Legislative Issues
Every spring the Florida Legislature comes together for Legislative Session. Often times new laws are passed, old laws are dissolved, or current laws are changed. Here you will find a synopsis of the most recent updates in surplus lines laws.
Flood - F.S. 627.715(4)
As of July 1, 2019 the personal flood exemption from the diligent effort has sunset. Previous law allowed a surplus lines agent to export a personal lines residential flood policy without requiring a diligent effort. No extension was passed, thus all residential flood risks are subject to Diligent Effort requirements as of July 1, 2019.
House Bill 301
House Bill 301 was signed into law by Governor DeSantis in late June and it went into effect on July 1, 2019.
Policy Fee
The $35 cap on the policy fee charged by the surplus lines agent was removed. A surplus lines agent may now charge a “reasonable” per-policy fee that will still have to be reported to the FSLSO when making policy filings and will remain taxable. This fee must also be itemized separately to the insured before purchase and enumerated in the policy.Additionally, a retail agent may also charge a “reasonable” per-policy fee for surplus lines policies which must also be itemized separately to the insured before purchase. The new retail agent fee statute does not specifically include the fee in the taxable premium definition nor is it required to be enumerated on the policy.
Diligent Effort
The diligent effort requirement of one declination (instead of three) on residential structures with a replacement cost of $1 million was lowered to $700,000.