| Monday, January 4, 2016 |
| Welcome to the 2016 Legislative Session |
| Eight days and counting from the date of this newsletter!! Can you believe it? The 2016 Legislative Session begins on January 12, 2016 with the normal pomp and circumstance that opens every session. As promised in our December 21 newsletter, this is our official “Welcome to the 2016 Legislative Session” edition. We are also including some tips and tricks for keeping track of events, bills, and your elected officials during the process. So we’ll get you started with how to utilize a few great resources during session.
The Florida Channel Located in the state capitol building, The Florida Channel is a public affairs programming service funded by the Florida Legislature and produced and operated by WFSU-TV. It features programming covering all three branches of state government, and is Florida’s primary source for live, unedited coverage of the activities by the Governor and Cabinet, the Legislature, and the Supreme Court. By visiting The Florida Channel homepage, you will find live streams of committee meetings, live feeds when our legislature is voting on the chamber floors, and other broadcasts of public hearings. Simply navigate to the homepage and mouse over to the right to click on “Live Streams” to find committee meetings or floor sessions for that day. It is at http://thefloridachannel.org. The Florida House of Representatives Webpage The Florida House of Representatives is comprised of 120 representatives from around our state, all of whom are led by the current Speaker of the House, Steve Crisafulli. The Florida House hosts their own website, which is full of resources that are helpful during session. Visiting the House website will give you access to calendars for a certain day or week, contact information for House administrators, and historical information. It’s at http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/default.aspx. The Florida Senate Webpage The Florida Senate is comprised of 40 Senators, currently lead by the Senate President Andy Gardiner. The Florida Senate also hosts their own website, similar to the House website. Visiting the Florida Senate website will give you access to all calendars, senate media, current events and historical information. See https://www.flsenate.gov. Locating Your Representatives & Senators Finding your local Representative or Senator has never been easier. Click on the “Find Your Legislator” tab at http://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/Find, enter your address or zip code, and you’ll quickly discover who represents you in Tallahassee this session. Once you’ve found your legislator, you can navigate to their page to check out their biographical information, current committee assignments, bills they’ve introduced this session, and their contact information. Bill Tracking Legislative tracking is a very useful tool during session. Tracking your bill gives you the opportunity to see real time updates on where the bill is located in the process, where it is going next, and most importantly, whether the bill has failed or not. Lisa Miller & Associates provides this service to our clients, but keeping tabs from home is a great way to stay involved in the process. We’ve found that the legislative tracking feature offered on the Florida Senate website is user friendly and offers the ability to track both House and Senate bills. To create your free legislative tracking account, visit this link: https://www.flsenate.gov/Login?referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.flsenate.gov%2FTracker. Then just follow the prompts. The letters HB followed by an odd number identifies House bills; conversely, the letters SB followed by an even number identifies Senate bills. Online Sunshine If you want to look up a current law, Florida statute, or The Florida Constitution, the place to go is Online Sunshine, and you will find a wealth of info there: http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Welcome/index.cfm?CFID=315483400&CFTOKEN=57986766. Online Sunshine offers a user friendly website enabling you to research areas of interest. In addition to any legal research you’ll be doing, Online Sunshine also offers information on registered lobbyists in the State of Florida. This search feature allows you to locate a lobbyist by their name, or by the client’s name. Finally, lobbying firm compensation reports are also available on Online Sunshine. The State of Florida mandates the filing of these reports for all lobbyists and lobbying firms. |
| Some Proposed Legislation Team LMA Will Be Following |
| Listed below are bills that are of significant interest to us that we will be keeping a sharp eye on this session and reporting on their activity to you.
AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE/HIGHWAY SAFETY HB 509 – Transportation Network Companies — by Gaetz (M) – Provides requirements for operating as a transportation network company or operating as transportation network company driver; directs DHSMV to issue permits. Similar: SB 1118 Transportation Network Company Insurance — by Simmons ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ GENERAL INSURANCE SB 1248 – Relating to Prohibited Insurance Practices – by Diaz de la Portilla – Companion HB 671 — Broxson Identical: SB 642 Drones — by Diaz de la Portilla Identical: SB 774 Liability Insurance Coverage—by Montford HB 345 Firefighters and Paramedics — by Fitzenhagen – Provides that death or disability due to cancer suffered by firefighter or paramedic employed by state or its political subdivisions is presumed accidental & suffered in line of duty under certain conditions; authorizes purchase of insurance by local governments; provides criteria for physical examinations for firefighters & paramedics; requires employing agency to keep records & notify firefighters & paramedics of reported exposure to known carcinogens; provides that firefighters & paramedics employed on effective date of act need not comply with physical examination requirements. Similar: SB 456 Firefighters — by Latvala (J) SB 852 Medical Marijuana — by Brandes – Repealing provisions relating to the compassionate use of low-THC cannabis; citing this act as the “Florida Medical Marijuana Act”; authorizing a registered patient or a designated caregiver to purchase, acquire, and possess up to the allowed amount of medical marijuana for a patient’s medical use; requiring a registered patient or a designated caregiver to demonstrate certain actions in order to maintain the specified protections; requiring the department to notify law enforcement of the expired or cancelled identification card in certain circumstances, etc. LEGAL REFORM HB 5 Civil Remedies Against Insurers – by Hill – Requires written notice of loss as condition precedent to action for third-party bad-faith failure to settle insurance claim; provides that insurer is not liable for claim of bad-faith failure to settle claim if certain conditions are met. Similar: SB 632 Civil Remedies Against Insurers — by Richter ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ HB 79 Property Insurance Appraisal Umpires and Property Insurance Appraisers — by Artiles – Creates property insurance appraisal umpire licensing program & property insurance appraiser licensing program within DFS; authorizes department to establish fees; provides licensing & continuing education requirements; provides for fees; provides grounds for compulsory refusal, suspension, or revocation of license; provides ethical standards; provides appropriation; provides effective dates. Compare: SB 336 Property Insurance Appraisals — by Richter HB 929 Peril of Flood — by Ahern – Authorizes DEM to administer matching grant program to provide technical & financial assistance to local governments to implement certain flood risk reduction policies & projects; authorizes Florida Communities Trust to undertake, coordinate, or fund flood mitigation projects & to acquire & dispose of real & personal property or specified interest to reduce flood hazards; authorizes DEM to contract with third parties for certificate database; authorizes insurers to issue flood insurance policies on flexible basis; revises conditions under which surplus lines agents may export contracts & endorsements providing flood coverage to eligible surplus lines insurers without making diligent effort to seek such coverage from three or more authorized insurers. Similar: SB 584 Peril of Flood – by Brandes HB 1021 – Relating to Award of Attorney Fees in Public Records Enforcement Actions — by Steube – Award of Attorney Fees in Public Records Enforcement Actions: Revises conditions under which award of attorney fees is authorized in certain civil actions for enforcement of chapter 110, F.S.; provides that award of such attorney fees is within discretion of court. Similar: SB 1220 – Relating to Public Records by Garcia ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ HB 771 Drug-Free Workplaces — by Renner – Revises contents of employer policy statement with respect to employee drug use; revises frequency of follow up testing; revises specimen collection, verification, & documentation procedures; revises requirements for confirmation testing. Identical: SB 1154 Drug-free Workplaces — by Bradley |
| Roof/Hail Claims: The Story Behind The Story |
| Last week, I had the pleasure of interviewing Mr. and Mrs. Jim Hetrich of Clermont, FL. The Hetrichs are in their late 60’s and are retired University of Pennsylvania educators who moved to the Sunshine State because as they said, “we never grew up and we love Disney.” Their home is lovely with Disney themed rooms and mementos of their many visits to the Magic Kingdom. The purpose of my visit was to learn more about what happened when two roofing companies came knocking on their door in late 2014 and again in 2015 to convince them they needed a new roof because of hail damage. The Hetrichs are very smart homeowners. They just knew something wasn’t right and when the insurance company denied their roof claim from the first company, they accepted that decision and felt like it was the right one despite all the new roofs in their neighborhood. When the claims adjuster called them to discuss the decision, the adjuster mentioned the lawsuit…a lawsuit that the Hetrichs had no idea they were a part of. Ms. Hetrich told me she is in poor health and hearing this lawsuit news just about sent her to the hospital. She did NOT want to sue her insurance company or be a part of a lawsuit that she knew was bogus. When she and her husband carefully read the assignment of benefits (AOB) document they signed, they realized the roof company could file the suit without their knowledge. This pattern is happening over and over again with roofing companies teaming with law firms to create what is known as lawsuit factories–continual filing of lawsuits using an AOB as the basis and foundation to have suits filed, many times without the policyholders’ knowledge. Let’s look at the numbers for one insurance company: in 2013, they had 9 AOB lawsuits; 2014 they had 79 and in 2015 over 250. Their policy count has not increased exponentially or in correlation to these lawsuit numbers.
Each of you reading this newsletter have stories to share like the Hetrichs who have agreed to go public with their story. As a team of us work in the legislature to produce the “Faces of AOB Abuse,” please contact me so I can visit with your policyholders, who in my humble opinion, are being exploited by bad actors. |
| Drone Technology Takes Off, Lands in the Middle of Mainstream America |
| I recall during the first Gulf War being mesmerized by media accounts of U.S. military drones flying over the deserts in Iraq pinpointing with amazing accuracy the location of enemy troops and equipment. For years our military has leveraged drone technology to advance our causes and reduce the frequency of military pilots flying directly into harm’s way. Jump forward to 2015 and drone technology is poised to perhaps become as much a part of daily life as high definition television and overnight courier services. In fact, shortly before Christmas this year experts estimated that between 400,000 and one million consumer drones would be purchased and given as gifts to family members and friends.
However, as with other new technologies that have taken to the air, a number of questions have been raised regarding potential liability when exuberant recreational drone pilots send their craft through neighbors’ windows, into nearby power lines or on any number of unintended flight paths. According to insurance experts, standard homeowners’ policies generally provide coverage for these types of perils, even if the coverage isn’t referred to as specialized drone insurance. Experts agree, however, that all third-party liability claims should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis and that there may be other exclusions to coverage with emerging drone technology. Another concern involves a recent FAA rule requiring that drones put into operation after December 21 must be registered on an FAA website before their initial flight. The rule covers drones weighing between 0.55 and 55 pounds. Current drone operators have until February 19 to register with the FAA and failure to do so can bring serious penalties. In 2014, there were some 200,000 recreational drones in use, resulting in 238 reports to the FAA of unsafe operation. That number has jumped to more than 1,100 reports this year, posing “immediate” risks to manned aviation, people and property on the ground, according to the FAA. According to a number of larger insurers though, determining the amount of potential damage and therefore claim expenses from the recreational use of drones is speculative at this point. |
| Insurance Regulation – The Best and Worst States |
| A recent report, the 2015 Insurance Regulation Report Card, the R Street Institute’s publication, provided its annual grading of states on how they regulate the property/casualty insurance industry. They assign scores in 10 different areas including solvency monitoring, anti-fraud efforts, rating and underwriting freedom, minimizing politicization of regulation, consumer protection and fostering competitive markets. For 2015, all but nine states received a passing grade of “C” or better in the report. The report did take issue with state regulations that lead to inefficiencies. R Street Editor-In-Chief and Senior Fellow R.J. Lehmann, the author of the report, said that some state laws and regulations “have the effect of discouraging capital formation, stifling competition and concentrating risk.” He also remarked “reviewing the data on insurance in 2015, we see mostly stable trends in consumer and business freedom in state insurance markets.” In some states – notably Florida – real efforts were made to scale back, or otherwise place on more sound financial footing, residual insurance markets and state-run insurance entities.” The report also looks at regulatory decisions that restrict markets. It penalizes California, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Maine, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Washington State, that issued regulatory bulletins barring the use of price optimization. New Mexico, New York and Vermont, which issued advisories seeking more information on price optimization practices, were not penalized. Florida lost points for denying Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund officials the flexibility to bind reinsurance coverage without the Cabinet’s prior approval. Overall, the states receiving “A” grades are:
Vermont (A+), Utah, Iowa, Virginia and Kentucky whileNebraska, Tennessee and South Carolina got an “A- “. North Carolina received an “F”, while Louisiana, New York, Texas, Florida, California, Hawaii and Montana got a “D”. |
| CAT Fund Issues Notice of 2016 Coverages and Retention |
| With concurrence by the State Board of Administration, the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund (FHCF) Reimbursement Contract Year commencing on June 1, 2016, has issued public notice of the maximum statutory adjusted capacity for the mandatory coverage, the maximum statutory coverage for any optional coverage, and the aggregate fund retention used to calculate individual insurers’ retention multiples. As provided in Section 215.555(4)(c)1., F.S., the maximum statutory capacity for the mandatory coverage is $17 billion. No additional optional coverages are available for the Reimbursement Contract Year commencing on June 1, 2016. The aggregate fund retention used to calculate individual insurers’ retention multiples is $6.966 billion. |
| 2016 Maximum Weekly Wage Rate Set by Department of Economic Opportunity |
| Florida’s Department of Economic Opportunity has established the state-wide average weekly wage paid by employers subject to the Florida Reemployment Assistance Program Law to be $862.51 for the four calendar quarters ending June 30, 2015. Section 440.12(2), F.S., (2015), provides that, for injuries occurring on or after August 1, 1979, the weekly compensation rate shall be equal to 100 percent of the state-wide average weekly wage, adjusted to the nearest dollar, and that the average weekly wage determined by the Department of Economic Opportunity for the four calendar quarters ending each June 30 shall be utilized in determining the maximum weekly compensation rate with respect to injuries occurring in the calendar year immediately following. Therefore, the maximum weekly compensation rate for work-related injuries and illnesses occurring on or after January 1, 2016, shall be $863.00. |
| Strategic Planning in the 21st Century |
| A month or so ago, we read a very interesting article about strategic planning for your businesses in today’s world and wanted to share some of the finer points of the article with you. As we all know, automation, the global economy, and the Internet are changing almost every industry – including the insurance industry. We know without a doubt because we see it here at LMA, the planning process is requiring more time and thought into not only the new year, but where does our company want to be in five years and what do we need to do now to insure that plan is successful?
We found that there are seven key components to strategic planning for the 21st century. They are: 1) Mission Statement–that defines where your business wants to be in five years; 2) Vision Statement— that defines how the company will be viewed by significant entities; 3) Strategy Development— that takes the key phases of both the Mission and Vision Statements and develops those areas that must be changed in order to accomplish the goal of the Mission or Vision Statement; 4) Long Term Goals— that define the intent of the strategy in segmented terms from the businesses current position; 5) Tactical Plan— defines each strategy at an annual level; 6) Action Plans— define how objectives are to be accomplished; and, 7) Benchmarks— that serve as the measuring sticks to determine if the strategies are working. While the confined spaces of our newsletter don’t allow us to provide great detail into the seven areas noted above, we hope this brief overview will start you thinking about strategic planning for your businesses. We certainly are looking at them closely and doing further research into the tools available to help us strategically plan in this 21st century. |
| Tighten Your Seatbelts – and Get Ready for the Ride |
| Yes, the boys and girls are back in town. The gavel will announce the opening of the 2016 Legislative Session on January 12 and the ride begins again. As we do every year, we plan to provide regular releases during Session. While we focused on topics of general interest during the summer and fall months, we will now spend our time providing you with timely updates on the actions of the committees, culminating with bills landing on the House and Senate floors. This is the fastest paced time of the year here in Tallahassee, and we strive to cover topics that impact our clients, friends and the citizens of our great state. We are up for the task, so be prepared to hear from us often. We’re expecting a fabulous year ahead!Lisa and the Team |
