The Florida Senate

As often as it deems necessary, the office shall examine each licensed rating organization, each advisory organization, each group, association, carrier, as defined in s. 440.02, or other organization of insurers which engages in joint underwriting or joint reinsurance, and each authorized insurer transacting in this state any class of insurance to which the provisions of chapter 627 are applicable. The examination shall be for the purpose of ascertaining compliance by the person examined with the applicable provisions of chapters 440, 624, 626, 627, and 635.

In lieu of any such examination, the office may accept the report of a similar examination made by the insurance supervisory official of another state.

The examination may be conducted by an independent professional examiner under contract to the office, in which case payment shall be made directly to the contracted examiner by the insurer examined in accordance with the rates and terms agreed to by the office and the examiner.

The reasonable cost of the examination shall be paid by the person examined, and such person shall be subject, as though an insurer, to the provisions of s. 624.320.

Such examinations shall also be subject to the applicable provisions of chapter 440 and ss. 624.318, 624.319, 624.321, and 624.322.

Based on the findings of a market conduct examination that an insurer has exhibited a pattern or practice of willful violations of an unfair insurance trade practice related to claims-handling which caused harm to policyholders, as prohibited by s. 626.9541(1)(i), the office may order an insurer pursuant to chapter 120 to file its claims-handling practices and procedures related to that line of insurance with the office for review and inspection, to be held by the office for the following 36-month period. Such claims-handling practices and procedures are public records and are not trade secrets or otherwise exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1). As used in this section, “claims-handling practices and procedures” are any policies, guidelines, rules, protocols, standard operating procedures, instructions, or directives that govern or guide how and the manner in which an insured’s claims for benefits under any policy will be processed.