On March 1, 2023, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation issued an informational memorandum to all insurers in light of Senate Bill 2-A (SB 2-A) becoming effective as of that date. The law amends various statutes regarding prompt payment, communication, and investigation laws, the use of electronic methods in claims investigations, recordkeeping, and claim filing deadlines.
Prompt Pay
Insurers are now required to communicate with insureds as follows:
- Acknowledgement of a claim or response to communication of an insured must occur within 7 days, reduced from 14 days.
- The time for an investigation to begin, if necessary after proof-of-loss has been received, has been reduced to 7 days from 14 days.
- Physical inspections now must be conducted within 30 days of receipt of a hurricane claim, down from 45 days.
- Copies of any adjuster's reports must be provided to insureds within 7 days after the report has been created.
- Insurers must pay or deny a claim within 60 days, down from 90 days, unless the delay is beyond the control of the insurer.
Insurers are advised to review all in-house claims handling procedures to ensure compliance with the new regulations. The FLOIR has the authority to extend these deadlines for no more than 30 days if the failure to comply is beyond the control of the insurer due to a state of emergency that was declared by the governor, a breach of security that must be reported under s.501.171(3), or an information technology issue has occurred.
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Christine G. Barlow, CPCU
Christine G. Barlow, CPCU, is Executive Editor of FC&S Expert Coverage Interpretation, a division of National Underwriter Company and ALM. Christine has over thirty years’ experience in the insurance industry, beginning as a claims adjuster then working as an underwriter and underwriting supervisor handling personal lines. Christine regularly presents and moderates webinars on a variety of topics and is an experienced presenter.