Florida/Georgia Personal Injury & Workers Compensation

..."`Surplus lines agent' means an individual licensed as provided in this part to handle the placement of insurance coverages with unauthorized insurers and to place such coverages with authorized insurers as to which the licensee is not licensed as an agent." § 626.914(1), Fla....

...The complaint states that each policy is “unauthorized” because identical insurance exists in Florida, but the surplus line law never requires a producing agent to prove *1272 a negative, i.e., that no general line insurer sells the needed insurance. Defining a “diligent” search, Section 626.914(4) merely requires the producing agent to ask at least three Florida insurers whether they sell the needed insurance....

...The insurers’ motions to dismiss reduce Lemy and Hill to asserting less severe violations of the insurance code. First, Lemy and Hill challenge the Office’s approval of the underwriters as an eligible surplus line insurer. But the underwriters may rely on the Office’s approval. Under Section 626.914, an insurer qualifies as an eligible surplus line insurer if the Office approves the insurer to sell surplus line insurance....

...urer.” (emphasis in original). But the question is not “are the underwriters eligible?” The question is “who enjoys the authority to decide if the underwriters are eligible?” In answer to that question the surplus line law leaves no doubt; Section 626.914(2) says that an “eligible surplus lines insurer” is an insurer “made eligible by the Office to issue insurance coverage under this Surplus Lines Law.” The motion for reconsideration discusses purportedly new evidence that, Lem...