Monday, May 2, 2011

Busy final Monday for Florida Legislature 2011

Today, final action was taken on three bills, which soon will be to sent to the Governor:

HB 99 - Commercial rate deregulation, which expands the list of commercial lines products for which rate pre-approval is not required.

H 1007 - Insurer insolvency, which: (1) will allow insurers to renegotiate the terms of surplus notes issued through the Insurance Capital Build-Up Incentive Program; (2) amends certain requirements for obtaining credit for reinsurance; and (3) enhances the liquidation and rehabilitation laws under Chapter 631.

H 1087 - Insurance [hodge-podge], which among it provisions: (1) for workers’ compensation, authorizes weekly payment to employees by means of a prepaid card; (2) for an alien insurer (domiciled outside the  U.S.), exempts the certificate of authority requirement if its products cover only persons who, at time of issuance or renewal, are nonresidents of the U.S., and if certain other conditions are met; (3) changes the required recipient of notices of nonrenewal and cancellation to the “first named insured” (from all named insureds) for P&C lines of insurance; (4) for workers’ compensation, eliminates the premium audit requirement, subject to exceptions; (5) for motor vehicle insurance, when an automatic payroll deduction has been authorized, eliminates the current requirements for collecting the first premium payment; (6) for surplus lines, changes the rules for exporting certain class of insurance; and (7) increases penalties for persons convicted of violating the insurance fraud statute related to motor vehicle insurance contracts.  The bill as passed did not contain PIP reform -- other than item (7) -- or the captive insurer provisions added to the Senate bill last week.

Next up:  The far more controverisal Big Property/Sinkhole Package, Medical Malpractice reforms, and Medicaid managed care.

This summary was prepared by Perry Cone and posted at www.tallyinslaw.com/

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