FWCJUA MAP Committee Meeting Report

Recently, the Florida Workers Compensation Joint Underwriting Association (“FWCJUA”) held a Market Assistance Plan (“MAP”) Committee (“Committee”) meeting to review an annual report of the FWCJUA MAP.

The meeting was called to order by Chairman James Ward, with Committee members Terry Butler and Dan Dannenhauer in attendance. Also in attendance were Laura Torrence, FWCJUA’s Executive Director, and representatives from FWCJUA’s Board of Governors.

Currently, the MAP offers two depopulation reports that list account profiles of insurers authorized to write workers’ compensation insurance in Florida, as well as to agencies and designated producers authorized to submit business to the FWCJUA. These reports identify employers for which the FWCJUA has bound coverage in prior months, as well as employers with policies currently being written by the FWCJUA.

The FWCJUA also provides a daily report identifying employers that apply for coverage through the FWCJUA on a daily basis with the goal of identifying and securing coverage available to employers through the voluntary market before they apply to the FWCJUA.

In addition to the MAP reports, the FWCJUA offers personal assistance in the placement of workers’ compensation coverage in the voluntary market for employers applying for, or securing coverage through, the FWCJUA.

To further enhance the MAP effectiveness, FWCJUA staff is preparing a distribution to all insurers licensed in Florida reminding them of the various free MAP opportunities available. Users of the MAP account profiles have suggested that the employer’s number of years in business and additional contact information for both the employer and agency be included in the profiles to facilitate communication among all parties.

Mr. Dannenhauer expressed concern about adding further employer contact information to the reports, saying that it could facilitate “shotgun” marketing, and potentially increase “spam” e-mails and faxes from agents to consumers.

Ms. Torrence said that the proposed addition of this information is designed to help with contacting non-responsive companies, and assured the Committee that the FWCJUA has a system of sanctions in place to reduce the likelihood of the information being misused.

After discussion, the Board approved amendment of the MAP account profiles to include the number of years an employer has been in business and the fax number and e-mail address of the producing agent only.

The meeting was then adjourned.

Should you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact this office.