2024 Florida Statutes
< Back to Statute SearchTitle XXXVII INSURANCE
Chapter 624
INSURANCE CODE: ADMINISTRATION AND GENERAL PROVISIONS
SECTION 424Annual statement and other information.
624.424 Annual statement and other information.—
(1)(a) Each authorized insurer shall file with the office full and true statements of its financial condition, transactions, and affairs. An annual statement covering the preceding calendar year shall be filed on or before March 1, and quarterly statements covering the periods ending on March 31, June 30, and September 30 shall be filed within 45 days after each such date. The office may, for good cause, grant an extension of time for filing an annual or quarterly statement. The statements must contain information generally included in insurers’ financial statements prepared in accordance with generally accepted insurance accounting principles and practices and in a form generally used by insurers for financial statements, sworn to by at least two executive officers of the insurer or, if a reciprocal insurer, by oath of the attorney in fact or its like officer if a corporation. To facilitate uniformity in financial statements and to facilitate office analysis, the commission may by rule adopt the form and instructions for financial statements approved by the NAIC in 2014, and subsequent amendments thereto if the methodology remains substantially consistent, and may by rule require each insurer to submit to the office, or such organization as the office may designate, all or part of the information contained in the financial statement in a computer-readable form compatible with the electronic data processing system specified by the office.
(b) Each insurer’s annual statement must contain:
1. A statement of opinion on loss and loss adjustment expense reserves made by a member of the American Academy of Actuaries or by a qualified loss reserve specialist, pursuant to criteria established by rule of the commission. In adopting the rule, the commission shall consider any criteria established by the NAIC. The office may require semiannual updates of the annual statement of opinion for a particular insurer if the office has reasonable cause to believe that such reserves are understated to the extent of materially misstating the financial position of the insurer. Workpapers in support of the statement of opinion must be provided to the office upon request. This paragraph does not apply to life insurance, health insurance, or title insurance.
2. An actuarial opinion summary written by the insurer’s appointed actuary. The summary must be filed in accordance with the appropriate NAIC property and casualty annual statement instructions. Proprietary business information contained in the summary is confidential and exempt under s. 624.4212, and the summary and related information are not subject to subpoena or discovery directly from the office. Neither the office nor any person who received documents, materials, or other information while acting under the authority of the office, or with whom such information is shared pursuant to s. 624.4212, may testify in a private civil action concerning such confidential information. However, the department or office may use the confidential and exempt information in the furtherance of any regulatory or legal action brought against an insurer as a part of the official duties of the department or office. No waiver of any other applicable claim of confidentiality or privilege may occur as a result of a disclosure to the office under this section or any other section of the insurance code. This paragraph does not apply to life and health insurers subject to s. 625.121(3) before the operative date of the valuation manual as defined in s. 625.1212(2), and does not apply to life and health insurers subject to s. 625.1212(4) on or after such operative date.
(c) The commission may by rule require reports or filings required under the insurance code to be submitted by electronic means in a computer-readable form compatible with the electronic data processing equipment specified by the commission.
(2) The statement of an alien insurer shall be verified by the insurer’s United States manager or other officer duly authorized. It shall be a separate statement, to be known as its general statement, of its transactions, assets, and affairs within the United States unless the office requires otherwise. If the office requires a statement as to the insurer’s affairs elsewhere, the insurer shall file such statement with the office as soon as reasonably possible.
(3) Each insurer having a deposit as required under s. 624.411 shall file with the office annually with its annual statement a certificate to the effect that the assets so deposited have a market value equal to or in excess of the amount of deposit so required.
(4) At the time of filing, the insurer shall pay the fee for filing its annual statement in the amount specified in s. 624.501.
(5) The office may refuse to continue, or may suspend or revoke, the certificate of authority of an insurer failing to file its annual or quarterly statements and accompanying certificates when due.
(6) In addition to information called for and furnished in connection with its annual or quarterly statements, an insurer shall furnish to the office as soon as reasonably possible such information as to its transactions or affairs as the office may from time to time request in writing. All such information furnished pursuant to the office’s request shall be verified by the oath of two executive officers of the insurer or, if a reciprocal insurer, by the oath of the attorney in fact or its like officers if a corporation.
(7) The signatures of all such persons when written on annual or quarterly statements or other reports required by this section shall be presumed to have been so written by authority of the person whose signature is affixed thereon. The affixing of any signature by anyone other than the purported signer constitutes a felony of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
(8)(a) All authorized insurers must have conducted an annual audit by an independent certified public accountant and must file an audited financial report with the office on or before June 1 for the preceding year ending December 31. The office may require an insurer to file an audited financial report earlier than June 1 upon 90 days’ advance notice to the insurer. The office may immediately suspend an insurer’s certificate of authority by order if an insurer’s failure to file required reports, financial statements, or information required by this subsection or rule adopted pursuant thereto creates a significant uncertainty as to the insurer’s continuing eligibility for a certificate of authority.
(b) Any authorized insurer otherwise subject to this section having direct premiums written in this state of less than $1 million in any calendar year and fewer than 1,000 policyholders or certificateholders of directly written policies nationwide at the end of such calendar year is exempt from this section for such year unless the office makes a specific finding that compliance is necessary in order for the office to carry out its statutory responsibilities. However, any insurer having assumed premiums pursuant to contracts or treaties or reinsurance of $1 million or more is not exempt. Any insurer subject to an exemption must submit by March 1 following the year to which the exemption applies an affidavit sworn to by a responsible officer of the insurer specifying the amount of direct premiums written in this state and number of policyholders or certificateholders.
(c) The board of directors of an insurer shall hire the certified public accountant that prepares the audit required by this subsection and the board shall establish an audit committee of three or more directors of the insurer or an affiliated company. The audit committee shall be responsible for discussing audit findings and interacting with the certified public accountant with regard to her or his findings. The audit committee shall be comprised of members who are free from any relationship that, in the opinion of its board of directors, would interfere with the exercise of independent judgment as a committee member. The audit committee shall report to the board any findings of adverse financial conditions or significant deficiencies in internal controls that have been noted by the accountant. The insurer may request the office to waive this requirement of the audit committee membership based upon unusual hardship to the insurer.
(d) Upon creation of the continuing education required under this paragraph, the certified public accountant 1who prepares the audit must be licensed to practice pursuant to chapter 473 and must have completed at least 4 hours of insurance-related continuing education during each 2-year continuing education cycle. An insurer may not use the same accountant or partner of an accounting firm responsible for preparing the report required by this subsection for more than 5 consecutive years. Following this period, the insurer may not use such accountant or partner for a period of 5 years, but may use another accountant or partner of the same firm. An insurer may request the office to waive this prohibition based upon an unusual hardship to the insurer and a determination that the accountant is exercising independent judgment that is not unduly influenced by the insurer considering such factors as the number of partners, expertise of the partners or the number of insurance clients of the accounting firm; the premium volume of the insurer; and the number of jurisdictions in which the insurer transacts business.
(e) The commission shall adopt rules to administer this subsection which must be in substantial conformity with the 2006 Annual Financial Reporting Model Regulation adopted by the NAIC or subsequent amendments, except where inconsistent with the requirements of this subsection. Any exception to, waiver of, or interpretation of accounting requirements of the commission must be in writing and signed by an authorized representative of the office. An insurer may not raise an exception to, waiver of, or interpretation of accounting requirements as a defense in an action, unless previously issued in writing by an authorized representative of the office.
(9)(a) Each authorized insurer shall, pursuant to s. 409.910(20), provide records and information to the Agency for Health Care Administration to identify potential insurance coverage for claims filed with that agency and its fiscal agents for payment of medical services under the Medicaid program.
(b) Each authorized insurer shall, pursuant to s. 409.2561(5)(c), notify the Medicaid agency of a cancellation or discontinuance of a policy within 30 days if the insurer received notification from the Medicaid agency to do so.
(c) Any information provided by an insurer under this subsection does not violate any right of confidentiality or contract that the insurer may have with covered persons. The insurer is immune from any liability that it may otherwise incur through its release of such information to the Agency for Health Care Administration.
(10)(a) By January 1, 2025, and each month thereafter, each insurer or insurer group doing business in this state shall file on a monthly basis a supplemental report on an individual and group basis on a form prescribed by the commission with information on personal lines and commercial lines residential property insurance policies in this state. The supplemental report must include separate information for personal lines property policies and for commercial lines property policies and totals for each item specified, including premiums written for each of the property lines of business as described in ss. 215.555(2)(c) and 627.351(6)(a). The report must include the following information for each zip code:
1. Total number of policies in force at the end of each month.
2. Total number of policies canceled.
3. Total number of policies nonrenewed.
4. Number of policies canceled due to hurricane risk.
5. Number of policies nonrenewed due to hurricane risk.
6. Number of new policies written.
7. Total dollar value of structure exposure under policies that include wind coverage.
8. Number of policies that exclude wind coverage.
9. Number of claims open each month.
10. Number of claims closed each month.
11. Number of claims pending each month.
12. Number of claims in which either the insurer or insured invoked any form of alternative dispute resolution, and specifying which form of alternative dispute resolution was used.
(b) The office shall aggregate on a statewide basis the data submitted by each insurer or insurer group under paragraph (a) and make such data publicly available by publishing such data on the office’s website within 1 month after each quarterly and annual filing. Such information, when aggregated on a statewide basis as to an individual insurer or insurer group, is not a trade secret as defined in s. 688.002(4) or s. 812.081 and is not subject to the public records exemption for trade secrets provided in s. 119.0715.
(11) Beginning January 1, 2022, each authorized insurer or insurer group issuing personal lines or commercial lines residential property insurance policies in this state shall file with the office on an annual basis in conjunction with the statements required by paragraph (1)(a) a supplemental report on an individual and group basis for closed claims. The report must be on a form prescribed by the commission and must include the following information for each claim closed, excluding liability only claims, within the reporting period in this state:
(a) The unique claim identification number.
(b) The type of policy.
(c) The zip code of the property where the claim occurred.
(d) The county where the claim occurred.
(e) The date of loss.
(f) The peril or type of loss, including information about:
1. The types of vendors used for mitigation, repair, or replacement; and
2. The names of vendors used, if known.
(g) The date the claim was reported to insurer.
(h) The initial date the claim was closed, including information about whether the claim was closed with or without payment.
(i) The date the claim was most recently reopened, if applicable.
(j) The date a supplemental claim was filed, if applicable.
(k) The date the claim was most recently closed, if different from the initial date the claim was closed.
(l) The name of the public adjuster on the claim, if any.
(m) The Florida Bar number and name of the attorney for the claimant, if any.
(n) The total indemnity paid by the insurer.
(o) The total loss adjustment expenses paid by the insurer.
(p) The amount paid for claimant’s attorney fees, if any.
(q) The amount paid in costs for claimant’s attorney’s expenses, including, but not limited to, expert witness fees.
(r) The contingency risk multiplier, if any, that the claimant’s attorney requested to be applied in calculating the attorney fees awarded to the claimant’s attorney.
(s) The contingency risk multiplier, if any, that a court applied in calculating the attorney fees awarded to the claimant’s attorney.
(t) Any other information deemed necessary by the commission to provide the office with the ability to track litigation and claims trends occurring in the property market.
(12) Each insurer doing business in this state which reinsures through a captive insurance company as defined in s. 628.901, but without regard to domiciliary status, shall, in conjunction with the annual financial statement required under paragraph (1)(a), file a report with the office containing financial information specific to reinsurance assumed by each captive.
(a) The report shall be filed as a separate schedule designed to avoid duplication of disclosures required by the NAIC’s annual statement and instructions.
(b) Insurers must:
1. Identify the products ceded to the captive and whether the products are subject to rule 69O-164.020, Florida Administrative Code, the NAIC Valuation of Life Insurance Policies Regulation (Model #830), or the NAIC Actuarial Guideline XXXVIII (AG 38).
2. Disclose the assets of the captive in the format prescribed in the NAIC annual statement schedules.
3. Include a stand-alone actuarial opinion or certification identifying the differences between the assets the ceding company would be required to hold and the assets held by the captive.
(13) Each insurer doing business in this state which pays a fee, commission, or other financial consideration or payment to any affiliate directly or indirectly is required upon request to provide to the office any information the office deems necessary. The fee, commission, or other financial consideration or payment to any affiliate must be fair and reasonable. In determining whether the fee, commission, or other financial consideration or payment is fair and reasonable, the office shall consider, among other things, the actual cost of the service being provided.
History.—s. 68, ch. 59-205; ss. 13, 35, ch. 69-106; ss. 1, 2, ch. 70-56; s. 1, ch. 70-439; s. 3, ch. 76-168; s. 1, ch. 77-457; s. 18, ch. 77-468; ss. 2, 3, ch. 81-318; ss. 57, 64, 809(1st), ch. 82-243; s. 5, ch. 83-288; s. 8, ch. 85-245; s. 5, ch. 87-377; s. 9, ch. 89-183; s. 34, ch. 89-360; s. 3, ch. 90-119; s. 6, ch. 90-232; s. 35, ch. 90-295; ss. 20, 187, 188, ch. 91-108; s. 65, ch. 91-282; s. 4, ch. 91-429; s. 7, ch. 93-410; s. 81, ch. 95-211; s. 3, ch. 95-276; s. 186, ch. 97-102; s. 3, ch. 97-214; s. 6, ch. 97-292; s. 2, ch. 98-411; s. 258, ch. 99-8; s. 803, ch. 2003-261; s. 1, ch. 2009-189; s. 5, ch. 2011-174; s. 5, ch. 2014-101; s. 7, ch. 2017-132; s. 2, ch. 2021-77; s. 10, ch. 2022-268; s. 5, ch. 2022-271; s. 4, ch. 2024-139; s. 2, ch. 2024-182.