Florida/Georgia Personal Injury & Workers Compensation

...Florida's Unauthorized Insurers Process Law Chapter 626, Florida Statutes (2005), generally addresses foreign insurers who are unauthorized to do business in Florida. Sections 626.904 through 626.912 are collectively referred to as the "Unauthorized Insurers Process Law." § 626.904, Fla. Stat. (2005). Section 626.905 is entitled "Purpose of Unauthorized Insurers Process Law" and provides: The purpose of the Unauthorized Insurers Process Law is to subject certain insurers and persons representing or aiding such insurers to the jurisdiction of court...

...bsections (1) through (3). Because subsections (1) through (3) are clearly available only to Florida residents, subsection (4) should be interpreted as being available only to Florida residents as well. Further, the Legislature has clearly stated in section 626.905 that the "purpose" of the UIPL is to "protect" Florida residents because it is "a subject of concern that many residents of this state hold policies of insurance issued or delivered in the state by insurers while not authorized to do...

...residents the often insuperable obstacle of resorting to distant forums for the purpose of asserting legal rights under such policies." Thus, with regard to claims arising out of insurance policies issued in Florida by unauthorized foreign insurers, section 626.905 reflects legislative intent that the UIPL serve as a mechanism to protect Florida residents by providing for the litigation of these claims in this state. Construing section 626.906(4) as being available to nonresidents is not consistent with the Legislature's stated intent in section 626.905 to protect Florida residents through the UIPL....

..."The purpose of the Unauthorized Insurers Process Law is to subject certain insurers and persons representing or aiding such insurers to the jurisdiction of the courts of this state in suits by or on behalf of insureds or beneficiaries under insurance contracts." Fla. Stat. Ann. § 626.905 (West 1996)....

...“The purpose of the Unauthorized Insurers Process Law is to subject certain insurers and persons representing or aiding such insurers to the jurisdiction of the courts of this state in suits by or on behalf of insureds or beneficiaries under insurance contracts.” Fla. Stat. Ann. § 626.905 (West 1996)....

...da resident — the sole distinction between this case and Meador — is an act which subjects the company to the jurisdiction of the Florida court and the substituted service of process authorized by Section 626.906, Florida Statutes (1987). See also § 626.905, Fla....

...Affidavits were filed to support the latter contention and contravene those of Palacios. Winterthur's initial contention — that section 626.906 is unavailable to a nonresident as a matter of law — must be rejected. While the protection of Florida residents is undoubtedly one objective of the statute, see id. § 626.905, it is not the sole objective....

...ON REHEARING DENIED In its motion for rehearing, Winterthur International, Ltd. urges that the sole purpose of the Unauthorized Insurers Process Law, §§ 626.904-.912, Fla. Stat. (1987), is to provide a remedy to Florida residents, not nonresidents. Winterthur relies on portions of the statutory statement of purpose, § 626.905, Fla. Stat., which refer to the protection of Florida residents. While that is certainly one of the statutory objectives, *1217 we cannot agree that it is the sole objective. Section 626.905 states more broadly that the purpose of the law "is to subject certain insurers to the jurisdiction of courts of this state in suits by or on behalf of insureds or beneficiaries under insurance contracts." Id....

...Florida residents. See Reynolds v. State, 842 So.2d 46, 49 (Fla.2002) ("[I]t is well *237 settled that legislative intent is the polestar that guides a court's statutory construction analysis."). The purpose statement codified by the legislature at section 626.905 states: The purpose of the [UIPL] is to subject certain insurers and persons representing or aiding such insurers to the jurisdiction of courts of this state in suits by or on behalf of insureds or beneficiaries under insurance contracts....

...r maintained, any suit, action, or proceeding in this state to enforce any right, claim, or demand arising out of any insurance transaction in this state." The self-proclaimed purpose of Part VIII of Chapter 626 is protecting Florida's insureds. See § 626.905, Fla....

KLEIN, J., dissenting. Section 626.905, Florida Statutes (2005), titled “Unauthorized Insurers Process

"personally,” obtained substituted service under section 626.905, Florida Statutes (1993), both or neither.

...the state statute. [5] Moore v. Liberty Nat. Life Ins. Co., 267 F.3d 1209, 1220 (11th Cir.2001). Prescott argues four provisions of the *1321 Florida Insurance Code would be impaired if the court enforces the parties' arbitration agreement: Sections 626.905, 626.907, 626.908, and 626.937. Sections 626.905, 626.907, and 626.908 are part of the Unauthorized Insurers Process Law ("UIPL") and provide methods of substituted service on unauthorized insurers....

...Co., 348 F.Supp.2d 1320 (M.D.Fla.2004). The Court also disagrees with Prescott's second argument that compelling arbitration would "invalidate, impair, or supercede" provisions of the UIPL and Surplus Lines Law in violation of the MFA. As stated earlier, Prescott argues that §§ 626.905, 626.907, and 626.908 of the UIPL — which establish requirements for serving process on unauthorized insurers and actions such insurers must take before responding to a lawsuit — provide a substantive right to file suit against an unauthorized insurer like Lexington....

...Coverage, however, can be obtained from unauthorized insurers under certain conditions including when the kind of coverage sought is not available from an in-state authorized insurer. See L.B. Bryan & Co. v. School Bd. of Broward County, 746 So.2d 1194, 1195 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999). [7] Section 626.905 states, in relevant part, the purpose of the UIPL is to provide a method of substituted service on unauthorized insurers to prevent Florida residents holding policies issued by such companies from traveling to "distant forums for the...

...the FAA is not related to the business of insurance and that the statutes Prescott relies on regulate the Florida insurance industry. Their dispute centers on the MFA's third prong of whether the FAA invalidates, impairs, or supercedes Fla. Stat. §§ 626.905, 626.907, 626.908, or 626.937....