Florida Developments

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On June 13, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed House Bill 1549 into law. Among other things, the bill has removed the “diligent effort” requirement applicable to surplus lines agents.Read More Florida Bill Eliminating the Surplus Lines Diligent Effort Requirement and a Discussion on Surplus Lines Regulation Trends

In an effort to help struggling businesses deal with the fall-out from the COVID-19 pandemic, ‎legislatures in Florida, Illinois, Maine and Rhode Island have recently proposed legislation to ‎require insurance carriers to cover COVID-19 related business interruption claims. Traditionally, ‎business interruption policies require that a business suffer some sort of physical loss or damage ‎before the carrier will pay-out on a business interruption claim.‎…
Read More Various States Seek to Mandate Insurers Cover COVID-19 Related Business Interruption Claims

Earlier this month, Florida passed House Bill 301 to remove the cap on the amount of fees that may be charged by a surplus lines broker in connection with the procurement of surplus lines insurance for a prospective insured. Instead of the old cap of a maximum of $35 per policy, surplus lines brokers will be able to charge any fee that is “reasonable” and disclosed to the insured in advance.
Read More LL Surplus Lines Series (Entry 9): Florida and California Make News on Broker and Agent Fees

The Surplus Lines Law Group held its spring meeting on Friday, April 5 in Biloxi, Mississippi. A number of presentations were given at the meeting, including updates on the trends around the nation with respect to the diligence search requirement, international tax and cybersecurity issues, as well as a presentation by this author as to the challenges surrounding placing group insurance coverage on a surplus lines basis (including unique hurdles applicable to risk purchasing groups).
Read More LL Surplus Lines Series (Entry 5): 2019 WSIA Spring Surplus Lines Law Group Meeting Recap and Summary of Trends

As we noted last week in our QuickStudy 2018 Statewide Elections: A Mixed Bag for Insurers?, elections for Governor of Florida and Georgia and Georgia Insurance Commissioner were too close to call. The outcomes of these races were important to insurers, reinsurers, consumers, policyholders and others involved in the…
Read More Midterm Elections—Florida and Georgia Update

All eyes have been focused on the federal mid-term elections and the impact on the U.S. House and Senate. Post-mortems by the pundits have begun. See Locke Lord’s take on the mid-terms. The divided government in Washington, D.C. may well stymie efforts to regulate the insurance industry at the federal…
Read More 2018 Statewide Elections: A Mixed Bag for Insurers?

Title: Dissecting the Amendments to Florida’s Viatical Settlement Act – Plus, a brief update on Delaware’s Amended Viatical Settlements Act
Date: Wednesday, December 20, 2018
Time: 12:00 pm Central / 1:00 pm Eastern

This program will discuss the 2017 amendments to Florida’s Viatical Settlement Act that became…
Read More Reminder – You are invited to a Complimentary CLE Webinar for Clients and Friends of Locke Lord LLP

You are invited to a Complimentary Webinar for Clients and Friends of Locke Lord LLP

Title: Dissecting the Amendments to Florida’s Viatical Settlement Act – Plus, a brief update on Delaware’s Amended Viatical Settlements Act
Date: Wednesday, December 20, 2018
Time: 12:00 pm Central / 1:00 pm…
Read More Please Join Us for a Locke Lord Webinar – Dissecting the Amendments to Florida’s Viatical Settlement Act – December 20