Fla. Committee Recommends More Study; Releases ‘Quick-Check’ Guides

Florida’s Standard Personal Lines Committee has recommended to the Florida Legislature that a task force with extensive insurance knowledge regarding the legalities of insurance contracts and actuarial support should review the impact of consumer protection legislation passed in 2004 and study the impact that offering a standard policy would have on the insurance industry and consumer’s premiums.

The SPL Committee at the same time issued new “Quick-Check” guides and checklists discussing homeowners policies, mobile home policies, condominium owners policies and dwelling policies have been issued by the Standard Personal Lines Committee established by Florida’s Office of Insurance. The report will be presented to the Florida Legislature in accordance with the provisions of S.B. 1486.

The insurance reforms to better protect and prepare Floridians for a catastrophic event, and to help them shop for property insurance were prepared after testimony from insurance industry representatives, the Florida Insurance Council, the Hurricane Mediation Program and the Department of Financial Services.

The committee concluded that simplified policy language would be beneficial for consumers; however, current residential policies are legally binding contracts between two parties and contain technical legal language that has developed in response to case law.

The committee said that adopting untested policy language has the potential of resulting in legal interpretations that are not intended. To avoid such unintended consequences, considerable legal and technical resources are needed to develop a comprehensive residential product.

In addition, the committee concluded that more study would be needed to determine the impact that standard policies with more comprehensive coverage options would have on consumers premiums.

The new reforms include consumer coverage checklists and quick-check guides to help Floridians buy enough coverage to rebuild their homes after a catastrophe. The changes are designed to help consumers understand what their homeowners policies actually cover.

The Consumer Quick Check Guides outline specific coverage and limits generally provided under most homeowners insurance policies. In addition, the Checklist of Coverage offers homeowners a checklist to use when buying property coverage. The committee also recommended that insurance agents be required to review the checklist with customers at the time policies are bought.

A complete description of the committee’s recommendations, Consumer Quick Check Guides and Checklist of Coverage, as well as a detailed report is available at www.fldfs.com/StandardPersonalLinesAdvisoryCommittee.

Topics Florida Homeowners