Plus, getting plaintiff lawyers to cooperate with fee disclosures
Florida workers’ compensation insurance rates are poised to fall again for the ninth consecutive year, suggested solutions are offered to make plaintiff attorneys reveal their fees in property insurance claims payouts, plus the evolving rulemaking on wind mitigation discounts and insurance holding company finances. It’s all in this week’s Property Insurance News.
Workers’ Comp Rates: The National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI), which submits rates on behalf of Florida’s more than 250 workers’ comp writers, has filed for an average 6.9% cut in rates for the voluntary market effective January 1, 2026. NCCI said a steady drop in claim frequency, rising wages, and moderate severity are credited for the rate request. “The changing workforce and evolving economy also continue to impact workers compensation,” according to its summary. If approved, this would be nine years in a row of rate reductions, following a 1% decrease in 2025 and a 15.1% decrease in 2024. Florida now ranks 30th in the nation for workers’ comp costs, after being among the most expensive 20 years ago. Hawaii has the highest costs, followed by New Jersey, New York, and California, with North Dakota having the lowest rate in the country.
OIR Workshops: The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) held a series of workshops last week to solicit questions, comments, and suggestions in its ongoing efforts to update the following Rules and Forms:
Property Supplemental Report (Rule 69O-137.009 & Form OIR-D0-1185) − There was a lot of discussion on the lack of cooperation by plaintiff attorneys in sharing their fees and expenses with insurance companies, as required by law – and suggested solutions. It is abundantly clear that those attorneys will not comply with the law to provide their fees to insurers as required by Section 624.424(11), F.S., under the 2021 Insurance Consumer Protections reform. I asked OIR if Commissioner Yaworsky has thought about sitting down with the head of The Florida Bar, and if necessary, the Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court, which oversee the Bar, to amicably work this out. OIR said it would note the suggestion. Another insurance industry representative noted any tougher statutory authority could be borrowed from the workers’ compensation Statute 440.345, which says that all fees paid to attorneys shall be reported to the Office of the Judges of Compensation Claims. As we reported in the last newsletter, OIR is reminding carriers of their responsibility to collect this data – with carrier reps at this workshop responding in a chorus of “We’d love to, but…” You can read more in our report on the workshop.
Wind Mitigation Inspection and Discounts (Rule 69O-170.0155 & Form OIR-B1-1802) – The updated Rule includes an updated Uniform Wind Mitigation Verification Inspection Form (1802) for insurance companies to use with their policyholders. While the workshop included specific technical suggestions for change, it broadened into a discussion on greater mitigation and resilience efforts in Florida, especially post-hurricane. The only change to the Rule itself going into this workshop is a requirement that insurance companies receiving an 1802 form on an active policy submit a copy to OIR within 21 days of receipt. Changes to the form itself were a streamlining of references to the IBHS FORTIFIED building standard, and provisions to begin collecting data now to support the various discounts, such as tile and roof deck attachments. This is expected to help clarify as well how the IBHS standards compare to Florida standards. OIR will work on finishing the discounts schedule once the updated inspection form is finished. I stressed to OIR that Florida isn’t working quickly enough to incorporate Code Plus and the FORTIFIED standards into our construction and messaging to insurance consumers. You can read more in our report on the workshop.
Registration of Insurers (Rule 69O-143.046 & Forms) – As part of the proposed changes to the Holding Company Rule, to comply with the NAIC Model Law, OIR is adding new Group Capital Forms: one for Group Capital Calculation and the other a Liquidity Stress Test. The Rule exempts the following insurance holding company systems from filing the Group Capital Calculation form:
- A holding company with only one insurance company
- One that only write business and is only licensed in its domestic state
- One that assumes no business from any other insurance company
There was concern expressed about the confidentiality of information on the forms and the relatively short turn-around time in the Rule’s effective date of requiring 2025 data be filed by April 1, 2026. You can read more in our report on the workshop. The workshops came in a week where OIR released Orders and fines regarding claims handling practices.
LMA Newsletter of 9-8-25
