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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to insurance; amending s. 624.155, 2
F.S.; defining the term "sufficient evidence"; 3
providing procedures and timelines for objecting, and 4
responding to the objections, to the sufficiency of 5
evidence submitted by claimants to insurers; amendin g 6
s. 626.732, F.S.; revising the requirements for 7
licensing and qualifying for general lines agents; 8
amending s. 626.878, F.S.; specifying when adjusters 9
must include their appointment types if communicating 10
with policyholders by text message; prohibiting public 11
adjusters from engaging in certain adversarial 12
conduct; amending s. 627.4108, F.S.; limiting the 13
requirements for the claims -handling manuals to 14
authorized residential property insurers with active 15
residential policies; amending s. 627.4133, F.S.; 16
revising the circumstances under which an insurer or 17
agent may cancel or nonrenew certain residential 18
property insurance policies; amending s. 627.7011, 19
F.S.; revising the required statement by insurers 20
issuing a homeowner's insurance policy that does not 21
provide flood insurance coverage; amending s. 22
627.70131, F.S.; requiring that proof -of-loss 23
statements that are received by property insurers be 24
written; specifying when adjusters must include their 25
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names and license numbers if communicating with 26
policyholders by text message; revising the required 27
statement by property insurers providing a preliminary 28
or partial estimate of damage regarding a claim; 29
revising the required statement by property insurers 30
providing a payment on a claim which is not the full 31
and final payment for the claim; providing an 32
effective date. 33
34
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 35
36
Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (4) of section 37
624.155, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 38
624.155 Civil remedy. — 39
(4)(a)1. An action for bad faith involving a liability 40
insurance claim, including any such action brought under the 41
common law, may shall not lie if the insurer tenders the lesser 42
of the policy limits or the amount demanded by the claimant 43
within 90 days after receiving actual notice of a claim which is 44
accompanied by sufficient evidence to support the amount of the 45
claim. 46
2. For purposes of this paragraph, the term "sufficient 47
evidence" means written or photographic evidence submitted to 48
the insurer which indicates that the claimant has suffered 49
personal injury or property damage. Evidence that may satisfy 50
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this requirement includes, but is not limited to: 51
a. Accident reports. 52
b. Photographs of an accident scene, physical injuries, or 53
property damage. 54
c. Medical bills. 55
d. Repair bills. 56
e. Other receipts or copies of payments rendered. 57
3. If an insurer does not believe that the submitted 58
evidence is sufficient evidence, the insurer must provide a 59
written notice of objection within 10 business day s after 60
receipt of the submitted evidence; otherwise, any objection to 61
the sufficiency of the evidence for purposes of this paragraph 62
is waived. The submitting party has an additional 10 business 63
days after receipt of a written notice of objection to provi de 64
clarification or submit further evidence. 65
Section 2. Subsection (1) of section 626.732, Florida 66
Statutes, is amended to read: 67
626.732 Requirement as to knowledge, experience, or 68
instruction.— 69
(1) Except as provided in subsection (4), an applican t for 70
a license as a general lines agent, except for a chartered 71
property and casualty underwriter (CPCU), may not be qualified 72
or licensed unless, within the 4 years immediately preceding the 73
date the application for license is filed with the department, 74
the applicant has satisfied, at a minimum, one of the following 75
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requirements: 76
(a) Taught or successfully completed 60 200 hours of 77
coursework in property, casualty, surety, health, and marine 78
insurance approved by the department, 3 hours of which must be 79
on the subject matter of ethics .; 80
(b) Completed at least 1 year in responsible insurance 81
duties as a substantially full -time bona fide employee in all 82
lines of property and casualty insurance as set forth in the 83
definition of a general lines agent under s. 626.015, but 84
without the education requirement described in paragraph (a) .; 85
or 86
(c) Completed at least 1 year of respo nsible insurance 87
duties as a licensed and appointed customer representative, 88
service representative, or personal lines agent and 40 hours of 89
coursework approved by the department covering the areas of 90
property, casualty, surety, health, and marine insuranc e. 91
Section 3. Subsection (2) of section 626.878, Florida 92
Statutes, is amended, and subsection (4) is added to that 93
section, to read: 94
626.878 Rules; code of ethics. — 95
(2) A person licensed as an adjuster must identify himself 96
or herself in any advert isement, solicitation, or written 97
document based on the adjuster appointment type held. However, 98
if the adjuster is communicating with a policyholder by text 99
message, the adjuster appointment type held is required only in 100
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the initial text message and is no t required in subsequent text 101
messages. 102
(4) A public adjuster may not engage in any adversarial 103
conduct with insurance company claims personnel during the 104
course of adjusting claims, including, but not limited to, 105
electronically recording insurance compa ny claims personnel and 106
consultants without their consent. 107
Section 4. Subsection (1) of section 627.4108, Florida 108
Statutes, is amended to read: 109
627.4108 Claims-handling manuals; submission; 110
attestation.— 111
(1) Each authorized residential property ins urer with 112
active residential policies conducting business in this state 113
must create and use a claims -handling manual that provides 114
guidelines and procedures and that complies with the 115
requirements of this code and, at a minimum, comports to usual 116
and customary industry claims -handling practices. Such manual 117
must include all of the following guidelines and procedures for: 118
(a) Initially receiving and acknowledging initial receipt 119
of the claim and reviewing and evaluating the claim .; 120
(b) Communicating with policyholders, beginning with the 121
receipt of the claim and continuing until closure of the claim .; 122
(c) Setting the claim reserve .; 123
(d) Investigating the claim, including conducting 124
inspections of the property that is the subject of the claim .; 125
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(e) Making preliminary estimates and estimates of the 126
covered damages to the insured property and communicating such 127
estimates to the policyholder .; 128
(f) Paying, partially paying, or denying The payment, 129
partial payment, or denial of the claim and communicatin g such 130
claim decision to the policyholder .; 131
(g) Closing claims.; and 132
(h) Engaging in any aspect of the claims -handling process 133
which the office determines should be included in the claims -134
handling manual in order to: 135
1. Comply with the laws of this state or rules or orders 136
of the office or department; 137
2. Ensure that the claims -handling manual, at a minimum, 138
comports with usual and customary industry claims -handling 139
guidelines; or 140
3. Protect policyholders of the insurer or the general 141
public. 142
Section 5. Paragraph (e) of subsection (2) of section 143
627.4133, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 144
627.4133 Notice of cancellation, nonrenewal, or renewal 145
premium.— 146
(2) With respect to any personal lines or commercial 147
residential property insurance policy, including, but not 148
limited to, any homeowner, mobile home owner, farmowner, 149
condominium association, condominium unit owner, apartment 150
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building, or other policy covering a residential structure or 151
its contents: 152
(e)1. An authorized insurer may not cancel or nonrenew a 153
personal residential or commercial residential property 154
insurance policy covering a dwelling or residential property 155
located in this state: 156
a. For a period of 90 days after the dwelling or 157
residential property has been repaired, if such property has 158
been damaged as a result of a hurricane or wind loss that is the 159
subject of the declaration of emergency pursuant to s. 252.36 160
and the filing of an order by the Commissioner of Insurance 161
Regulation. 162
b. Until the earlier of when the dwel ling or residential 163
property has been repaired or 1 year after the insurer issues 164
the final claim payment, if such property was damaged by any 165
covered peril and sub -subparagraph a. does not apply. 166
2. However, an insurer or agent may cancel or nonrenew 167
such a policy before prior to the repair of the dwelling or 168
residential property: 169
a. Upon 10 days' notice for nonpayment of premium; or 170
b. Upon 45 days' notice: 171
(I) For a material misstatement or fraud related to the 172
claim; 173
(II) If the insurer determines that the insured has 174
unreasonably caused a delay in the repair of the dwelling; or 175
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(III) If the insurer has paid policy limits ; or 176
(IV) If the named insured does not have an insurable 177
interest in the insured property . 178
3. If the insurer elects to nonrenew a policy covering a 179
property that has been damaged, the insurer must shall provide 180
at least 90 days' notice to the insured that the insurer intends 181
to nonrenew the policy 90 days after the dwelling or residential 182
property has been repaired. Nothing in this paragraph prevents 183
shall prevent the insurer from canceling or nonrenewing the 184
policy 90 days after the repairs are complete for the same 185
reasons the insurer would otherwise have canceled or nonrenewed 186
the policy but for the limitations of subparagraph 1. The 187
Financial Services Commission may adopt rules, and the 188
Commissioner of Insurance Regulation may issue orders, necessary 189
to implement this paragraph. 190
4. This paragraph shall also applies apply to personal 191
residential and commercial residential policies covering 192
property that was damaged as the result of Hurricane Ian or 193
Hurricane Nicole. 194
5. For purposes of this paragraph: 195
a. A structure is deemed to be repaired when substantially 196
completed and restored to the e xtent that it is insurable by 197
another authorized insurer writing policies in this state. 198
b. The term "insurer" means an authorized insurer. 199
Section 6. Paragraph (b) of subsection (4) of section 200
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627.7011, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 201
627.7011 Homeowners' policies; offer of replacement cost 202
coverage and law and ordinance coverage. — 203
(4) 204
(b) An insurer that issues a homeowner's insurance policy 205
that does not provide flood insurance coverage must include on 206
the policy declarations page at ini tial issuance and every 207
renewal, in bold type no smaller than 18 points, the following 208
statement: 209
"FLOOD INSURANCE: YOU SHOULD CONSIDER THE PURCHASE OF FLOOD 210
INSURANCE. YOUR HOMEOWNER'S INSURANCE POLICY DOES NOT INCLUDE 211
COVERAGE FOR DAMAGE RESULTING FROM F LOOD EVEN IF HURRICANE WINDS 212
AND RAIN CAUSED THE FLOOD TO OCCUR. WITHOUT SEPARATE FLOOD 213
INSURANCE COVERAGE, YOUR UNCOVERED LOSSES CAUSED BY FLOOD ARE 214
NOT COVERED. PLEASE DISCUSS THE NEED TO PURCHASE SEPARATE FLOOD 215
INSURANCE COVERAGE WITH YOUR INSURANCE AGE NT." 216
Section 7. Paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) of subsection (3), 217
paragraph (b) of subsection (4), and subsection (6) of section 218
627.70131, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 219
627.70131 Insurer's duty to acknowledge communications 220
regarding claims; investigation.— 221
(3)(a) Unless otherwise provided by the policy of 222
insurance or by law, within 7 days after an insurer receives the 223
written proof-of-loss statements, the insurer shall begin such 224
investigation as is reasonably necessary unless the failure to 225
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begin such investigation is caused by factors beyond the control 226
of the insurer. 227
(b) If such investigation involves a physical inspection 228
of the property, the licensed adjuster assigned by the insurer 229
must provide the policyholder with a printed or el ectronic 230
document containing his or her name and state adjuster license 231
number. An insurer must conduct any such physical inspection 232
within 30 days after its receipt of the written proof-of-loss 233
statements. 234
(c) Any subsequent communication with the polic yholder 235
regarding the claim must also include the name and license 236
number of the adjuster communicating about the claim. However, 237
when the adjuster communicates with a policyholder by text 238
message, the adjuster's name and license number are required 239
only in the initial text message and are not required in 240
subsequent text messages. Communication of the adjuster's name 241
and license number may be included with other information 242
provided to the policyholder. 243
(4) An insurer shall maintain: 244
(b) Claim records, including dates, of: 245
1. Any claim-related communication made between the 246
insurer and the policyholder or the policyholder's 247
representative; 248
2. The insurer's receipt of the policyholder's written 249
proof-of-loss statement; 250
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3. Any claim-related request for information made by the 251
insurer to the policyholder or the policyholder's 252
representative; 253
4. Any claim-related inspections of the property made by 254
the insurer, including physical inspections and inspections made 255
by electronic means; 256
5. Any detailed estimate of the amount of the loss 257
generated by the insurer's adjuster; 258
6. The beginning and end of any tolling period provided 259
for in subsection (8); and 260
7. The insurer's payment or denial of the claim. 261
(6)(a) When providing a preliminary or partial estimate of 262
damage regarding a claim, an insurer shall include with the 263
estimate the following statement printed in at least 12 -point 264
bold, uppercase type: "THIS ESTIMATE REPRESENTS OUR CURRENT 265
EVALUATION OF THE COVERED DAMAGES TO YOUR INSURED PROPERTY AND 266
MAY BE REVISED AS WE CONTINUE TO EVALUATE YOUR CLAIM. IF YOU 267
HAVE QUESTIONS, CONCERNS, OR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING 268
YOUR CLAIM, WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO CONTACT US. " 269
(b) When providing a payment on a cla im which is not the 270
full and final payment for the claim, an insurer shall include 271
with the payment the following statement printed in at least 12 -272
point bold, uppercase type: "WE HAVE ISSUED A PARTIAL SETTLEMENT 273
FOR ARE CONTINUING TO EVALUATE YOUR CLAIM IN VOLVING YOUR INSURED 274
PROPERTY AND MAY ISSUE ADDITIONAL PAYMENTS. IF YOU HAVE 275
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QUESTIONS, CONCERNS, OR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING YOUR 276
CLAIM, WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO CONTACT US. " 277
Section 8. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. 278