Amendment
Bill No. 1267

Amendment No. 936067

CHAMBER ACTION
Senate		House
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1	Representative(s) Ross offered the following:
2
3	Amendment (with title amendment)
4	Remove line(s) 563-692 and insert:
5	in the account. Such surplus shall be available to defray
6	deficits in that account as to future years and shall be used
7	for that purpose prior to assessing assessable insurers and
8	assessable insureds as to any calendar year.
9	9.  Must provide objective criteria and procedures to be
10	uniformly applied for all applicants in determining whether an
11	individual risk is so hazardous as to be uninsurable. In making
12	this determination and in establishing the criteria and
13	procedures, the following shall be considered:
14	a.  Whether the likelihood of a loss for the individual
15	risk is substantially higher than for other risks of the same
16	class; and
17	b.  Whether the uncertainty associated with the individual
18	risk is such that an appropriate premium cannot be determined.
19
20	The acceptance or rejection of a risk by the corporation shall
21	be construed as the private placement of insurance, and the
22	provisions of chapter 120 shall not apply.
23	10.  Must provide that the corporation shall make its best
24	efforts to procure catastrophe reinsurance at reasonable rates,
25	to cover its projected 100-year probable maximum loss as
26	determined by the board of governors.
27	11.  Must provide that in the event of regular deficit
28	assessments under sub-subparagraph (b)3.a. or sub-subparagraph
29	(b)3.b., in the personal lines account, the commercial lines
30	residential account, or the high-risk account, the corporation
31	shall levy upon corporation policyholders in its next rate
32	filing, or by a separate rate filing solely for this purpose, a
33	Citizens policyholder surcharge arising from a regular
34	assessment in such account in a percentage equal to the total
35	amount of such regular assessments divided by the aggregate
36	statewide direct written premium for subject lines of business
37	for the prior calendar year. For purposes of calculating the
38	Citizens policyholder surcharge to be levied under this
39	subparagraph, the total amount of the regular assessment to
40	which this surcharge is related shall be determined as set forth
41	in subparagraph (b)3., without deducting the estimated Citizens
42	policyholder surcharge. Citizens policyholder surcharges under
43	this subparagraph are not considered premium and are not subject
44	to commissions, fees, or premium taxes; however, failure to pay
45	a market equalization surcharge shall be treated as failure to
46	pay premium.
47	11.12.  The policies issued by the corporation must provide
48	that, if the corporation or the market assistance plan obtains
49	an offer from an authorized insurer to cover the risk at its
50	approved rates, the risk is no longer eligible for renewal
51	through the corporation, except as otherwise provided in this
52	subsection.
53	12.13.  Corporation policies and applications must include
54	a notice that the corporation policy could, under this section,
55	be replaced with a policy issued by an authorized insurer that
56	does not provide coverage identical to the coverage provided by
57	the corporation. The notice shall also specify that acceptance
58	of corporation coverage creates a conclusive presumption that
59	the applicant or policyholder is aware of this potential.
60	13.14.  May establish, subject to approval by the office,
61	different eligibility requirements and operational procedures
62	for any line or type of coverage for any specified county or
63	area if the board determines that such changes to the
64	eligibility requirements and operational procedures are
65	justified due to the voluntary market being sufficiently stable
66	and competitive in such area or for such line or type of
67	coverage and that consumers who, in good faith, are unable to
68	obtain insurance through the voluntary market through ordinary
69	methods would continue to have access to coverage from the
70	corporation. When coverage is sought in connection with a real
71	property transfer, such requirements and procedures shall not
72	provide for an effective date of coverage later than the date of
73	the closing of the transfer as established by the transferor,
74	the transferee, and, if applicable, the lender.
75	15.  Must provide that, with respect to the high-risk
76	account, any assessable insurer with a surplus as to
77	policyholders of $25 million or less writing 25 percent or more
78	of its total countrywide property insurance premiums in this
79	state may petition the office, within the first 90 days of each
80	calendar year, to qualify as a limited apportionment company. A
81	regular assessment levied by the corporation on a limited
82	apportionment company for a deficit incurred by the corporation
83	for the high-risk account in 2006 or thereafter may be paid to
84	the corporation on a monthly basis as the assessments are
85	collected by the limited apportionment company from its insureds
86	pursuant to s. 627.3512, but the regular assessment must be paid
87	in full within 12 months after being levied by the corporation.
88	A limited apportionment company shall collect from its
89	policyholders any emergency assessment imposed under sub-
90	subparagraph (b)3.d. The plan shall provide that, if the office
91	determines that any regular assessment will result in an
92	impairment of the surplus of a limited apportionment company,
93	the office may direct that all or part of such assessment be
94	deferred as provided in subparagraph (g)4. However, there shall
95	be no limitation or deferment of an emergency assessment to be
96	collected from policyholders under sub-subparagraph (b)3.d.
97	14.16.  Must provide that the corporation appoint as its
98	licensed agents only those agents who also hold an appointment
99	as defined in s. 626.015(3) with an insurer who at the time of
100	the agent's initial appointment by the corporation is authorized
101	to write and is actually writing personal lines residential
102	property coverage, commercial residential property coverage, or
103	commercial nonresidential property coverage within the state.
104	15.17.  Must provide, by July 1, 2007, a premium payment
105	plan option to its policyholders which allows for quarterly and
106	semiannual payment of premiums.
107	16.18.  Must provide, effective June 1, 2007, that the
108	corporation contract with each insurer providing the non-wind
109	coverage for risks insured by the corporation in the high-risk
110	account, requiring that the insurer provide claims adjusting
111	services for the wind coverage provided by the corporation for
112	such risks. An insurer is required to enter into this contract
113	as a condition of providing non-wind coverage for a risk that is
114	insured by the corporation in the high-risk account unless the
115	board finds, after a hearing, that the insurer is not capable of
116	providing adjusting services at an acceptable level of quality
117	to corporation policyholders. The terms and conditions of such
118	contracts must be substantially the same as the contracts that
119	the corporation executed with insurers under the "adjust-your-
120	own" program in 2006, except as may be mutually agreed to by the
121	parties and except for such changes that the board determines
122	are necessary to ensure that claims are adjusted appropriately.
123	The corporation shall provide a process for neutral arbitration
124	of any dispute between the corporation and the insurer regarding
125	the terms of the contract. The corporation shall review and
126	monitor the performance of insurers under these contracts.
127	17.19.  Must limit coverage on mobile homes or manufactured
128	homes built prior to 1994 to actual cash value of the dwelling
129	rather than replacement costs of the dwelling.
130	18.20.  May provide such limits of coverage as the board
131	determines, consistent with the requirements of this subsection.
132	19.21.  May require commercial property to meet specified
133	hurricane mitigation construction features as a condition of
134	eligibility for coverage.
135
136	======= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T =======
137	Remove line 21 and insert:
138	coverage under the corporation; revising requirements for the
139	plan of operation of a corporation; reinstating certain rate

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