Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty has released the following statement on the current situation with AIG Companies:

"I have been monitoring the AIG situation very closely; and I have been in contact with my fellow regulators in New York and Pennsylvania – the two states with primary regulatory control over the AIG companies involved.

"The news we are continuing to hear is that the primary financial problem is with the AIG holding companies, not the insurance companies, and that the holding company issue is being resolved by the $85 billion loan from the federal government.
 
"We have been told that the insurance companies are solvent and will be able to pay claims. It is important that policyholders continue to pay their premiums to ensure that their coverage does not lapse.

"I assure you that, if it should become necessary, we will immediately intervene if we feel that any one of the AIG companies operating in Florida will be unable to pay its claims and fulfill the promises made to its policyholders.

"We have 46 AIG subsidiary companies that operate in Florida – 34 sell property and casualty insurance and 12 sell life and health insurance. Only one, American General Property Insurance Co. of Florida, is headquartered in the state.

"I will not speculate any further on possible scenarios beyond what we already know. As more information becomes available, we will share it with you."

For more information relative to AIG's companies, please visit FSLSO's Insurer Financial Data page at: http://www.fslso.com/market/financials/index.aspx.

Beginning January 1, 2009, more and more of the Florida Department of Financial Services' (DFS) communication with you will be done electronically. It is of utmost importance to you to add, verify or update your email address with DFS as soon as possible.

DFS proposed, and the Florida Legislature agreed, that as part of lowering operating costs and providing more efficient services, this move was important. The law now requires you to notify DFS of your email address and to keep it current.

DFS will now send most correspondence electronically via e-mail, My Profile, or through their education system. DFS will continue to communicate correspondence of a more sensitive nature through paper correspondence, which includes correspondence that pertains to criminal history, and administrative and civil actions.

For license applicants and current licensees:

• To update or add your email address with DFS, log-in to My Profile at www.myfloridacfo.com/agents and click on “Address Change.”

For eAppoint users (companies and adjusting firms):

• To update your email address, log-in to your eAppoint account at https://iportal.fldfs.com/eappoint and select “My Account” at the top of the page. Select “Update my account”. Update your email address and click the “Save” button at the bottom.

For continuing education providers:

• To update your email address, log-in to your Provider Inbox via My Profile at www.myfloridacfo.com/agents.From the menu at the top, select “Customize” and “My Profile”. Update your email address and click the “Save” button at the bottom.

Update your email address as soon as possible. DFS wants to ensure that you have the best and most current information about professional license. If you have questions about this memo, call the Bureau of Licensing at 850-413-3137.

The FSLSO datacenter will shutdown starting at 6 pm this Friday, September 19 until Monday, September 22 at 8:30 am for system upgrades. During this time, the Surplus Lines Information Portal (SLIP) and Independently Procured Coverage (IPC) websites will be unavailable.

You will be able to send batch submissions via the Agent, Insurer, or FSLSO FTP submission software, but these submissions will not be processed until Monday morning. Therefore you will not receive your Submitted Transactions Report until we process these submissions on Monday morning.

We thank you for your patience and understanding while we are upgrading our systems to better serve our customers.

For all foreign insurers, the electronic premium data report for the 2nd quarter 2008 is due no later then 9/30/2008. The quarterly report of policy information should be submitted electronically and include on a policy level basis: policy number, effective date, expiration date, premium amount and name of insured. In the event there is nothing to report, the insurer is still required to submit a "No Business" letter or email in lieu of the report by 9/30/2008.

Pursuant to Florida Statute 626.9361, a $500 fine per day for each day the failure continues applies to any eligible surplus lines insurer who fails to file a report in the form and within the time required as provided for in the Surplus Lines Law. This begins the day after the report was due and until the date the report is received. Failure to file a report may also result in withdrawal of eligibility as a surplus lines insurer in Florida.