The Florida Department of Financial Services, Office of Insurance Regulation has approved a reduction in the service fee charged by the Florida Surplus Lines Service Office (FSLSO) from 0.2% to 0.1% effective April 1, 2007.

All new and renewal policies/certificates with an effective date on or after April 1, 2007 will incur a service fee of 0.1% of the total gross premium. All new and renewal policies/certificates with an effective date prior to April 1, 2007 will incur a service fee of 0.2% of the total gross premium.  The service fee percentage charged on the premium is based on the effective date of the policy.

The service fee for all endorsements, audits, installments, cancellations or return of premium transactions applicable to policies/certificates effective prior to 04/01/2007 will be the same percentage as the inception date of the policy/certificate being endorsed.

EXAMPLE ONE: The service fee for a policy with the term of 01/01/2007 is 0.2% of the total gross premium. An additional premium endorsement to the policy with an endorsement effective date of 06/01/2007 is 0.2%. If a cancellation takes place with an effective date of 08/01/2007, the service fee credit is 0.2%.

EXAMPLE TWO: The service fee for a policy with the term of 04/01/2007 is 0.1% of the total gross premium. An additional premium endorsement to the policy with an effective date of 06/01/2007 is 0.1%. If a cancellation takes place with an effective date of 08/01/2007, the service fee credit is 0.1%.

Again, the service fee percentage charged on the premium is based on the effective date of the policy.

Business rules for calculating the correct service fee have been programmed into the FSLSO’s management system. If you are using FSLSO Reporting Software, or Surplus Lines Information Portal (SLIP) you do not have to make any changes. You should contact your agency information technology vendor or staff regarding needed revisions to your agency management system necessary to calculate the revised service fee.

For further information contact the FSLSO toll-free at 1-800-562-4496 or visit www.fslso.com

Please note, beginning January 1, 2007, files that do not contain a valid agency license/registration number in the appropriate section will be rejected. Therefore, it is necessary that filers download the newest version of the Agent, Insurer and FTP Submit Software, which will be made available on January 1, 2007. For more information or assistance, call toll-free at 1-800-562-4496.

Upon further clarification as provided by the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, please note that the exemption of Medical Malpractice from the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund Emergency Assessment will remain for the duration of the January 1, 2007 assessment. While the statute removes Med-Mal’s exempt status effective 5/31/07, it would only apply to emergency assessments (new) which occur after the 5/31/07 date. 

Therefore, the notation in the 4th Quarter Advisor's article titled, "Be Aware of Effective Dates," stating the expiration of the Med Mal expemption as of June 1, 2007 is incorrect.

The FSLSO has developed an online search tool for consumers and retail agents “looking for coverage” that is hard to find in Florida’s volatile insurance marketplace.

By selecting the type of coverage and county of the risk, the online search tool generates a report based on the last three full months of data submitted by Florida surplus lines agents.  The report provides a list of the surplus lines agents’ who provide the coverage in the county selected, and the agents’ address and phone number.

To access FSLSO's "Looking for Coverage" report, consumers and retail agents may go online and visit:
http://www.fslso.com:88/lookupcoverage.aspx

Please note that due to market conditions, this list of surplus lines agents does not guarantee an agent will have the capacity for the coverage being sought.  The FSLSO recommends that consumers ask their local agent to contact the surplus lines agent(s) on the list to assist in acquiring the needed coverage.

For insurers submitting the quarterly (foreign) or annual (alien) premium report; receiving a rejection notice is always a possibility. Understandably, the number of rejected files has increased for the 3rd quarter 2006 insurer submission primarily due to the Insurer and FTP Submission software changes that took effect October 3, 2006.

In the event a file is rejected, there are certain steps one needs to follow in order to figure out the errors causing the file to be rejected.

The Rejection Notice is sent via email and states in the subject line: "Submission File name was rejected." The notice lists the Name of the file, the date the file was rejected, the insurer name and the reasons the file was rejected.

Each error has a reason stated such as "Invalid Agency (FEIN)" and also includes a reference number (Ref #: _____)

The errors can be checked by:

1) Open submission file using the FTP Submission software
(http://www.fslso.com/software/ftpsubmit.aspx)

2) Click on "Option" on Command Bar

3) Cick on "Locator" in drop down

4) Key in Ref# and hit "enter". The cursor will move to the error in the file.

5) Correct error(s) and resubmit the file.

For additional assistance, please contact Insurer Relations at 800-562-4496, x108.

A.M. Best Co. has upgraded the financial strength rating (FSR) to A (Excellent) from A- (Excellent) and the issuer credit ratings (ICR) to "a" from "a-" of Arch Reinsurance Ltd. (Arch) (Bermuda) and its reinsured affiliates. A.M. Best also has upgraded the ICR to "bbb-" from "bb+" of Arch Capital Group (U.S.) Inc. (Greenwich, CT). Concurrently, A.M. Best has upgraded the ICR to "bbb" from "bbb-" and all related debt ratings of Arch Capital Group Limited (Bermuda) [NASDAQ: ACGL]. The outlook for all ratings is stable.

To access this press release, please visit:

http://www3.ambest.com/press/rr.asp?refstring=65494648775746536653

FSLSO will be closed on December 25th and 26th in observance of the holiday season. Additionally, the office will be closed on January 1 in observance of New Year's. The FSLSO would like to wish its customers a very happy holiday season.