New Reporting Requirements for Florida Insurance Companies

During the 2021 legislative session, the Florida legislature passed Senate Bill 76 which amended § 624.424, Fla. Stat. pertaining to insurers’ reporting requirements. The new property insurance claim litigation report requirements under § 624.424(11) became effective on January 1, 2022.

As of January 1, 2022, each authorized insurer or insurer group issuing personal lines or commercial lines residential property insurance policies in Florida is required to annually file with the Office of Insurance Regulation a supplemental report for closed claims. The report must be on a form prescribed by the state and must include the some of the following information for each claim closed:

• The type of policy. 
• The zip code of the property where the claim occurred. 
• The county where the claim occurred. 
• The date of loss. 
• The peril or type of loss, including information about:
  • The types of vendors used for mitigation, repair, or replacement; and 
  • The names of vendors used, if known. 
• The date the claim was reported to insurer. 
• The name of the public adjuster on the claim, if any. 
• The Florida Bar number and name of the attorney for the claimant, if any. 
• The total indemnity paid by the insurer. 
• The total loss adjustment expenses paid by the insurer. 
• Any other information deemed necessary to provide the office with the ability to track litigation and claims trends occurring in the property market.

The new statute was designed to provide “regulatory oversight of property insurers.” It is too soon to see exactly how the collected data will be used. Hopefully, the statute will prove beneficial to insureds and will help hold insurance companies accountable through the data collection. However, the insurance industry will no doubt try to use the data to their benefit in arguing for insurance rate increases across the state of Florida. It would have been extremely helpful to Florida Policyholders if the Florida legislature would have required insurance companies to report the full amount of their profits each year.

This new statute does not place any filing requirements on insureds, but insureds must still comply with the requirements of their insurance policies. If you have any questions about what your policy requires, or if you believe your insurance company denied, delayed or underpaid your claim, contact one of the insurance claim attorneys at Murray + Murray. Consultations are always free.