New Laws in Effect

Several laws that were signed following Florida’s annual legislative session have now taken effect.

CS/CS/HB 1611: Insurance

This law went into effect on July 1, 2024.

It prohibits E&S insurance carriers from cancelling or nonrenewing personal or commercial residential dwellings that have been damaged by a hurricane or wind loss that was subject to the declaration of an emergency order for a period of 90 days after the dwelling has been repaired.

There are exceptions to the cancellation and nonrenewal restrictions which include:

• Nonpayment of premium,
• Material misstatement or fraud related to the claim,
• Unreasonable delay in repair by the policyholder,
• Failure of the policyholder to respond to inquiries by the insurer or agent about the status of repairs, or
• If the insurer has paid the policy limits.

CS/CS/HB 1503: Citizens Property Insurance Corporation

This law went into effect on July 1, 2024.

This law allows surplus lines carriers, under certain requirements, to take out policies from Citizens for non-primary homes. Surplus lines carriers must have a rating of “A-“ or higher from A.M. Best, and the takeout plan must be approved by the Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR).

CS/CS/CS/HB 989: Chief Financial Officer

This law changes appointment permissions for agents. Their surplus lines appointment acts as a qualifying appointment for their general lines license. An agent appointing their general lines license with a surplus lines appointment shall not conduct or transact admitted business.

Other requirements in this law are:

• Surplus lines insurers must file an email address with DFS to be used for consumer complaint resolutions.

• Surplus lines insurers must also designate a contact person at the insurer for DFS to contact for escalated complaints.

• Current law requires that surplus lines insurers respond to DFS within 14 days regarding a consumer complaint.

Second-Quarter Invoices Available

Second-quarter 2024 invoices are available in your SLIP Inbox. Payments are due by Wednesday, August 14.

If you have questions about the quarterly affidavit, please contact agent.services@fslso.com or call 800-562-4496, option 1.

Payment Process Updates

We recently made some changes to our accounting systems.

Check Payment Addresses

The mailing addresses for those paying by check have changed:

ACH Payments

For those paying electronically via ACH, the company IDs have changed:

Please update your records to reflect these changes. Contact accounting@fslso.com for further questions.

ICYMI: Insights on Florida’s Commercial Property Market

Florida's commercial property insurance landscape has consistently grown over the past five years, with both the admitted and non-admitted markets experiencing steady increases in premiums.

Notably, the non-admitted market has shown higher gains in market share during this period, reflecting evolving dynamics within the insurance sector.

www.fslso.com

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