Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

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           HB 1431                                                                                               2023
                                       A bill to be entitled
              An act relating to insurance; amending s. 624.155,
              F.S.; providing construction relating to the recovery
              of damages under the common-law remedy of bad faith
              against insurers; amending s. 624.3161, F.S.;
              providing that specified property insurers shall,
              rather than may, be subject to an additional market
              conduct examination after a hurricane; amending s.
              624.4055, F.S.; revising a prohibition against the
                 continued writing of private passenger automobile
                 insurance by certain insurers; amending ss. 624.407
                 and 624.408, F.S.; revising minimum surplus
                 requirements for certain residential property
                 insurers; amending s. 624.424, F.S.; revising
                 information required to be reported by property
                 insurers in certain supplemental reports; specifying
                 requirements for the Office of Insurance Regulation in
                 publicly reporting certain data; providing
                 construction; amending s. 626.9201, F.S.; prohibiting
                 insurers providing homeowner's insurance or commercial
                 property insurance from canceling, nonrenewing, or
                 terminating a policy during a pending claim except
                 under certain circumstances; amending s. 626.9541,
                 F.S.; adding unfair claim settlement practices that
                 constitute unfair methods of competition or unfair or
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        HB 1431                                                                                               2023
              deceptive acts or practices; prohibiting directors or
              officers of insolvent or impaired insurers from
              authorizing or permitting the payment of certain
              bonuses; defining the term "bonus"; amending s.
              627.0613, F.S.; requiring the insurance consumer
              advocate, in conjunction with the Department of
              Financial Services and the office, to annually prepare
              and make publicly available a report relating to
              insurer rate increases; amending s. 627.351, F.S.;
              deleting a requirement that a Citizens Property
              Insurance Corporation policyholder making a claim for
              water damage has the burden of proving that the damage
              was not caused by flooding; amending s. 627.35191,
              F.S.; requiring the corporation to provide to the
              Legislature and the Financial Services Commission an
              annual supplemental report relating to closed claims;
              specifying requirements for the report; amending s.
              627.4133, F.S.; prohibiting insurers providing
              homeowner's insurance from canceling, nonrenewing, or
              terminating a policy during a pending claim except
              under certain circumstances; amending s. 627.420,
              F.S.; prohibiting certain actions by an insurer
              issuing a homeowner's insurance binder before closing
              to a purchaser of residential property; requiring such
              insurer to perform any required inspections before
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        HB 1431                                                                                               2023
              binding coverage; requiring a seller of a new home
              purchase to allow access to the property for such
              inspection before closing; amending s. 627.701, F.S.;
              providing that if a roof deductible is applied under a
              personal lines residential property insurance policy,
              no other deductible may be applied to certain other
              losses; amending s. 627.7011, F.S.; providing that if
              a homeowner's insurance policy provides an option with
              limited coverage, the insurer must offer a premium
              with a certain discount or credit; creating s.
              627.70111, F.S.; requiring a specified notice period
              to a homeowner before any inspection of the
              homeowner's residential property for insurance
              purposes, except under certain circumstances; amending
              s. 627.70131, F.S.; providing that repeated violations
              of certain prompt payment requirements are an unfair
              method of competition and an unfair or deceptive act
              or practice; deleting a provision providing that
              failure to comply with certain provisions does not
              form the sole basis for a private cause of action;
              amending s. 627.70132, F.S.; providing that certain
              timeframes to provide notice of a property insurance
              claim are tolled during the period of active duty for
              an insured in active military service; amending s.
              627.70152, F.S.; requiring a property insurer to
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         HB 1431                                                                                               2023
              provide a certain response to a presuit notice to the
              department; deleting the authority for an insurer to
              require the claimant to participate in appraisal;
              providing that a policy must require a claimant's
              consent; specifying a limitation and restriction on
              invoking appraisal; providing that a certain notice
              and response are admissible as evidence in certain
              proceedings; requiring that any alternative dispute
              resolution process be authorized by statute; creating
              s. 627.70155, F.S.; providing restrictions on property
              insurance policies relating to venue and controlling
              law provisions; amending s. 627.702, F.S.; providing
              that certain total losses under the valued policy law
              may not be subject to any requirement for the insured
              to participate in appraisal; amending s. 768.79, F.S.;
              revising conditions for making, and parties who may
              make, certain joint offers of judgment or settlement;
              providing an effective date.
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    Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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              Section 1.       Subsection (8) of section 624.155, Florida
    Statutes, is amended to read:
              624.155      Civil remedy.—
              (8)       The civil remedy specified in this section does not
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         HB 1431                                                                                               2023
    preempt any other remedy or cause of action provided for
    pursuant to any other statute or pursuant to the common law of
    this state. Any person may obtain a judgment under ei ther the
    common-law remedy of bad faith or this statutory remedy, but
    shall not be entitled to a judgment under both remedies. This
    section shall not be construed to create a common-law cause of
    action. The damages recoverable pursuant to this section shal l
    include those damages which are a reasonably foreseeable result
    of a specified violation of this section by the authorized
    insurer and may include an award or judgment in an amount that
    exceeds the policy limits. This section does not limit or
    prohibit the recovery of any damages under the common-law remedy
    of bad faith, and extracontractual, consequential damages may be
    recovered under such remedy.
              Section 2.        Subsection (7) of section 624.3161, Florida
    Statutes, is amended to read:
              624.3161         Market conduct examinations.—
              (7)       Notwithstanding subsection (1), any authorized insurer
    transacting property insurance business in this state shall may
    be subject to an additional market conduct examination after a
    hurricane if the insurer:
              (a)       Is among the top 20 percent of insurers based upon a
    calculation of the ratio of hurricane-related property insurance
    claims filed to the number of property insurance policies in
    force;
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         HB 1431                                                                                               2023
              (b)       Is among the top 20 percent of insurers based upon a
    calculation of the ratio of consumer complaints made to the
    department to hurricane-related claims;
              (c)       Has made significant payments to its managing general
    agent since the hurricane; or
              (d)       Is identified by the office as necessitating a market
    conduct exam for any other reason.
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    All relevant criteria under this section and s. 624.316 shall be
    applied to the market conduct examination under this subsection.
    Such an examination must be initiated within 18 months after the
    landfall of a hurricane that results in an executive or der or a
    state of emergency issued by the Governor. An examination of an
    insurer under this subsection must also include an examination
    of its managing general agent as if it were the insurer.
              Section 3.        Section 624.4055, Florida Statutes, is amended
    to read:
              624.4055         Restrictions on existing private passenger
    automobile insurance.—An No insurer writing private passenger
    automobile insurance in this state may not continue to write
    such insurance if the insurer:
              (1)       Writes homeowners' insurance in another state but not
    in this state; or
              (2)       Writes homeowners' insurance in this state, but the
    number of homeowners' insurance policies that it writes or
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         HB 1431                                                                                               2023
    renews in this state in any calendar year is less than 5 percent
    of the total number of policies written or renewed by the
    insurer for all kinds of insurance transacted by the insurer in
    this state, unless the insurer writing private passenger
    automobile insurance in this state is affiliated with an insurer
    writing homeowners' insurance in this state.
              Section 4.       Subsection (1) of section 624.407, Florida
    Statutes, is amended to read:
              624.407      Surplus required; new insurers.—
              (1)       To receive authority to transact any one kind or
    combinations of kinds of insurance, as defined in part V of this
    chapter, an insurer applying for its original certificate of
    authority in this state shall possess surplus as to
    policyholders at least the greater of:
              (a)       For a property and casualty insurer, $5 million, or
    $2.5 million for any other insurer;
              (b)       For life insurers, 4 percent of the insurer's total
    liabilities;
              (c)       For life and health insurers, 4 percent of the
    insurer's total liabilities, plus 6 percent of the insurer's
    liabilities relative to health insurance;
              (d)       For all insurers other than life insurers and life and
    health insurers, 10 percent of the insurer's total liabilities;
              (e)       Notwithstanding paragraph (a) or paragraph (d), for a
    domestic insurer that transacts residential property insurance
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         HB 1431                                                                                               2023
    and is:
              1.    Not a wholly owned subsidiary of an insurer domiciled
    in any other state, $30 $15 million.
              2.    A wholly owned subsidiary of an insurer domiciled in
    any other state, $50 million;
              (f)       Notwithstanding paragraphs (a), (d), and (e), for a
    domestic insurer that only transacts limited sinkhole covera ge
    insurance for personal lines residential property pursuant to s.
    627.7151, $7.5 million; or
              (g)       Notwithstanding paragraphs (a), (d), and (e), for an
    insurer that only transacts residential property insurance in
    the form of renter's insurance, tenant's coverage, cooperative
    unit owner insurance, or any combination thereof, $10 million.
              Section 5.       Paragraphs (f) and (g) of subsection (1) of
    section 624.408, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
              624.408      Surplus required; current insurers.—
              (1)       To maintain a certificate of authority to transact any
    one kind or combinations of kinds of insurance, as defined in
    part V of this chapter, an insurer in this state must at all
    times maintain surplus as to policyholders at least the greater
    of:
              (f)       For residential property insurers not holding a
    certificate of authority before July 1, 2011, $30 $15 million.
              (g)       For residential property insurers holding a
    certificate of authority before July 1, 2011, and until June 30,
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         HB 1431                                                                                               2023
    2016, $5 million; on or after July 1, 2016, and until June 30,
    2021, $10 million; on or after July 1, 2021, and until June 30,
    2023, $15 million; on or after July 1, 2023, $30 million.
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    The office may reduce the surplus requirement in paragraphs (f)
    and (g) if the insurer is not writing new business, has premiums
    in force of less than $1 million per year in residential
    property insurance, or is a mutual insurance company.
              Section 6.       Paragraph (a) of subsection (10) and subsection
    (11) of section 624.424, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
              624.424     Annual statement and other information.—
              (10)(a)     Each insurer or insurer group doing business in
    this