CS/CS/CS/HB 1495--Property insurance.

This bill makes numerous changes to the property insurance law, in part, to reduce the state's exposure for property insurance losses, to make insurance companies less dependent on the state for their reinsurance needs and more reliant on the private reinsurance market, to provide rate certainty for policyholders of Citizens Property Insurance Corporation (Citizens), and to prevent dramatic rate increases for policyholders of Citizens while providing direction for the achievement of actuarially sound rates for Citizens. Not summarized are significant detailed revisions affecting the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, the My Safe Florida Home Program, mitigation discounts, and the state rating laws. The bill makes other changes in the law affecting public adjusters: prohibiting them and public adjuster apprentices from paying fees for referrals of business to the public adjuster; requiring public adjuster apprentices to obtain the Accredited Claims Adjuster designation prior to applying for a license as a public adjuster apprentice; limiting the number of active public adjuster apprentices employed by a public adjusting firm to 12 and the number of apprentices supervised by a public adjuster to 3; and requiring OPPAGA to do a study on public adjusters and to report to the presiding officers, Governor, Chief Financial Officer, & Insurance Commissioner by February 1, 2010. The bill also repeals current law that prevents the Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) from applying attorney client privilege or work product confidentiality to OIR attorney communications, unless the communication occurred exclusively for litigation purposes. The measure also requires the OIR to place on its website the rate change approved by the OIR along with all the actuary's assumptions and recommendations and the actuary's certification that the recommendations are consistent with accepted actuarial principles - and requires OIR to provide a means for a policyholder affected by a proposed rate change to email the actuary. The bill further provides that assessments paid by insurers as a result of a levy by any residual market entity, i.e., Citizens, constitutes advances of funds from the insurer and that the insurer is entitled to fully recoup such advances. The legislation also allows insurance agents to explain to consumers the applicability of the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association to various insurance coverages, and clarifies current law that allows insurance contracts to give insurers a choice to repair a property in lieu of