Bill Watch

Start of session

The slow and interrupted pace of the past two months of Florida legislative committee meetings yielded an avalanche of bills in the last two weeks prior to this past Friday’s filing deadline, including several shocking bills that could hurt insurance consumers by turning back hard-won reforms from prior sessions.  When lawmakers return to the Capitol today to begin their 60-day regular legislative session, they will face about 33 insurance bills that could significantly impact the industry.  Some revive one-way attorney fees, others increase bad faith litigation exposure, while others force dispute resolution mandates.  A few bills offer further needed property insurance reforms and market stability.  It’s that stability that is leading to the lower insurance rates we’ve seen in the past 12 months.  

The good news is that the lack of bill filing and action during the six committee weeks prior to session means there are really just five weeks to get bills passed through the session’s committee meetings.  That’s not a lot of time, given that bills must normally be heard and voted on positively three times before they go to the House or Senate floor for a final vote.  The bad news is the volume of the bills. There’s been a huge dump over the past 14 days.  Two weeks ago, 758 bills had been filed; that grew to 1,822 bills by this past Friday’s filing deadline.  Only a fraction is ever heard in committee and fewer still pass the full legislature.  The only legal requirement on the legislature is to pass a budget for the next fiscal year that begins July 1.

As you’ll see below in this updated Bill Watch, there are bills that would repeal the 2023 elimination of one-way attorney fees in property insurance litigation – a key reform that’s helped turn the Florida market around.  Another bill would force homeowners insurance companies to pay not only their rightful claims, but any associated flood insurance claims, and then try to get reimbursed by federal or private flood insurance.  Talk about a potential solvency crisis!  These are among the bills that are hurtful to Florida’s insurance consumers and will stop the expansion of carriers into the market offering needed competition dead in its tracks.  Not coincidentally, an outside group has filed a proposed ballot initiative to add a proposed state constitutional amendment that would prohibit policy cancellations and require a rate reduction for any policy that filed no claims within 365 days prior to the policy renewal.  If they collect enough signatures and pass legal muster, that could be on the ballot as soon as 2026.   

Although the session doesn’t formally begin until tomorrow’s (March 4) State of the State address by Governor DeSantis at 11am to a joint House and Senate chamber, committee meetings resume today.  They include the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee which meets at 1pm today (March 3) and among other bills, will hear SB 592 that would restrict the use of grant funds in the My Safe Florida Condo Pilot Project to those buildings three stories or higher, to help pay for structural fortification against storms and perhaps ease the money crunch some condo associations are having meeting building safety inspections and needed structural repairs.  (See Plea for Condominium Relief Reflected in Bills in this newsletter.)  The Senate Regulated Industries Committee meets tomorrow at 4pm to hear presentations about storm recovery and storm protection.  You can watch these and any committee meetings referenced in this Bill Watch live and later on-demand on The Florida Channel.

Here is the updated list of legislative bills we’re following.  You can click the bill link in the list below to go directly to the bill and its details further below.  “New” and “Updated” bills are so noted.  We will continue to monitor each chamber’s position on relevant bills and add further bills showing advancement as warranted.  Updates within each bill are noted in blue font:

Property Insurance – Litigation & Claims:
Property Insurance Claims New
Court Judgment Interest Rates and Insurance Reports and Practices
Attorney Fee Awards in Insurance Actions New
Insurance (Truenow)
Insurance (Berfield) New
Litigation Financing New
Mandatory Human Reviews of Insurance Claim Denials New

Property Insurance – Regulation:
Office of Insurance Regulation New
Insurance and Hurricane Mitigation Grants New
Uniform Mitigation Verification Inspection Form New
Property Insurer Financial Strength Ratings New
Residual Market Insurers New

Property Insurance – Citizens Property Insurance Corporation:
Citizens Rates New
Coverage by Citizens Property Insurance Corporation New

Property Insurance – Condominiums:
Condominium Associations New

Automobile Insurance:
Motor Vehicle Insurance New

Resilience:
Resilient Buildings Updated
Nature-based Methods for Improving Coastal Resilience Updated

Property Insurance – Litigation & Claims:

(NEW) Property Insurance Claims  ̶  SB 1508 and the similar HB 1087 by Senator Tom Leek (R-Ormond Beach) and Rep. Randy Maggard (R-Dade City) removes the existing alternative procedure for resolving disputed residential property insurance claims (mediation) and replaces it with a mandatory one.  It also specifies that a homeowner’s insurance policy is the primary policy and any separate flood or wind policy is subject to subrogation – meaning that homeowners insurance companies would have to pay for the flood claims themselves and seek reimbursement later from the National Flood Insurance Program. 

The House bill’s stated goal is “to ensure the efficient delivery of the coverage offered under the policy, helping to restore an owner’s property and livelihood to normalcy after a disaster or loss, while maintaining reasonable costs to the insurer.”  It takes a page from the Citizens Property Insurance Corporation’s playbook by requiring disputes be presented and resolved by the state Division of Administrative Hearings (DOAH), rather than in the traditional court system.  As such, it eliminates appraisal and arbitration clauses.  Among its provisions:

• Either the policyholder or the insurance company can elect to use the procedure on unresolved claim disputes.
• Participation by lawyers is not required.
• The petitioner or their counsel must certify that a good faith effort was made to resolve the dispute.
• Upon receipt of a petition, the administrative law judge would review it and dismiss it if it “does not on its face specifically identify or itemize all of the following information:
  • The policyholder’s name, address, telephone number, and social security number.
  • The insurer’s name, address, and telephone number.
  • A detailed description of the loss or damage, including the date it occurred.
  • The alleged acts or omissions of the insurer giving rise to the dispute, including, if applicable, a denial of coverage.
  • An estimate of damages, if known, and the amount that is disputed by the insurer.
  • A specific explanation of any other disputed issue that the administrative law judge will be called to rule upon.
• The dismissal of any petition or portion of a petition is without prejudice and does not require a hearing.
• Within 14 days of receiving the petition, the insurance company must pay the requested claim or file a response to the petition with DOAH. The response must specify all claims requested but not paid and explain the company’s reason for nonpayment.
• The DOAH judge in ruling on the petition and the response will follow the process outlined in f.s. 25, except the judge must make a determination within 60 days after the filing of the petition.
• The procedure involves disputes over claims relating to a material issue of fact and excludes claims where:
  • The insurance company has a reasonable basis to suspect fraud.
  • The insurance company has determined there is no coverage under the policy.
  • The insurance company has a reasonable basis to believe material misrepresentation.
• All motions to dismiss must be handled as specified in f.s. 192(5)

DFS, OIR and DOAH administer the mandatory procedure.  There are requirements on the state and insurance companies to notify consumers of the mandatory claims resolution process.  It does not apply to liability coverage disputes.  There is insurance industry concern about losing the safeguards inherent in the appraisal and arbitrations clauses that these bills eliminate and fears of increased litigation as a result.

The bill also seeks to “better coordinate payment of claims.”  It provides: “If a claim is submitted under a homeowner’s insurance policy and the insured also has a separate windstorm or flood insurance policy, the homeowner’s insurer is the primary insurer. Such insurer must pay the insured’s loss…and has the right to seek subrogation from the windstorm or flood insurer.”  This part of the bill is the most problematic for the industry, with concerns it will create liquidity and cash flow risks for private insurers, forcing them to absorb flood-related losses before ever receiving federal reimbursement – sometimes a lengthy process.  There’s a broader market concern that shifting a federal responsibility onto state-based private insurance companies will drive higher premiums and loss of capital as reinsurers and investors lose confidence in a more unpredictable system.  (Return to Top of List)

Court Judgment Interest Rates and Insurance Reports and Practices  ̶  HB 451 by Rep. Alex Andrade (R-Pensacola) and the similar SB 554 by Senator Don Gaetz (R-Pensacola) would essentially undo the 2023 tort reform under HB 837 that eliminated one-way attorney fees for plaintiff attorneys and reverts to something similar to previous attorney fee calculations under SB 76 that were part of the 2021 reforms.  HB 451features:

(Section 1) – Increased Judgment Interest Rate – The bill raises the interest rate on court judgments from 400 to 800 basis points.

(Section 2) – Insurance Transparency Reports – The Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) must compile reports on:

• Business relationships between insurers and related entities that share executives or ownership.
• Executive compensation, detailing salaries, bonuses, and stock options as a percentage of the company’s revenue.
• These reports must be public and cannot be labeled “trade secrets” to avoid disclosure.

(Section 3) – Rate Review Consideration 

• The newly required insurance reports from Section 2 will now be factored into the state’s insurance rate approval process.
• Executive compensation and company relationships will be used to determine if rate increases are justified.

(Section 4) – Claims Adjustments and Documentation 

• Insurance company adjusters must use electronic estimating software. Deletes the requirement of the DFS emergency rule from October 2024 that public adjusters are subjected to these provisions
• If an adjuster manually changes pricing data, they must:
  • Document all modifications.
  • Provide explanations for changes.
  • Identify who made the changes.
  • Retain records for at least seven years.

(Section 5) – Claim Mediation Timeline – Insurers can no longer reinspect a property before a claim becomes eligible for mediation.

(Section 6) – Dispute Resolution & Attorney Fees 

• When a policyholder sends a presuit demand, the insurer must either:
  • Accept the demand.
  • Make a counteroffer.
  • Decline the demand.
• Before filing a lawsuit, both parties must go through mandatory mediation, splitting the cost equally.
• Attorney fees in property insurance cases are awarded based on how much the final judgment matches the original demand:
  • 80% or more: Claimant gets full attorney fees.
  • 20%-80%: Attorney fees awarded proportionally.
  • Less than 20%: No attorney fees awarded.
• Exceptions: Attorney fees may still be awarded if:
  • The insurer violates deadlines.
  • The claimant’s demand is reasonable.
  • The court finds bad faith on either side.

(Section 7) – Arbitration Disclosure – If an insurer offers mandatory arbitration with a premium discount, they must clearly show the discount amount in dollars in the policy quote.

(Sections 8, 9, 10) – Technical Adjustments – These sections update cross-references in existing laws to align with the changes introduced in HB 451.

(Section 11) – Effective Date – The bill goes into effect on July 1, 2025.  (Return to Top of List)  

(NEW) Attorney Fee Awards in Insurance Actions  ̶  HB 1551 and the similar SB 426 by Rep. Hillary Cassel (R-Dania Beach), an attorney, and Senator Jonathan Martin (R-Fort Myers), another attorney, would essentially undo the 2023 session’s elimination of one-way attorney fees signed into law under HB 837.  The Senate bill would require courts to award attorney fees to the prevailing party in both admitted and surplus lines insurance litigation.  It would also allow the plaintiff to move to declaratory judgment after the insurance company issues a reservation of rights, but before a coverage denial.  The House bill also repeals the attorney fee for declaratory judgments enacted by the 2023 tort reforms.  (Return to Top of List)

Insurance  ̶  SB 230 by Senator Keith Truenow (R-Tavares) would put new restrictions on bad faith claims by first requiring a court ruling and final judgment that an insurance company breached the policy contract before a bad faith claim could be filed. It would also:

• Prohibit a bad faith claim simply because the insurance company paid a claim following a Notice of Intent to Litigate or a demand for judgment;
• Require the plaintiff to cite specific bad faith laws that were allegedly violated;
• Require the plaintiff to note the amount of damages required to cure the violation;
• Require any damages sought to be available under the terms of the insurance policy; and
• Prohibit attorney fees or costs from any damages sought.

The bill is meant to close loopholes identified since the initial bad faith law reforms that were part of the 2022 insurance consumer protections and market reforms.  The bill contains other tweaks to current insurance law.  It would prohibit public adjusters from engaging in certain adversarial conduct, revise the circumstances under which a carrier or agent may cancel certain policies, and revise the required disclaimer statement on policies that do not provide flood insurance.  The bill would also reduce the current coursework requirement from 200 hours to 60 hours to become a general lines insurance agent.  (Return to Top of List)

(NEW) Insurance  ̶  HB 1047 by Rep. Kim Berfield (R-Clearwater) is a wide-ranging bill that touches on various aspects of Florida’s insurance laws.  It focuses mostly on property insurance claims, conduct of adjusters, and regulation of insurance companies.  But it also touches on agents.  The bill’s webpage includes a section titled “Why I filed this bill,” authored by Rep. Berfield herself.  She wrote, “The bill aims to ban adversarial practices by public adjusters that could undermine the trust in and delay the claims adjusting process.  Additionally, it aims to protect policyholders and improve consumer awareness by clarifying disclosures about flood insurance exclusions in homeowners’ policies and statements required when an insurer provides a preliminary or partial estimate of damages or a partial settlement for damages.  The proposed changes seek to enhance transparency in insurance, streamline claims handling, and balance the interests of policyholders and insurers.

Among the bill’s provisions:

• Reduces the requirement from 200 hours to 60 hours of coursework to become a general lines insurance agent.
• Changes the required language that insurance companies must use in providing a preliminary or partial estimate of damage regarding a claim, striking the words “the covered” from “This estimate represents our current evaluation of the covered damage to your insured property…”
• Changes the required language that insurance companies must use in providing a partial payment on a claim to say “We have issued a partial settlement,” in place of “We are continuing to evaluate your claim.”
• A public adjuster may not engage in any adversarial conduct with insurance company claims personnel during the course of adjusting claims, including recording them without their consent.
• A public adjuster need only identify their appointment type during an initial text message with a policyholder.
• An insurance company adjuster need only provide their name and license number in an initial text message with a policyholder.
• Clarifies that only property insurance companies with active residential policies in Florida need to have a claims-handling manual.
• Allows an insurance company to cancel or nonrenew a residential policy before the dwelling is repaired upon 45 days’ notice if the named insured does not have an insurable interest in the property.
• Tightens-up existing language about flood insurance exclusions in homeowners policies

HB 1047 is comparable to SB 230 by Senator Truenow above and SB 790 by Senator Bradley. (Return to Top of List)

(NEW) Litigation Financing  ̶  SB 1534 by Senator Jay Collins (R-Tampa) picks up where past efforts in recent sessions made no progress in regulating third-party funding of lawsuits against businesses, including insurance companies.  To be called the  “Litigation Investment Safeguards and Transparency Act,” the bill requires a court’s consideration of potential conflicts of interest which may arise from the existence of a litigation financing agreement in specified circumstances; prohibits specified acts by litigation financiers; requires certain disclosures related to litigation financing agreements and the involvement of foreign persons, foreign principals, or sovereign wealth funds; and requires the indemnification of specified fees, costs, and sanctions by a litigation financier in specified circumstances, among other provisions.  Last year, Senator Collins’ bill made it through all of its committees and a House companion got through its initial committee, but neither reached a floor vote.  There is a similar effort on the federal level to get Congress to pass needed legislation.  SB 1534 currently has no House companion bill.  (Return to Top of List)

(NEW) Mandatory Human Reviews of Insurance Claim Denials  ̶  SB 794 by Senator Jennifer Bradley (R-Fleming Island) defines “qualified human professional” and requires an insurance company’s decision to deny claims to be reviewed, approved, and signed off on by the professional.  It prohibits artificial intelligence, machine learning algorithms, and automated systems from serving as the basis for denying claims.  Of note: Section (4) In all denial communications to a claimant, and insurer shall: (a) Clearly identify the qualified human professional who reviewed the denial decision.  There is a comparable House bill (HB 1555) by Rep. Cassel.  (Return to Top of List)

Property Insurance – Regulation:

(NEW) Office of Insurance Regulation  ̶  SB 1656 and the identical HB 1429 by Senator Jay Collins (R-Tampa) and Rep. Tom Fabricio (R-Miami Lakes) is a 147-page omnibus bill from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) that covers a variety of issues in different insurance lines.  It proposes regulatory measures intended to improve transparency and target fraudulent practices without overburdening insurance companies. 

Among other things, it authorizes personal residential property carriers to submit only one “use and file” filing during a specified timeframe; deletes a provision relating to the charge and collection of the actual costs and expenses incurred by OIR to review certain requests by the carrier; and requires the Financial Services Commission to adopt rules to ensure the cybersecurity of consumers’ nonpublic insurance data.  On the health side, it specifies that the Chief Financial Officer is the agent for service of process under certain circumstances for health maintenance organizations.  (Return to Top of List)

(NEW) Insurance and Hurricane Mitigation Grants  ̶  SB 1740 and the identical HB 1433 by Senator Blaise Ingoglia (R-Spring Hill) and Rep. Yvette Benarroch (R-Marco Island) covers both insurance regulation and wind mitigation efforts.  It specifies that hurricane mitigation grants funded through the My Safe Florida Home Program may be awarded only to projects that will result in rate credits or discounts.  On the regulation side, it increases the Certificate of Authority minimum surplus requirements from $15 million to $35 million for not wholly owned subsidiaries of foreign insurers; from $7.5 million to $10 million for carriers offering only sinkhole coverage; and from $10 million to $12.5 million for carriers offering only renter’s insurance.  It also increases the lookback period from 2 years to 5 years for Directors and Officers of insolvent companies and adds attorneys in fact to the lookback period; it prohibits future service as a director of a reciprocal, carrier, MGA, or affiliated entity; but does not change the director’s burden for proving ‘not at fault’ past service.  (Return to Top of List)

(NEW) Uniform Mitigation Verification Inspection Form  ̶  SB 1596 by Senator Nick DiCeglie (R-St. Petersburg) authorizes the Governor and Cabinet sitting as the Financial Services Commission to incorporate flood mitigation criteria into the uniform mitigation verification inspection form.  The current form includes only wind mitigation criteria.  There is no House bill companion currently. (Return to Top of List)

(NEW) Property Insurer Financial Strength Ratings  ̶  SB 792 by Senator Jennifer Bradley (R-Fleming Island) would require annual insurance reports prepared by the Office of Insurance Regulation for the Legislature and the Governor to include financial strength ratings of property insurance companies issued by third-parties whose fees are not paid for by insurance companies.  There is no House companion bill currently. (Return to Top of List) 

(NEW) Residual Market Insurers  ̶  HB 643 and the identical SB 1184 by Rep. John Snyder (R-Stuart) and Senator Nick DiCeglie (R-St. Petersburg) revises the circumstances under which insurance coverage is eligible for agents to export to surplus lines carriers.  It repeals diligent effort and essentially republishes the surplus lines requirements in Chapter 627 and places them in Chapter 626 so it is clear that surplus lines are subject to these provisions versus the current confusion of these requirements scattered in several parts of the insurance code.  The bill also addresses an insurance company’s duty to acknowledge communications regarding residential property insurance claims & investigations, notice of property insurance claims, and lawsuits arising under a property insurance policy.  It also prohibits any assignment agreements of post-loss insurance benefits under a residential or commercial property insurance policy.  (Return to Top of List)

Property Insurance – Citizens Property Insurance Corporation:

(NEW) Citizens Rates  ̶  HB 705 and the identical SB 1448 by Rep. Jose Alvarez (D-Kissimmee) and Senator Nick DiCeglie (R-St. Petersburg) would require new policies to Citizens Property Insurance Corporation after June 1, 2025 to pay market rates instead of the capped rate enjoyed by current policyholders.  Its purpose is to comply with the legislature’s previous mandate that Citizens’ rates be actuarially-sound and non-competitive with the private market.  (Return to Top of List)

(NEW) Coverage by Citizens Property Insurance Corporation  ̶  SB 1020 and the identical HB 1073 by Senator Ana Maria Rodriguez (R-Doral) and Rep. Jim Mooney, Jr. (R-Islamorada) would allow higher-priced homes in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties to get coverage from state-backed Citizens Insurance.  Current law restricts Citizens from selling policies for homes with replacement dwelling costs of $700,000 or more except in those two counties, where the limit is $ 1million.  The bills would raise the limit in those two counties to $1.5 million.  The bills would also require Citizens to annually raise rates by up to 10% in counties without a reasonable degree of competition, such as Miami-Dade and Monroe, as designated by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR).  It would also exclude properties in X flood zones from the Citizens flood insurance requirement for wind policies.  (Return to Top of List)

Property Insurance – Condominiums:

(NEW) Condominium Associations  ̶  HB 913 by Rep. Vicki Lopez (R-Miami) is a 99-page bill yet again refining Florida’s condominium laws but with one striking provision: It bars Citizens from providing coverage to condominiums that fail to comply with laws requiring associations to fully budget for future building repairs after a milestone inspection.  It also allows associations to take on loans or levy special assessments “without the approval of the membership” to pay for the repairs, along with other provisions.  This House bill has received some public pushback from a few Senate lawmakers and there is no Senate bill companion currently. 

More than half of the 18,468 condominium buildings insured by Citizens are located in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.  Per published news articles, approximately 12,000 (3 stories or higher) are required to comply but only 4,096 have done so as of February, according to state officials who said compliance is self-reported and therefore difficult to verify.  (For more, read Plea for Condominium Relief Reflected in Bills)  (Return to Top of List)

Automobile Insurance:

(NEW) Motor Vehicle Insurance  ̶  SB 1256 and the identical HB 1181 by Senator Erin Grall (R-Fort Pierce) and Rep. Danny Alvarez (R-Brandon) are a perennial effort to do away with Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage under Florida’s No-Fault insurance law and replace it with bodily injury (BI) liability coverage.  The primary difference between PIP and mandatory BI is that under PIP, someone injured in an auto accident seeks coverage first under their own PIP policy, whereas under mandatory BI, someone injured in an auto accident would seek recovery from a responsible third-party’s (other driver’s) BI coverage.  The bills are similar to the bill vetoed in 2021 by Governor DeSantis, and filed again in 2022, 2023, and 2024.  Last year’s bills never received a hearing. (Return to Top of List)

Resilience:

(UPDATED) Resilient Buildings  ̶  HB 143 by Rep. Webster Barnaby (R-Deltona) and the similar SB 62 by Senator Ana Maria Rodriguez (R-Doral) would authorize owners of resilient buildings to receive a specified tax credit for those improvements and outlines specific LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) requirements of a building.  The bill also creates the Florida Resilient Building Advisory Council which would work with the Department of Environmental Protection.  SB 62 passed unanimously in the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee on February 11 and awaits its next stop in the Finance and Tax Committee.  HB 143 will have its first hearing tomorrow (March 4) at 4pm before the House Natural Resources & Disasters Subcommittee.  (Return to Top of List)

(UPDATED) Nature-based Methods for Improving Coastal Resilience  ̶  SB 50 and HB 371 by Senator Ileana Garcia (R-Miami) and Rep. Jim Mooney, Jr. (R-Islamorada) would require the Florida Flood Hub for Applied Research and Innovation to develop guidelines and standards for “green and gray infrastructure” to improve coastal resilience to storms.  It would also require the Department of Environmental Protection to adopt rules for nature-based methods for coastal resilience and require a statewide feasibility study with the Department of Financial Services Division of Insurance Agent and Agency Services on the value of applying those methods.  SB 50 unanimously passed the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee on February 11 and will have its second of three committee stops on Wednesday (March 5) at 11am before the Appropriations Committee on Agriculture, Environment, and General Government.  HB 371 is awaiting its first committee meeting.  (Return to Top of List)

LMA Newsletter of 3-3-25