CS/HB 505 2023
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A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to insurance; amending s. 626.8411, 2
F.S.; correcting a cross -reference; amending s. 3
627.062, F.S.; revising requirements for residential 4
property insurance rate filings; amending s. 627.0628, 5
F.S.; authorizing the appointment of certain designees 6
to the Florida Commission on Hurricane Loss Projection 7
Methodology; providing requirements for such 8
designees; amending s. 627.0629, F.S.; authori zing 9
insurers to file with the Office of Insurance 10
Regulation personal lines residential property 11
insurance rating plans relating to windstorm 12
mitigation construction standards; providing 13
requirements for such filings; amending s. 627.0665, 14
F.S.; revising the timeframe for notices from insurers 15
to insureds of automatic bank withdrawal increases; 16
specifying the increase threshold for such notices; 17
amending s. 627.421, F.S.; authorizing electronic 18
delivery of insurance policy documents for certain 19
health insurance policies, certificates of coverage, 20
and contracts; eliminating requirements for paper 21
delivery of certain insurance policies; amending s. 22
627.712, F.S.; authorizing insurance policyholders to 23
type the intent to decline certain coverage instead of 24
handwriting it; amending s. 627.7276, F.S.; revising 25
CS/HB 505 2023
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the requirements for the notice of certain automobile 26
policies; providing an effective date. 27
28
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 29
30
Section 1. Paragraph (d) of subsection (2) of section 31
626.8411, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 32
626.8411 Application of Florida Insurance Code provisions 33
to title insurance agents or agencies. — 34
(2) The following provisions of part I do not apply to 35
title insurance agents or title insurance agencies: 36
(d) Section 626.172, except for paragraph (2)(e) (2)(f) of 37
that section, relating to agent in full -time charge. 38
Section 2. Paragraph (j) of subsection (2) of section 39
627.062, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 40
627.062 Rate standards. — 41
(2) As to all such classes of insurance: 42
(j) With respect to residential property insurance rate 43
filings, the rate filing : 44
1. Must account for mitigation measures undertaken by 45
policyholders to reduce hurricane losses. 46
2. May use a modeling indica tion that is the weighted or 47
straight average of two or more hurricane loss projection models 48
found by the Florida Commission on Hurricane Loss Projection 49
Methodology to be accurate or reliable pursuant to s. 627.0628. 50
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51
The provisions of this subsection do not apply to workers' 52
compensation, employer's liability insurance, and motor vehicle 53
insurance. 54
Section 3. Paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of section 55
627.0628, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 56
627.0628 Florida Commission on Hurricane Loss Projection 57
Methodology; public records exemption; public meetings 58
exemption.— 59
(2) COMMISSION CREATED. — 60
(b) The commission shall consist of the following 12 61
members: 62
1. The insurance consumer advocate. 63
2. The senior employee of the State Board of 64
Administration responsible for operations of the Florida 65
Hurricane Catastrophe Fund. 66
3. The Executive Director of the Citizens Property 67
Insurance Corporation or the director's designee. Such designee 68
must be a full-time employee of the corporation with actuarial 69
science experience or senior operations management experience . 70
4. The Director of the Division of Emergency Management or 71
the director's designee. Such designee must be a full -time 72
employee of the division. 73
5. The actuary member of the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe 74
Fund Advisory Council. 75
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6. An employee of the office who is an actuary responsible 76
for property insurance rate filings and who is appointed by the 77
director of the office. 78
7. Five members appointed by the Chief Financial Officer, 79
as follows: 80
a. An actuary who is employed full time by a property and 81
casualty insurer that was responsible for at least 1 percent of 82
the aggregate statewide direct written premium for homeowner 83
insurance in the calendar year preceding the member's 84
appointment to the commission. 85
b. An expert in insurance finance who is a full -time 86
member of the faculty of the State University System and who has 87
a background in actuarial science. 88
c. An expert in statistics wh o is a full-time member of 89
the faculty of the State University System and who has a 90
background in insurance. 91
d. An expert in computer system design who is a full -time 92
member of the faculty of the State University System. 93
e. An expert in meteorology who is a full-time member of 94
the faculty of the State University System and who specializes 95
in hurricanes. 96
8. A licensed professional structural engineer who is a 97
full-time faculty member in the State University System and who 98
has expertise in wind mitigati on techniques. This appointment 99
shall be made by the Governor. 100
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Section 4. Subsection (9) is added to section 627.0629, 101
Florida Statutes, to read: 102
627.0629 Residential property insurance; rate filings. — 103
(9) An insurer may file with the office a pers onal lines 104
residential property insurance rating plan that provides 105
justified premium discounts, credits, or other rate 106
differentials based on windstorm mitigation construction 107
standards developed by an independent, nonprofit scientific 108
research organization, if such standards meet the requirements 109
of this section. Such plan must describe the manner in which the 110
insurer will document the existence of the mitigation features 111
and premium discounts, credits, or other rate differentials 112
created under such plan. 113
Section 5. Section 627.0665, Florida Statutes, is amended 114
to read: 115
627.0665 Automatic bank withdrawal agreements; 116
notification required. —Any insurer licensed to issue insurance 117
in the state who has an automatic bank withdrawal agreement with 118
an insured party for the payment of insurance premiums for any 119
type of insurance shall give the named insured at least 10 15 120
days advance written notice of any increase in policy premiums 121
which results in the next automatic bank withdrawal being 122
increased by more than $10. Such notice must be provided before 123
prior to any automatic bank withdrawal containing the of an 124
increased premium. 125
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Section 6. Subsection (1) of section 627.421, Florida 126
Statutes, is amended to read: 127
627.421 Delivery of policy. — 128
(1) Subject to the insurer's requirement as to payment of 129
premium, every policy shall be mailed, delivered, or 130
electronically transmitted to the insured or to the person 131
entitled thereto not later than 60 days after the effectuation 132
of coverage. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an 133
insurer may allow a policyholder of personal lines insurance to 134
affirmatively elect delivery of the policy documents, including, 135
but not limited to, policies, endorsements, notices, or 136
documents, by electronic means in lieu of d elivery by mail. 137
Electronic transmission of a policy , related notices, and other 138
documents for individual and group health insurance policies or 139
certificates of coverage pursuant to parts VI and VII, 140
respectively; health maintenance contracts or certificat es of 141
coverage pursuant to part I of chapter 641; prepaid limited 142
health service contracts pursuant to part I of chapter 636; and 143
for commercial risks, including, but not limited to, workers' 144
compensation and employers' liability, commercial automobile 145
liability, commercial automobile physical damage, commercial 146
lines residential property, commercial nonresidential property, 147
farmowners insurance, and the types of commercial lines risks 148
set forth in s. 627.062(3)(d), constitutes delivery to the 149
insured or to the person entitled to delivery, unless the 150
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insured or the person entitled to delivery communicates to the 151
insurer in writing or electronically that he or she does not 152
agree to delivery by electronic means. Electronic transmission 153
shall include a notice t o the insured or to the person entitled 154
to delivery of a policy of his or her right to receive the 155
policy via United States mail rather than via electronic 156
transmission. A paper copy of the policy shall be provided to 157
the insured or to the person entitled to delivery at his or her 158
request. 159
Section 7. Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) and subsection 160
(3) of section 627.712, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 161
627.712 Residential windstorm coverage required; 162
availability of exclusions for windstorm or c ontents.— 163
(2) A property insurer must make available, at the option 164
of the policyholder, an exclusion of windstorm coverage. 165
(a) The coverage may be excluded only if: 166
1. When the policyholder is a natural person, the 167
policyholder personally writes or types and provides to the 168
insurer the following statement in his or her own handwriting 169
and signs his or her name, which must also be signed by every 170
other named insured on the policy, and dated: "I do not want the 171
insurance on my (home/mobile home/condom inium unit) to pay for 172
damage from windstorms. I will pay those costs. My insurance 173
will not." 174
2. When the policyholder is other than a natural person, 175
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the policyholder provides to the insurer on the policyholder's 176
letterhead the following statement that must be signed by the 177
policyholder's authorized representative and dated: "...(Name of 178
entity)... does not want the insurance on its ...(type of 179
structure)... to pay for damage from windstorms. ...(Name of 180
entity)... will be responsible for these costs. ...(Name of 181
entity's)... insurance will not." 182
(3) An insurer issuing a residential property insurance 183
policy, except for a condominium unit owner policy or a tenant 184
policy, must make available, at the option of the p olicyholder, 185
an exclusion of coverage for the contents. The coverage may be 186
excluded only if the policyholder personally writes or types and 187
provides to the insurer the following statement in his or her 188
own handwriting and signs his or her signature, which must also 189
be signed by every other named insured on the policy, and dated: 190
"I do not want the insurance on my (home/mobile home) to pay for 191
the costs to repair or replace any contents that are damaged. I 192
will pay those costs. My insurance will not." 193
Section 8. Section 627.7276, Florida Statutes, is amended 194
to read: 195
627.7276 Notice of limited coverage. — 196
(1) An automobile policy that does not contain coverage 197
for bodily injury and property damage must include a notice be 198
clearly stamped or printed to the effect that such coverage is 199
not included in the policy in the following manner: 200
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"THIS POLICY DOES NOT PROVIDE BODILY INJURY AND PROPERTY DAMAGE 201
LIABILITY INSURANCE OR ANY OTHER COVERAGE FOR WHICH A SPECIFIC 202
PREMIUM CHARGE IS NOT MADE, AND DOES NOT CO MPLY WITH ANY 203
FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY LAW." 204
(2) This notice legend must accompany appear on the policy 205
declarations declaration page and on the filing back of the 206
policy and must be printed in a contrasting color from that used 207
on the policy and in type size at least as large as larger than 208
the largest type size used on the declarations page in the text 209
thereof, as an overprint or by a rubber stamp impression . 210
Section 9. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023. 211