December 19, 2019

In This Issue

• Compliance Review

• Pat on the Back
• Growing Niche
• TIQ's Got You Ticked?
• New Stuff
• Recipes & Recess

Compliance Review Scores Are In

Compliance Review scores as of the end of the third quarter are 96%. Great work! That's a one-point increase from last quarter.

Categorical averages are:

There was a 3-point increase in the Regulatory Requirements category from last quarter.

We are so thrilled you are taking advantage of our many compliance tools. One of those tools is the SLICE (Surplus Lines Information & Compliance Education) course. If you have not completed the course we encourage you to do so. It will definitely help you improve your compliance score. 

Visit FSLSO.com to learn more. 

If you have questions about the Compliance Review process, please contact Barry Lanier at 800.562.4496, ext. 129.

Speaking of SLICE, we would like to say congratulations to the following agencies, each of which had one or more employees complete the SLICE course.

We hope you learned something new to help you with your compliance scores in the future.

Cannabis-Related Insurance

Since the passage of Charlotte's web, the Compassionate Use law, and subsequently the 2016 Medical Marijuana ballot initiative, the insurance industry in Florida has seen an influx in new risks related to cannabis. 

While the cannabis market is booming, insurance premiums remain a significant expense for the industry. Due to vertical integration requirements, all aspects of the supply chain must be insured. Some of the many risks with the seed to sale model are:

• Fire,
• Theft,
• Product recall,
• Injury, and
• Equipment breakdown.

Thus, the coverages cannabis companies must consider includes:

• Property insurance,
• Commercial automobile insurance,
• Workers’ compensation,
• Product liability,
• Business interruption,
• Government actions,
• Inland marine (cargo),
• Professional liability, and
• Commercial general liability.

There are likely many other coverages these companies need. 

Marijuana is still a hotly debated topic in Florida. Every year it is up for discussion during the annual Legislative Session, and there is usually a case or two moving through the Florida court system. No matter the outcome, insurance for this industry is here to stay.

Information for this writing was paraphrased from "Cannabis: Florida’s growing insurance industry?" published in Property Casualty 360.

Unbalanced Returned Policy Fees (URF)

There are two categories of TIQs: financial and non-financial. A financial TIQ is one that is not invoiced or credited until corrected. There are only two financial TIQs, Unbalanced Returned Premium (URP) and Unbalanced Returned Policy Fees (URF). FSLSO staff members cannot manually accept financial TIQs; they can only be corrected and accepted by the user.

In last quarter’s Advisor, we touched on the URP TIQ. This time we will review the URF TIQ. If you receive a URF TIQ when filing a transaction in SLIP, it means a return premium transaction or cancellation transaction has been submitted with policy fees that are greater than the total policy fees submitted for that policy term.

The Unbalanced Returned Policy Fees (URF) TIQ can be caused for several reasons:

1. The effective date was filed incorrectly for the transaction,
2. The policy fee amount for the transaction was entered incorrectly (i.e., it was included in the Premium field for the initial filing and then included in the Policy Fee field for a subsequent filing), or
3. The transaction was filed under a different coverage code than the initiating (new business or renewal) transaction for the policy.

Remember, FSLSO staff cannot manually accept financial TIQs; they can only be corrected and accepted by the user.

While on the topic of policy fees, we want to remind filers FSLSO now requires that only the surplus lines agent policy fee authorized under s.626.916 (4) be filed in the SL Agent Policy Fee field when making a SLIP or Batch submission.

All other taxable fees, including but not limited to, inspection fees, membership fees, survey fees, etc. should be filed in the Premium field.

The intent of this filing change is to comply with the provision of the law that the fee must be separately enumerated.

2019 has been a fun and exciting year for FSLSO as we introduced many new tools to beef up your compliance game. 

As the holidays approach and the year winds down, we hope you have a chance to take pause and relax for a bit. Here are a few recipes that may bring a little joy to your holiday season.

Maple Brown Sugar Oat Milk Latté

Sweet Potato Salad

Have questions? Contact us at 800.562.4496, option 1 or email agent.services@fslso.com.

Facilitating Compliance Through Innovative Solutions

www.fslso.com