House Bill 3735

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    Florida House of Representatives - 1998                HB 3735

        By Representative Fuller






  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to insurance; creating s.

  3         624.4351, F.S.; prohibiting certain insurers

  4         from terminating certain contracts between

  5         insurers and agents unless just cause exists;

  6         providing definitions; providing a cause of

  7         action; providing an effective date.

  8

  9  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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11         Section 1.  Section 624.4351, Florida Statutes, is

12  created to read:

13         624.4351  Agent redlining prohibited.--

14         (1)  PURPOSE.--The purpose of this act is to prevent

15  indirect "redlining" by insurers relating to age, location, or

16  nationality, by the method of intimidating or terminating

17  insurance agents.

18         (2)  DEFINITIONS.--As used in this act:

19         (a)  "Insurer" means an insurer, association, or

20  exchange that is authorized to transact and is transacting the

21  business of property or casualty insurance in this state and

22  that maintains a captive agency sales force.

23         (b)  "Agent" means any individual employed as an agent

24  by an insurer who places at least 80 percent of the risks

25  placed by the agent with one insurer or its subsidiaries,

26  whose exclusive activity in transacting insurance is on behalf

27  of that insurer, who is authorized by that insurer to solicit

28  insurance or to negotiate insurance on its behalf, and who is

29  authorized by the insurer to effectuate and countersign

30  insurance contracts on its behalf.

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    Florida House of Representatives - 1998                HB 3735

    527-150-98






  1         (c)  "Loss ratio experience" means the ratio of claims

  2  paid divided by the premiums paid.

  3         (3)  INSURER RESTRICTED FROM CANCELING AGREEMENT.--

  4         (a)  No insurer may cancel a written agreement with its

  5  agent or reduce or restrict the agent's underwriting authority

  6  with respect to property or casualty insurance, based on the

  7  loss ratio experience or on the mix of the agent's entire book

  8  of business, if the insurer:

  9         1.  Required the agent to submit an application for

10  underwriting approval;

11         2.  Held and maintained the application for review at

12  any time by the insurer's underwriter or portfolio manager for

13  final approval; or

14         3.  Rejected or canceled a policy even though all

15  material information on the application was fully completed

16  and the agent did not omit or alter any information provided

17  by the applicant.

18         (b)  No insurer may cancel, refuse to renew, or

19  otherwise terminate a written agreement with an agent who has

20  been appointed pursuant to one or more written agreements

21  between the agent and the insurer for a period of more than 4

22  years, except for just cause as prescribed in this section.

23         (c)  If an insurer intends to cancel, fail to renew, or

24  otherwise terminate a written agreement with an agent, the

25  insurer shall notify the agent by certified mail at least 90

26  days prior to the date upon which the insurer proposes to

27  cancel, fail to renew, or terminate the written agreement. The

28  notice must include a statement of the grounds upon which the

29  insurer based its decision to cancel, refuse to renew, or

30  terminate the written agreement.

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    Florida House of Representatives - 1998                HB 3735

    527-150-98






  1         (d)  The following matters are considered just cause

  2  for an insurer to terminate a written agreement with its

  3  agent:

  4         1.  Criminal misconduct or gross negligence relating to

  5  the business of the insurer or of the agent's agency;

  6         2.  Fraud;

  7         3.  Abandonment or nonattendance of the business of the

  8  insurer or the agent's agency for a period of time that

  9  unreasonably interferes with the transacting of business;

10         4.  Failure by the agent to pay money over to the

11  insurer in a timely manner with respect to insurance contracts

12  sold by the agent;

13         5.  The death or total disability of the agent; or

14         6.  The insolvency of the insurer.

15         (e)  If, upon receipt by the agent of the notice of

16  proposed cancellation, the agent prior to the established

17  cancellation date as stated in the notice rectifies or

18  eliminates the stated ground constituting just cause for

19  cancellation of the contract, the notice is void.

20         (f)  If any insurer cancels, refuses to renew, or

21  otherwise terminates the contractual relationship with any

22  agent in violation of this section, the agent who has been

23  damaged has a cause of action against the insurer for specific

24  performance, injunctive relief, or damages sustained by the

25  agent as a result of the termination of the relationship,

26  including ascertainable loss of goodwill as a result of the

27  termination of the relationship. Any action brought by an

28  agent against an insurer for wrongful termination of the

29  contractual relationship must be commenced within 2 years

30  after the wrongful termination.

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    Florida House of Representatives - 1998                HB 3735

    527-150-98






  1         Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1 of the

  2  year in which enacted.

  3

  4            *****************************************

  5                          SENATE SUMMARY

  6    Prohibits property and casualty insurers that maintain a
      captive agency sales force from terminating employment
  7    contracts with their agents under prescribed conditions.
      Authorizes termination of employment contracts for just
  8    cause as specified in the act. Provides a cause of action
      for agents who are damaged as a result of an insurer's
  9    termination of their employment contract in violation of
      the act.
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