HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STAFF ANALYSIS
BILL #: CS/CS/HB 815 Insurance
SPONSOR(S): Commerce Committee, Insurance & Banking Subcommittee, Gregory
TIED BILLS: IDEN./SIM. BILLS: CS/SB 742
REFERENCE ACTION ANALYST STAFF DIRECTOR or
BUDGET/POLICY CHIEF
1) Insurance & Banking Subcommittee 18 Y, 0 N, As CS Rowley Luczynski
2) State Administration & Technology 13 Y, 0 N Lee Topp
Appropriations Subcommittee
3) Commerce Committee 21 Y, 0 N, As CS Rowley Hamon
SUMMARY ANALYSIS
The bill makes the following changes regarding insurance:
Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund (FHCF) Coverage – Modifies when a collateral protection insurance
policy is eligible for FHCF coverage.
Service of Process – Provides that service of process is perfected on an insurer when process served on the
Department of Financial Services (DFS) is delivered to the insurer or DFS has notified the insurer of its
availability online.
Meeting Requirements – Authorizes associations, trusts, and pools that provide self-insurance for public
entities to use communications media technology to establish a quorum and conduct public business.
Loss Run Statements – Revises requirements related to requests for and insurers’ production of loss run
statements.
Hurricane Modeling – Provides that a property insurer may use a weighted or straight average of two or more
approved hurricane models in a rate filing.
Mitigation Credits in Residential Property Insurance Rate Filings – Makes the use of building code
enforcement rating factors in rating plans optional and allows insurers to give mitigation credit for evaluation by,
and compliance with, standards developed by an independent, not-for-profit, scientific research organization.
Workers’ Compensation Rates – Provides that past and prospective loss experience for insolvent insurers
must be used in the determination and fixing of workers’ compensation rates and that data previously reported
by insolvent insurers may be used to assess the impact on rates.
Citizens Property Insurance Corporation – Allows Citizens the option to insure residential condominiums
under commercial residential wind-only coverage if the units are intended for residential use, but are rented on
a short-term basis.
Policy Documents – Authorizes electronic transmission of policy documents and claims communications and
revises notice requirements for certain automobile insurance policies.
Export of Flood Coverage to Surplus Lines – Reenacts the exemption from diligent search efforts when an
agent is placing flood insurance on the surplus lines market.
Assignment Agreements – Amends the scope of services covered by regulations governing post-loss
property insurance assignment agreements.
Agent Licensing – Allows licensed general or personal lines agents to sell service agreements or warranties
without a salesperson or sales representative license, expands the definition of “company employee adjuster”,
and adds a designation related to the qualifications for customer representative licensure.
The bill has no impact on state or local government revenues or expenditures. It has an unknown direct
economic impact on the private sector.
Except where otherwise provided, the bill is effective on July 1, 2021.
This document does not reflect the intent or official position of the bill sponsor or House of Representatives.
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 FULL ANALYSIS
I. SUBSTANTIVE ANALYSIS
A. EFFECT OF PROPOSED CHANGES:
Hurricane Catastrophe Fund – Collateral Protection Insurance
The Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund (FHCF) is a tax-exempt trust fund created by the Legislature
in 1993 as a form of reinsurance for residential property losses.1 The FHCF is administered by the
State Board of Administration and reimburses property insurers for a selected percentage of hurricane
losses to residential property above the insurer’s retention (deductible).2 As a condition of doing
business in Florida, property insurers are required to enter into reimbursement contracts with the
FHCF. The purpose of the FHCF is to protect and advance the state's interest in maintaining insurance
capacity in Florida by providing reimbursements to insurers for a portion of their catastrophic hurricane
losses.
The FHCF reimburses its participating insurers for losses on covered policies, subject to limitations.3
Covered policies include collateral protection insurance4 policies covering personal residences that
protect both the borrower’s and the lender’s financial interests, in an amount at least equal to the
coverage for the dwelling in place under the lapsed homeowner’s policy, if such policy meets certain
statutory conditions.5
Collateral protection insurance is placed by an insurer when a borrower’s policy on the property has
lapsed. Sometimes, the insurer is unable to obtain correct information from the homeowner and places
coverage at an amount other than the amount of the homeowner’s lapsed policy. This can create a
discrepancy between the coverage in place and the amount of the homeowner’s lapsed policy, which
makes the policy ineligible for FHCF coverage.
Effect of the Bill
The bill amends the conditions for which a collateral protection insurance policy can be considered a
“covered policy” and thus eligible for FHCF coverage. The bill provides that a collateral protection
insurance policy is eligible for coverage if it is placed for the amount of the last known coverage, the
amount the homeowner was notified of, or the amount that the homeowner requests, in addition to the
current law requirement that it also protects the homeowner’s interest.
Service of Process
The law provides for the designation of a public officer, board, agency, or commission as the agent for
service of process on a person, firm, or corporation in Florida.6 The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is
designated as the agent for service of process on insurers and other specific entities or persons
licensed by the Department of Financial Services (DFS) and the Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR).7
Service of process on the CFO is made by mail, personal service, or electronic service.8
1 S. 215.555, F.S.
2 Id.
3 S. 215.555(1)(d), F.S.
4 “Collateral protection insurance” means commercial property insurance under which a creditor is the primary beneficiary
and policyholder and which protects or covers an interest of the creditor arising out of a credit transaction secured by real
or personal property. Initiation of such coverage is triggered by the mortgagor’s failure to maintain insurance coverage as
required by the mortgage or other lending document. Collateral protection insurance is not residential coverage.
S. 624.6085, F.S.
5 S. 215.555(2)(c), F.S.
6 S. 48.151, F.S.
7 Id.
8 Id.; Florida Department of Financial Services, https://www.myfloridacfo.com/division/generalcounsel/service-of-process/
(last visited Mar. 7, 2021).
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 After receiving service of process, the CFO is required to promptly send a copy by registered or
certified mail, or by any other verifiable means, to the person designated by the insurer to receive the
process.9 “Verifiable means” includes making the documents available by electronic transmission from
a secure network established by DFS.10 If the documents are made available electronically, the CFO is
required to send a notice of receipt of process to the person designated by the insurer to receive legal
process.11 The notice must state the date and manner in which the copy of the process was made
available and contain a hyperlink to obtain a copy of the process.12
Service is considered perfected on an insurer when the CFO is served with process.13 Although an
insurer is not required to respond to a lawsuit except within 20 days after the date the CFO sends or
makes available a copy of the process, the triggering date for other legal deadlines is the date the CFO
is served with process.14 This can create problems for an insurer when there is a delay between the
time the CFO is served and the time the CFO notifies the insurer of the process.
Effect of the Bill
The bill provides that service of process is perfected on an insurer when the process served on the
CFO is delivered to the insurer or the insurer is notified that a copy of the process is available on a
secured network.
Meeting Requirements
Current law does not address whether associations, trusts, and pools formed to provide self-insurance
for public entities can establish a quorum and conduct public business virtually.
Effect of the Bill
The bill authorizes associations, trusts, and pools formed to provide self-insurance for public entities to
establish a quorum and conduct public business through communications media technology.
Company Employee Adjuster
DFS, through its Division of Insurance Agent and Agency Services, regulates the licensure of insurance
adjusters.15 An adjuster may be licensed as either an “all-lines adjuster” or a “public adjuster.”16 A
company employee adjuster is “a person licensed as an all-lines adjuster who is appointed and
employed on an insurer’s staff of adjusters or a wholly owned subsidiary of the insurer, and who
undertakes on behalf of such insurer or other insurers under common control or ownership to ascertain
and determine the amount of any claim, loss, or damage payable under a contract of insurance, or
undertakes to effect settlement of such claim, loss, or damage.”17
Effect of the Bill
The bill expands the definition of a “company employee adjuster” to include a licensed all-lines adjuster
who is appointed and employed by an insurer’s affiliate.
Customer Representative
9 S. 624.423, F.S.
10 S. 624.307(9), F.S.
11 Id.
12 Id.
13 S. 624.423(3), F.S.
14 S. 624.423(2), F.S.
15 Division of Insurance Agent and Agency Services, https://myfloridacfo.com/Division/Agents/ (last visited Mar. 3, 2021).
16 S. 626.864, F.S. An individual may be licensed as either an all-lines adjuster or a public adjuster, but not both. An all-
lines adjuster may be appointed as one, but no more than one at a time, of the following: independent adjuster, public
adjuster apprentice, or company employee adjuster.
17 S. 626.856, F.S.
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 To qualify for licensure as a customer representative, an applicant must, among other requirements,
within 4 years preceding the date an application was filed with DFS, earn a designation from the list of
approved designations or a degree from an accredited institution.18
Effect of the Bill
The bill adds the designation of Insurance Customer Service Representative (ICSR) from Statewide
Insurance Associates LLC to the list of designations.
Loss Run Statements
A loss run statement19 is a report from an insurer that shows how many claims a specific insured has
filed under that insured’s policy during a particular period of time.20 This report can be provided to a
prospective insurer when an insured is shopping for a new insurance policy.21 The prospective insurer
can use the loss run statement to review the types, frequency, and dollar value of prior claims in order
to determine whether to write a policy for the prospective insured and what premium to charge for that
policy.22 Prospective insurers review loss run statements showing a loss run history from three to five
years to make decisions about writing insurance policies.23
While insureds may request loss run statements for any line of insurance, insureds seeking new
general liability, business owner’s, commercial property, commercial auto insurance, or workers’
compensation insurance, often request them to shop for new insurance24 upon cancellation or
nonrenewal of a policy by an insurer or when the insured chooses to shop for new insurance at the time
a policy is up for renewal. Some insurers, especially those providing commercial lines coverage or
workers’ compensation insurance, have existing loss runs systems that allow their insureds to log into a
portal and to obtain their own detailed reports on claims.25 However, other insurers, in these and other
lines of insurance, may provide insureds with loss run statements that they have created upon request
or direct the insureds to obtain such statements from their agents of record.
Statutes enacted in 2020 established a statutory framework regarding when and how insurers must
provide loss run statements to insureds. Pursuant to these statutes, for all lines of insurance written on
the admitted and surplus lines markets, insurers must provide a loss run statement with a 5-year loss
history within 15 days of receiving an insured’s written request.26 In the event of a request for a loss run
statement regarding a personal lines policy, an insurer may provide the insured information about how
to obtain a loss run statement at no charge through a consumer reporting agency.27 However, the
insured may still ask the insurer for a loss run statement even after receiving information from a
consumer reporting agency.28
Effect of the Bill
The bill amends the statutes regarding loss run statements that were enacted in 2020, so that they
better reflect existing industry standards. It revises the number of years of loss history that an insurer
must provide from a minimum of 5 years to a minimum of 3 years to reflect the fact that many insurers
were routinely providing insureds with a 3-year history upon request before the 2020 statutes were
18 S. 626.7351, F.S.
19 Loss run statements are also referred to as loss runs or loss run reports.
20 Insureon, https://www.insureon.com/insurance-glossary/loss-runs (last visited Mar. 4, 2021).
21 Id.
22 Id.
23 Id.
24 Id.
25 See, e.g., MSIG Loss Runs, https://www.msigusa.com/loss-runs/ and StarStone,
http://myaccount.starstoneworkcomp.com/index.htm (last visited Mar. 4, 2021).
26 See ss. 626.9202 and 627.444, F.S.
27 S. 627.444(2)(b), F.S.
28 Id.
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 enacted. The bill requires that if a personal lines insured asks an insurer for a loss run statement after
receiving information from a consumer reporting agency, the insurer must provide that statement within
15 days. It establishes that sections 626.9202 and 627.444, F.S., regarding loss run statements, do not
apply to life insurers.29
The bill also resolves a conflict between the newly enacted statutes and an existing statute regarding
loss run statements for group health insurance policies by repealing the health-insurance-specific
statute.30 It establishes that, as applied to group health insurance, a loss run statement also includes
premiums paid, number of insureds on a monthly basis, and dependent status. The bill clarifies that for
group health insurance, only plan sponsors, not individual employees covered by the group policy, may
request a loss run statement.
Rate Disapprovals Based Upon Hurricane Modeling
The law governing OIR’s review and approval of residential property insurance rate filings requires that
a rate filing account for mitigation measures that policyholders undertake to reduce hurricane losses.31
It sets forth the criteria under which OIR may disapprove rate filings, including disapproval of rates that
are determined to be excessive, inadequate, or unfairly discriminatory.32 The law also establishes
criteria for the Florida Commission on Hurricane Loss Projection Methodology’s (Commission)
consideration and approval of hurricane loss models and prescribes how those models affect OIR’s
approval of property insurance rate filings.33
Effect of the Bill
The bill provides parameters for OIR’s approval or disapproval of rate filings by providing that, with
respect to residential property insurance rate filings, the rate filing may use a modeling indication that is
the weighted or straight average of two or more models found to be accurate or reliable by the
Commission.
Mitigation Credits in Residential Property Insurance Rate Filings
Current law requires residential property insurers to include “positive and negative rate factors that
reflect the manner in which building code enforcement in a particular jurisdiction addresses risk of wind
damage” in their rate filing that are filed for approval by OIR.34 Insurers utilize factors from statewide
organizations’ building code rating factor plans that evaluate how building code enforcement in
particular jurisdictions evaluate risk.35 Often times these ratings are flawed and not an accurate
depiction of actual building code enforcement activity in a jurisdiction.
Since 2003, residential property insurers have been required to provide credits, discounts, and other
rate differentials to reduce insuran