CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.

House Bill 0483

Florida House of Representatives - 1997 HB 483 By Representative Geller 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to insurance; amending s. 3 627.728, F.S.; revising a definition; amending 4 s. 627.7295, F.S.; increases certain allowable 5 per-policy application fees; revising 6 limitations; providing an effective date. 7 8 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 9 10 Section 1. Paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of section 11 627.728, Florida Statutes, 1996 Supplement, is amended to 12 read: 13 627.728 Cancellations; nonrenewals.-- 14 (1) As used in this section, the term: 15 (c) "Nonpayment of premium" means failure of the named 16 insured to discharge when due any of his obligations in 17 connection with the payment of premiums on a policy or any 18 installment of such premium, whether the premium is payable 19 directly to the insurer or its agent or indirectly under any 20 premium finance plan or extension of credit, or failure to 21 maintain membership in an organization if such membership is a 22 condition precedent to insurance coverage. "Nonpayment of 23 premium" also means the failure of a financial institution to 24 honor an insurance applicant's check after delivery to a 25 licensed agent for payment of a premium, even if the agent has 26 previously delivered or transferred the premium to the 27 insurer; further, if the dishonored check represents the 28 initial premium payment, the contract shall be void ab initio 29 unless the nonpayment is cured within 5 days after actual 30 notice by United States postal proof of mailing or by 31 certified or registered mail is received by the applicant, and 1 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. Florida House of Representatives - 1997 HB 483 139-232A-97 1 if the contract is void, any premium received by the insurer 2 from a third party shall be refunded to that party in full. 3 If a dishonored check is made payable to the insurer, the 4 insurer may cancel the policy in accordance with paragraph 5 (3)(a). 6 Section 2. Subsection (5) of section 627.7295, Florida 7 Statutes, 1996 Supplement, is amended to read: 8 627.7295 Motor vehicle insurance contracts.-- 9 (5) A licensed general lines agent may charge a 10 per-policy application fee not to exceed $25 $10 to cover the 11 administrative costs of the agent associated with selling the 12 motor vehicle insurance policy if the policy covers only 13 personal injury protection coverage as provided by s. 627.736 14 and property damage liability coverage as provided by s. 15 627.7275 and if no other insurance is sold or issued in 16 conjunction with or collateral to the policy. The per-policy 17 fee shall be fully earned and shall be separate and distinct 18 from, and shall not be included in the calculation of, the 19 aggregate per-policy fee permitted in s. 626.7451(11) must be 20 a component of the insurer's rate filing and may not be 21 charged by an agent unless the fee is included in the filing. 22 The fee is not considered part of the premium except for 23 purposes of the department's review of expense factors in a 24 filing made pursuant to s. 627.062. 25 Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a 26 law. 27 28 29 30 31 2 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. Florida House of Representatives - 1997 HB 483 139-232A-97 1 ***************************************** 2 HOUSE SUMMARY 3 Revises criteria relating to cancellation of insurance 4 due to nonpayment of premiums. Revises criteria for charging a per-policy application fee for administrative 5 costs. Provides a fee increase. See bill for details. 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 3