The Florida Senate

627.0621  Transparency in rate regulation.--

(1)  DEFINITIONS.--As used in this section, the term:

(a)  "Rate filing" means any original or amended rate residential property insurance filing.

(b)  "Recommendation" means any proposed, preliminary, or final recommendation from an office actuary reviewing a rate filing with respect to the issue of approval or disapproval of the rate filing or with respect to rate indications that the office would consider acceptable.

(2)  WEBSITE FOR PUBLIC ACCESS TO RATE FILING INFORMATION.--With respect to any rate filing made on ¹or after July 1, 2008, the office shall provide the following information on a publicly accessible Internet website:

(a)  The overall rate change requested by the insurer.

(b)  All assumptions made by the office's actuaries.

(c)  A statement describing any assumptions or methods that deviate from the actuarial standards of practice of the Casualty Actuarial Society or the American Academy of Actuaries, including an explanation of the nature, rationale, and effect of the deviation.

(d)  All recommendations made by any office actuary who reviewed the rate filing.

(e)  Certification by the office's actuary that, based on the actuary's knowledge, his or her recommendations are consistent with accepted actuarial principles.

(f)  The overall rate change approved by the office.

(3)  ATTORNEY-CLIENT PRIVILEGE; WORK PRODUCT.--It is the intent of the Legislature that the principles of the public records and open meetings laws apply to the assertion of attorney-client privilege and work product confidentiality by the office in connection with a challenge to its actions on a rate filing. Therefore, in any administrative or judicial proceeding relating to a rate filing, attorney-client privilege and work product exemptions from disclosure do not apply to communications with office attorneys or records prepared by or at the direction of an office attorney, except when the conditions of paragraphs (a) and (b) have been met:

(a)  The communication or record reflects a mental impression, conclusion, litigation strategy, or legal theory of the attorney or office that was prepared exclusively for civil or criminal litigation or adversarial administrative proceedings.

(b)  The communication occurred or the record was prepared after the initiation of an action in a court of competent jurisdiction, after the issuance of a notice of intent to deny a rate filing, or after the filing of a request for a proceeding under ss. 120.569 and 120.57

History.--s. 22, ch. 2008-66.

¹Note.--The word "or" was inserted by the editors.