FPCA Homeowners Division: FPCA Legislative Agenda

As discussed during Friday’s FPCA Homeowners Division meeting, the FPCA has adopted the following positions on insurance-related issues:

Citizens Property Insurance Corporation (“Citizens”)

•  Support the recommendations of the Citizens Mission Review Task Force
•  Ban Citizens from writing wind-only policies after January 1, 2010
•  Mirror the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund’s (“FHCF”) assessment mechanism for Citizens
•  Force Citizens to issue non-renewals when a take-out offer is received and allow the non-renewals to take effect after 60 days
•  Require signed statements from an agent and insured affirming they have shopped in the private market and could not procure coverage
•  Require Citizens to consider the cost of capital when setting rates

Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund (“FHCF”)

•  Give the United States Treasury the authority to buy FHCF bonds, or allow the FHCF to borrow from Florida’s pension plan after an event
•  Allow a direct pass-through of reinsurance costs to consumers
•  Delete the statutory requirement for bonding estimates
•  Delete the statutory provision stating that the FHCF will only pay claims in the amount of its cash on hand
•  Allow the FHCF to cover assumed policies
•  Clarify the provision in Florida law that requires the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (“OIR”) to give full credit to insurers for FHCF coverage

Public Adjusters

•  Require public adjusters to be subject to the solicitation restrictions required by the Florida Bar
•  The FPCA does not recommend that public adjusters be subject to examinations under oath because of House Speaker Designate Dean Cannon’s strong opposition to this issue.

Other

•  Require the OIR to conduct a new study to determine the effectiveness of mitigation credits

Should you have any questions or comments, please contact Katie Webb at kwebb@cftlaw.com.