Florida Standard Personal Lines Advisory Committee Final Meeting 1/17/2006

The Standard Personal Lines Advisory Committee held its final meeting via conference call this afternoon. The Committee has submitted its “checklist of coverage” to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) for consideration by the OIR as the OIR continues to promulgate the rule regarding the checklists which must be provided to insureds with their homeowners insurance policies.

The Committee had previously decided that it lacked the resources and time to compose proposed standard policy language, and as such, the Committee has decided to produce “consumer guides” for use by consumers when comparing policies by different insurers. Among the “consumer guides” the Committee prepared a “Quick Check Guide” that outlines the major components of a garden-variety homeowners insurance policy, as well as common benefits and exclusions contained in policies. The Committee plans to make minor changes to these documents, and the final version should be released at the beginning of next week. Attached you will find the checklist and copies of the “consumer guides.”

The Committee has also prepared an executive summary stating more resources for the development of standard policy language are needed. The Committee plans to recommend that the Legislature find a better way to educate consumers, and will provide the “consumer guides” to potentially aid in this process. The Committee is waiting for feedback on its executive summary from the House and Senate later this week, and the Committee expects to release the executive summary early next week.

We will continue to monitor the Committee’s activities and will provide updates regarding any Committee action. Should you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact this office.

Katherine A. Scott

Today the Standard Personal Lines Advisory Committee met in Tallahassee for their last scheduled meeting. The committee report to the Florida Legislature is due Monday, January 16, 2006. The committee was unable to complete the agenda and will have a follow up conference call on Tuesday, January 17. One issue the committee has been working on is to develop a standard personal lines property policy. The committee feels that at this time they do not have enough information in regard to rate impact and potential litigation to go forward with the development of a standard policy. It is expected that the committee will recommend that the Legislature not go forward with legislation that would require such a policy. In addition, the committee will recommend modifications to the “checklist of coverage”. These will be recommendations submitted to the Office of Insurance Regulation. The existing “checklist of coverage” can be viewed at the following link. http://www.floir.com/pcfr/Documents/OIR-B1-1670.xls