Legislative Activity on Insurance-Related Bills: April 16
Apr 17, 2009
The following insurance-related bills were passed by the Florida Senate and House of Representatives on Thursday, April 16:
SB 742 relating to Sinkhole Losses
With one amendment adopted during second reading in the Florida Senate on Tuesday, April 14, SB 742 relating to Sinkhole Losses passed unanimously and unamended after its third reading on Thursday, April 16, and now proceeds to the Florida House of Representatives for consideration.
CS/SB 742, originally sponsored by State Senator Mike Fasano (R-New Port Richey), would authorize an insurer offering sinkhole coverage before, or after, a certain date to non-renew the policies of those policyholders maintaining sinkhole coverage in Pasco and Hernando counties, at the option of the insurer, and provide an offer of coverage to such policyholders that includes “catastrophic ground cover collapse” and excludes “sinkhole coverage.” CS/SB 742 also defines the term “sinkhole loss prevention ordinance.”
SB 1758 relating to Insurance
SB 1758 relating to Insurance was passed unanimously by the Senate after a second and third reading on Thursday, April 16. The bill would revise the list of items from which payments received are deposited into the Insurance Regulatory Trust Fund and delete provisions relating to the distribution of certain collected taxes and interest. SB 1758 would provide for the reversion of the statutory text of certain provisions relating to the distribution of collected taxes and interest as of a specified date.
After passage yesterday, SB 1758, originally sponsored by State Senator Carey Baker (R-Eustis), was immediately certified and sent to the House of Representatives for consideration. If the House does not concur, then the bill will go to a Conference Committee where the two Chambers then will negotiate an agreement.
HB 741 relating to Insurance Premium Financing
After unanimous passage in the House of Representatives on March 31, 2009, HB 741 relating to Insurance Premium Financing was substituted by the Senate for SB 1432 on Thursday, April 16, and passed the Senate unanimously. Thus, it is ready for certification by the presiding legislative officers and presentation to Governor Charlie Crist for his signature into law.
Originally sponsored by State Representative Pat Patterson (R-Deland), HB 741 specifies that “paid in full” discounts provided to a policyholder when premium payment is made in full at the beginning of the policy term is not prohibited by Florida’s premium financing statute, and is not considered to be premium financing as long as the discount is included in an insurance company’s rate filing and is determined to be actuarially justified by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation. HB 741 would apply to any line of insurance.
Should you have any questions or comments, please contact Colodny Fass.
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