Florida/Georgia Personal Injury & Workers Compensation

...United Capitol is a corporation organized under the laws of Wisconsin, with its principal place of business in Atlanta, Georgia. 5. At all relevant times, United Capitol has transacted business in the state of Florida as a surplus line carrier pursuant to § 626.913 et seq., Florida Statutes....

...00 settlement agreement between Jacobs and the Perrys. It is SO ORDERED. NOTES [1] UNIC is not authorized to transact insurance in Florida except through "qualified, licensed, and supervised surplus lines agents resident in this state...." Fla.Stat. § 626.913(2) (1989)....

...3d 1079, 1081 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009). 1 Most of the cases addressing the confession-of-judgment doctrine involved the application of section 627.428, Florida Statutes. As a surplus lines carrier, however, GeoVera is exempt from the provisions of Chapter 627, including section 627.428, Florida Statutes. See § 626.913(4), Fla....

...The parties subsequently filed cross-motions for summary judgment. *950 At the hearing on the motions and in their memoranda, the parties focused on Verizon’s and Mastec’s defense that Essex had not complied with section 627.410. 1 Essex argued that because it was a surplus lines carrier, 2 see § 626.913, Fla. Stat. (2008), it was exempt from the filing and approval requirements of section 627.410. It pointed out that in 2009, the Florida legislature amended section 626.913 to expressly declare that the provisions in chapter 627 did not apply to surplus lines carriers. § 626.913(4), Fla. Stat. (2009). Further, the enacting legislation stated that “[t]he amendments to s. 626.913, Florida Statutes, in this act are remedial in nature and operate retroactively to the regulation of surplus lines insurers from October 1, 1988, except with respect to lawsuits that are filed on or before May 15, 2009.” 3 Ch....

...Retroactivity In June 2008, the Florida Supreme Court issued Essex Insurance Co. v. Zota, 985 So.2d 1036 (Fla.2008). The court opined that section 627.021(2)(e), Florida Statutes (2003), which stated that “[t]his chapter does not apply to: ... [sjurplus lines insurance placed under the provisions of ss. 626.913-626.937,” only implicated part one of the insurance code, i.e., sections 627.011-627.381....

...220 (11th Cir.2008), which addressed section 627.410, the filing requirements statute at issue here. The CNL court relied on Zota and concluded that section 627.410 applied to surplus lines carriers. At its next regular session, the Florida legislature responded to these two decisions by enacting section 626.913(4), Florida Statutes (2009)....

...2, 2009) (on file with the committee) (footnotes omitted). The retroactivity language discussed in this analysis appeared in chapter 2009-166, section 7, Laws of Florida. But in the 2009 Florida Statutes, it was relegated to a footnote to the amended statute. See § 626.913 n....

...g the enacting law for the proposition that “the Legislature has expressly stated that section 627,727(10) is remedial and is to be applied retroactively”). That law, chapter 2009-166, section 7, specifically declares that “[t]he amendments to s.626.913, Florida Statutes, in this act are remedial in nature and operate retroactively to the regulation of surplus lines insurers from October 1,1988.” A more clear expression of legislative intent could hardly be found....

...Even when the legislature has clearly expressed its intention that the statute be given a retroactive application, courts must refuse to do so' if it “impairs vested rights, creates new obligations, or imposes new penalties.” Lafor-et, 658 So.2d at 61 . The appellees here maintain that retroactive application of section 626.913 would impair their vested rights to have policy terms preapproved by the Office of Insurance Regulation....

...Block Marina Inv., Inc., 544 So.2d 998, 1000 (Fla.1989)). It held that the exclusion was valid notwithstanding Essex’s failure to comply with chapter 627. 4 Id. at 1352. For these reasons, we hold that Verizon and Mastec have not shown a constitutional violation that would prevent section 626.913 from being retroactively applied. In sum, we hold that: (I) the 2009 amendment to section 626.913 applies retroactively; (II) such retroactive application is not unconstitutional; and (III) fail *953 ure to comply with section 627.410 does not invalidate the policy exclusions....

..., the insurer also offers to the policyholder a deductible in the amount of 3 percent of the insured value. See Florida Stat. § 627.701 (2004). [6] As an initial matter, I agree with Enclave that § 627.701 applies to this policy. Though Fla. Stat. § 626.913, the Surplus Lines Law applicable to surplus carriers such as Mt....

...NOTES [1] Where insurance coverage is not available through "authorized" insurers, Florida's "Surplus Lines Law" is intended to provide Florida's citizens "access" to such insurance through unauthorized insurers via qualified and licensed "surplus lines agents." § 626.913(2), Fla....

...insurer for nonstandard risks or policy levels that are unavailable in the commercial market.” Id. . Florida Stat. § 627.410(1) requires an insurer to gain the Office's approval of a "basic insurance policy” before an insurer may sell a policy. Section 626.913(4), excuses a surplus line policy from Chapter 627, including the approval requirement in Section 627.410....

...796 (11th Cir.2014). The Florida Surplus Lines Service Office is a “self-regulating organization,” Fla. Stat. § 626.921 (1), and surplus lines carriers are exempt from the requirement to file and gain approval of their rates from the FLOIR. Fla. Stat. § 626.913 (4) ("Except as may be specifically stated to apply to surplus lines insurers, the provisions of chapter 627 do not apply to surplus lines insurance authorized under §§ 626.913-626.937, the Surplus Lines Law”); Fla....

...in Essex Ins. Co. v. Zota, 985 So.2d 1036 (Fla.2008). (Pullen Affidavit, DE 203, p. 5-6.) Steven Parton is presently General Counsel for the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation. He maintains that § 627.410 applies to authorized insurers while §§ 626.913-626.937 apply to surplus lines insurers....

...Plaintiff also submitted a copy of HB 853 that was filed in the Florida House of Representatives on February 12, 2009 and SB 1894 that was filed in the Florida Senate on February 19, 2009. (Notices of Supplemental Authority, DEs 229, 233.) The original draft of HB 853 would amend Fla. Stat. § 626.913 to state that: Section 1. Subsection (4) is added to section 626.913, Florida Statutes, to read: 626.913 Surplus Lines Law; short title; purposes.— (4) Except as may be specifically stated to apply to surplus lines insurers, the provisions of chapter 627 do not apply to surplus lines insurance authorized under ss. 626.913-626.937, the Surplus Lines Law....

...(c) Insurance of vessels or craft, their cargoes, marine builders' risks, marine protection and indemnity, or other risks commonly insured under marine insurance policies. (d) Commercial inland marine insurance. (e) Surplus lines insurance placed under the provisions of ss. 626.913-626.937....

Insurers are surplus lines insurers governed by section 626.913(4) of the Florida Statutes (2016). That statute

...Paradigm is an insurance company incorporated in the State of Indiana with its principal place of business located in Louisville, Kentucky. Paradigm is not an authorized insurer in the state of Florida. Paradigm is an eligible surplus lines insurer pursuant to Florida Statutes § 626.913....

...insurance activities in [Florida] without a certificate of authority ... commits a felony” unless the pertinent acts occur in accord with one of a few exceptions. One exception is the sale of surplus line insurance. The surplus line law, Sections 626.913 to 626.937, provides a citizen of Florida access to insurance sold by an insurer not otherwise authorized to sell insurance in Florida....

...Surplus line insurance may ignore Sections 627.062 and 627.0651. Applying Section 627.410(1) is trickier. Section 627.410(1) requires an insurer to gain the Office’s approval of a “basic insurance policy” before the insurer may sell the policy. Reversing the Florida Supreme Court, a recent law, Section 626.913(4), excuses a surplus line policy from Chapter 627, including the approval requirement in Section 627.410....

...amplified, extended, or modified by any application therefor or any rider or endorsement thereto.” Fla. Stat. § 627.419 (2010). All the same, the Defendants correctly state that this provision does not apply to surplus lines insurers. Fla. Stat. § 626.913 (4) (2010) (“Except as may be specifically stated to apply to surplus lines insurers, the provisions of chapter 627 do not apply to surplus lines insurance authorized under ......

...urred because the insurance code regulates the policy and because the policy is not an automobile club membership. Attempting to revive the possibility that the insurers violated the rate or reporting requirements of Chapter 627, Lemy and Hill quote Section 626.913(4), which states, “the provisions of Chapter 627 do not apply to surplus lines insurance authorized under ......

...5, 2022). 8 However, these cases are not applicable here because the subject Policy is expressly “issued pursuant to the Florida Surplus Lines Law.” In Florida, surplus lines insurance is governed by sections 626.913- 626.937, Florida Statutes (2024), referred to as the “Surplus Lines Law.” Pursuant to section 626.913(4), the insurable interest provision found in chapter 627 is inapplicable: Except as may be specifically stated to apply to surplus lines insurers, the provisions of chapter 627 do not apply to surplus lines insurance authorized under ss. 626.913-626.937, the Surplus Lines Law. (Emphasis added)....