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A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to fraud prevention; creating s. 2
324.252, F.S.; requiring that the electronic 3
credentialing system display certain vehicle 4
information, provide certain notification for a 5
specified purpose, and allow drivers to update certain 6
information by a specified date; requiring the 7
Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to 8
provide the Legislature with recommendations for 9
compliance verification with certain financial 10
responsibility requirements by a specified date; 11
amending s. 501.165, F.S.; requiring certain sellers 12
to allow consumers to cancel in a specified manner and 13
by a specified means service contracts that include 14
automatic renewal provisions; amending s. 626.854, 15
F.S.; revising maximum fines for public adjusters and 16
public adjuster apprentices for certain violations 17
under a specified circumstance; revising maximum fines 18
for certain violations by certain persons under a 19
specified circumstance; amending s. 633.126, F.S.; 20
authorizing the department to impose an administrative 21
fine on insurance companies under certain 22
circumstances; deleting criminal penalties; 23
authorizing the division to adopt certain rules; 24
amending s. 634.095, F.S.; revising requirements for 25
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advertisements issued or caused to be issued by 26
service agreement companies or s alespersons; amending 27
s. 775.15, F.S.; revising felony violations for which 28
prosecutions must be commenced within a specified 29
timeframe; amending s. 817.234, F.S.; providing that 30
certain insurers are entitled to recover specified 31
expenses at the trial and appellate courts under 32
certain circumstances; providing a transfer of funds; 33
providing an appropriation; providing effective dates. 34
35
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 36
37
Section 1. Section 324.252, Florida Statutes, is created 38
to read: 39
324.252 Electronic insurance verification. — 40
(1) In order to empower drivers in this state and reduce 41
the incidence of automobile insurance fraud within this state, 42
by July 1, 2023, the electronic credentialing system, as defined 43
in s. 322.032(1), must display driver vehicle registration and 44
insurance information, provide a driver with notification of any 45
lapse in his or her insurance coverage needed for compliance 46
with the financial responsibility requirements of this chapter, 47
and allow the driver to update his or her policy information via 48
the system. 49
(2) By October 1, 2023, the department shall provide the 50
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Legislature with recommendations on the means by which the 51
department, law enforcement agencies, and other entities 52
authorized by the de partment may electronically verify a 53
driver's compliance with the financial responsibility 54
requirements of this chapter. 55
Section 2. Subsection (2) of section 501.165, Florida 56
Statutes, is amended to read: 57
501.165 Automatic renewal of service contract s.— 58
(2) SERVICE CONTRACTS WITH AUTOMATIC RENEWAL PROVISIONS. — 59
(a) A Any seller that sells, leases, or offers to sell or 60
lease any service to a consumer pursuant to a service contract 61
that has an automatic renewal provision, unless the consumer 62
cancels that contract, shall disclose the automatic renewal 63
provision clearly and conspicuously in the contract or contract 64
offer. 65
(b) A Any seller that sells or offers to sell any service 66
to a consumer pursuant to a service contract the term of which 67
is a specified period of 12 months or more and that 68
automatically renews for a specified period of more than 1 69
month, unless the consumer cancels the contract, shall provide 70
the consumer with written or electronic notification of the 71
automatic renewal provision. Not ification shall be provided to 72
the consumer no less than 30 days or no more than 60 days before 73
the cancellation deadline pursuant to the automatic renewal 74
provision. Such notification shall disclose clearly and 75
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conspicuously: 76
1. That unless the consumer cancels the contract the 77
contract will automatically renew. 78
2. Methods by which the consumer may obtain details of the 79
automatic renewal provision and cancellation procedure, whether 80
by contacting the seller at a specified telephone number or 81
address, by referring to the contract, or by any other method. 82
(c) A seller that fails to comply with the requirements of 83
this subsection violates is in violation of this subsection 84
unless the seller demonstrates that: 85
1. As part of the seller's routine business practice, the 86
seller has established and implemented written procedures to 87
comply with this section and enforces compliance with the 88
procedures; 89
2. Any failure to comply with this subsection is the 90
result of error; and 91
3. As part of the seller's routi ne business practice, 92
where an error has caused the failure to comply with this 93
subsection, the unearned portion of the contract subject to the 94
automatic renewal provision is refunded as of the date on which 95
the seller is notified of the error. 96
(d) A seller that enters into or renews any service 97
contract with a consumer which includes an automatic renewal 98
provision must allow the consumer to cancel the service contract 99
in the same manner, and by the same means, as the consumer 100
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manifested his or her accept ance of the service contract. 101
(e) This subsection does not apply to: 102
1. A financial institution as defined in s. 655.005 or any 103
depository institution as defined in 12 U.S.C. s. 1813(c)(2). 104
2. A foreign bank maintaining a branch or agency licensed 105
under the laws of any state of the United States. 106
3. Any subsidiary or affiliate of an entity described in 107
subparagraph 1. or subparagraph 2. 108
4. A health studio as defined in s. 501.0125. 109
5. Any entity licensed under chapter 624, chapter 627, 110
chapter 634, chapter 636, or chapter 641. 111
6. Any electric utility as defined in s. 366.02. 112
7. Any private company as defined in s. 180.05 providing 113
services described in chapter 180 which is competing against a 114
governmental entity or has a governmental entity p roviding 115
billing services on its behalf. 116
(f)(e) A violation of this subsection renders the 117
automatic renewal provision void and unenforceable. 118
Section 3. Paragraphs (b) and (c) of subsection (22) of 119
section 626.854, Florida Statutes, are amended, and paragraph 120
(a) of that subsection is republished, to read: 121
626.854 "Public adjuster" defined; prohibitions. —The 122
Legislature finds that it is necessary for the protection of the 123
public to regulate public insurance adjusters and to prevent the 124
unauthorized practice of law. 125
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(22)(a) Any following act by a public adjuster, a public 126
adjuster apprentice, or a person acting on behalf of a public 127
adjuster or public adjuster apprentice is prohibited and shall 128
result in discipline as applicable under this part: 129
1. Offering to a residential property owner a rebate, 130
gift, gift card, cash, coupon, waiver of any insurance 131
deductible, or any other thing of value in exchange for: 132
a. Allowing a contractor, a public adjuster, a public 133
adjuster apprentice, or a person a cting on behalf of a public 134
adjuster or public adjuster apprentice to conduct an inspection 135
of the residential property owner's roof; or 136
b. Making an insurance claim for damage to the residential 137
property owner's roof. 138
2. Offering, delivering, receivin g, or accepting any 139
compensation, inducement, or reward for the referral of any 140
services for which property insurance proceeds would be used for 141
roofing repairs or replacement. 142
(b) Notwithstanding the fine set forth in s. 626.8698, a 143
public adjuster or p ublic adjuster apprentice may be subject to 144
a fine not to exceed $10,000 per act for a violation of this 145
subsection and a fine not to exceed $20,000 per act for a 146
violation of this subsection that occurs during a state of 147
emergency declared by executive or der or proclamation of the 148
Governor pursuant to s. 252.36 . 149
(c) A person who engages in an act prohibited by this 150
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subsection and who is not a public adjuster or a public adjuster 151
apprentice, or is not otherwise exempt from licensure, is guilty 152
of the unlicensed practice of public adjusting and may be: 153
1. Subject to all applicable penalties set forth in this 154
part. 155
2. Notwithstanding subparagraph 1., subject to a fine not 156
to exceed $10,000 per act for a violation of this subsection and 157
a fine not to exceed $20,000 per act for a violation of this 158
subsection that occurs during a state of emergency declared by 159
executive order or proclamation of the Governor pursuant to s. 160
252.36. 161
Section 4. Subsection (9) of section 633.126, Florida 162
Statutes, is amended, subsection (10) is added to that section, 163
and subsection (2) of that section is republished, to read: 164
633.126 Investigation of fraudulent insurance claims and 165
crimes; immunity of insurance companies supplying information. — 166
(2) If an insurance company has reason to suspect that a 167
fire or explosion loss to its insured's real or personal 168
property was caused by intentional means, the company shall 169
notify the State Fire Marshal and shall furnish her or him with 170
all material acquired by the company during it s investigation. 171
The State Fire Marshal may adopt rules to implement this 172
subsection. 173
(9) If an insurance company fails or otherwise refuses to 174
comply with this section, the department may impose an 175
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administrative fine of not more than $2,000 per day for such 176
failure until the department deems the insurance company to be 177
in compliance A person who willfully violates this section 178
commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as 179
provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083 . 180
(10) The Division of Investigat ive and Forensic Services 181
may adopt reasonable rules as are necessary to administer this 182
section. Such rules must meet all of the following requirements: 183
(a) They may not enlarge upon or extend the provisions of 184
this section. 185
(b) They must identify specific factors that determine the 186
grades of penalty. 187
(c) They must specify mitigating and aggravating factors 188
for a violation of this section. 189
Section 5. Effective March 1, 2023, present paragraphs 190
(b), (c), and (d) of subsection (3) of section 634 .095, Florida 191
Statutes, are redesignated as paragraphs (d), (e), and (f), 192
respectively, new paragraphs (b) and (c) are added to that 193
subsection, and paragraph (a) of that subsection is amended, to 194
read: 195
634.095 Prohibited acts. —Any service agreement comp any or 196
salesperson that engages in one or more of the following acts 197
is, in addition to any applicable denial, suspension, 198
revocation, or refusal to renew or continue any appointment or 199
license, guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree, 200
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punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083: 201
(3) Issuing or causing to be issued any advertisement that 202
which: 203
(a) Does not fully disclose in a written advertisement, in 204
at least 12-point, boldfaced type, the name, address, and 205
Florida Company Code license number of the service agreement 206
company. 207
(b) Does not fully disclose in a radio or television 208
advertisement the full legal name of the licensed salesperson or 209
the service agreement company. 210
(c) Does not fully identify the soliciting licensed 211
salesperson's full legal name and license number when the 212
salesperson begins, and the soliciting salesperson's telephone 213
number when the salesperson concludes, each outbound telephone 214
solicitation. For the purposes of this paragraph, the actual 215
telephone number of the salesperson may be the number on file 216
with the department or the number at which the salesperson may 217
be contacted. 218
Section 6. Subsection (11) of section 775.15, Florida 219
Statutes, is amended to read: 220
775.15 Time limitations; general time limitations; 221
exceptions.— 222
(11) A prosecution for a felony violation of s. 440.105 or 223
s. 817.234 ss. 440.105 and 817.234 must be commenced within 5 224
years after the violation is committed. 225
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Section 7. Subsection (5) of section 817.234, Florida 226
Statutes, is amended t o read: 227
817.234 False and fraudulent insurance claims. — 228
(5)(a) Any insurer damaged as a result of a violation of 229
any provision of this section when there has been a criminal 230
adjudication of guilt shall have a cause of action to recover 231
compensatory damages, plus all reasonable investigation and 232
litigation expenses, including attorney attorneys' fees, at the 233
trial and appellate courts. 234
(b) If an insurer damaged as a result of a violation of 235
any provision of this section has reported the possible 236
fraudulent insurance act to the Division of Investigative and 237
Forensic Services pursuant to s. 626.9891 and if there has been 238
a criminal adjudication of guilt, the insurer is entitled to 239
recover reasonable investigation and litigation expenses, 240
including attorney fees, at the trial and appellate courts. 241
Section 8. The nonrecurring sum of $1,413,270 for Fiscal 242
Year 2022-2023 shall be transferred by nonoperating budget 243
authority from the Insurance Regulatory Trust Fund of the 244
Department of Financial Servi ces to the Highway Safety Operating 245
Trust Fund of the Department of Highway Safety and Motor 246
Vehicles to implement the electronic insurance verification 247
provisions of s. 324.252, Florida Statutes. 248
Section 9. For the 2022-2023 fiscal year, the nonrecurr ing 249
sum of $1,413,270 from the Highway Safety Operating Trust Fund 250
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is appropriated to the Information Systems Administration budget 251
entity in the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to 252
implement the electronic insurance verification provisions 253
required under s. 324.252, Florida Statutes. 254
Section 10. Except as otherwise expressly provided in this 255
act, this act shall take effect upon becoming a law. 256