Florida regulators, citing a backlog in property/casualty form filings and the need to train new staff, have extended a fast-track approval process for personal lines forms until the end of the year.
Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty this week ordered the extension of the expedited personal lines approval process that he put in place a year ago.
Under the order, insurers seeking changes in any personal lines property and casualty forms can go forward without prior regulatory approval as long as the insurer certifies the changes comply with state laws and regulations.
McCarty said in the order that the extension is needed so that the Office of Insurance Regulation can clear up a backlog of filings, which increased following the passage of several major bills including the 2011 property reform legislation.
“Due to the continuing high volume of filings and its limited resources, the OIR continues to find the review and approval of personal lines policy forms is not practicable where the form at issue has been diligently and thoroughly reviewed by the company for quality and legal sufficiency to assure compliance with Florida law,” states the order.
The form backlog first came to light last year when McCarty informed state officials that insurers in some cases were waiting up to four months for approvals that by law were suppose to be acted on in 30 days. At the time, he noted the OIR needed more staff to address the backlog, which reached as high as 1,500 requests.
State lawmakers this year provided funding for 10 new analyst positions at OIR. However, McCarty said it will take several months of training before the new staff could start addressing the backlog.
McCarty’s order did note that the OIR had made progress in decreasing the backlog from 1,500 requests to roughly 500. In 55 percent of personal lines form filings, the OIR said it is now able to issue final approval in 45 days or less.
McCarty first unveiled the fast-track form approval process in April 2012, when it applied to all commercial lines of insurance. In the 2013 legislative session, state lawmakers codified that process into law, but rejected a proposal that would have kept the fast-track personal lines form approval process in place on a permanent basis.
Topics Florida Legislation
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