in writing to the Department of Financial Services, Division of Insurance Fraud (“Division”) as designated employees pursuant to Section 626.989(4)(d), Fla. Stat. A copy of the statute is attached for your review. Each insurer is responsible for ensuring that the personnel in attendance at this meeting have been appropriately designated pursuant to Section 626.989(4)(d), Fla. Stat.

Section 626.989 provides qualified immunity for those specifically designated persons and insurers and further allows the sharing of information relating to persons suspected of committing fraudulent insurance acts with other specifically designated employees designated by the applicable insurers. However, please be aware that the qualified immunity conferred on any insurer or its designated employees will be forfeited with respect to the exchange or publication of any defamatory information with third persons who are not also designated insurer employees authorized to share in such information.

Please note that the designation required in Section 626.989(4)(d) to qualify for immunity and allow the exchange of information is not the same designation required by Section 626.9891, which requires insurers to establish SIUs or anti-fraud plans and identify the assigned personnel to the Division. Designated persons under Section 626.989(4)(d) are maintained by the Division in a separate database. If you need to add designated employees or verify whether the appropriate employees are designated, please contact Denise Prather at the Division through her email address: DIFSIUAdmin@fldfs.com.

The March 7 meeting will begin at 10:00 a.m. and will be followed by lunch.

Please RSVP to Suzann Guimond (SGuimond@cftlaw.com or 954.492.4010) at your earliest convenience. Please indicate who will be attending on behalf of your organization and confirm that those persons are properly designated with the Division.

The Tower Club is located at:
One Financial Plaza, 28th Floor
100 Southeast Third Avenue
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 33394

 

If you have any questions or require additional information, please do not hesitate to contact Megan Grant at mgrant@cftlaw.com or (954) 492-4010.