Welcome to the
Office of Insurance Regulation
Consumer Initiatives
The Office's Mission is to ensure that insurance companies
licensed to do business in Florida are financially viable, operating
within the laws and regulations governing the insurance industry;
and offering insurance policy products at fair and adequate rates
which do not unfairly discriminate against the buying public.
The ultimate goal of this Mission is to protect consumers and the
Office is constantly championing consumer rights on insurance
issues. The following list of links explains the Office's efforts
and the benefits to Florida's consumers.
Credit Scoring
In 2003, the Florida Legislature enacted a law to regulate and
limit the use of credit reports and credit scores by insurers for
underwriting and rating purposes. One public study on credit scoring
found that one in four credit reports contains errors or omissions
serious enough to disqualify consumers from purchasing a home, a car
or getting a job. And, in recent years, a national insurance company
paid a multi-million dollar fine to settle state charges that it
used negative credit information to deny or discourage applicants
from obtaining automobile coverage. To find out what steps the
Office took to end this discrimination and how the industry fought
to stop it, click here.
Long-Term Care
Commissioner McCarty presented legislative changes to the 2006
Florida legislature to prevent companies from refusing to pay
long-term care claims after the first two years of the policy. This
legislative change was necessary to protect Florida policyholders so
that they are able to validly collect on their long-term care policy
after diligently paying for it over many years. For more details on
the legislative changes that brought more protection for Florida
seniors, click
here.
Freedom to Travel
Commissioner McCarty presented legislative changes to the 2006
Florida legislature to prevent companies from refusing to insure,
renew, limit coverage, or charge a difference rate based on past or
future travel. For more details on the legislative changes that
brought more protection for Floridians, click
here. To watch a video of
Florida's Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz in which she
describes a personal experience of being denied life insurance by an
insurer, click
here. To read the
Office's Report on Freedom to Travel, click
here. To see which
companies are approved to ask questions about foreign travel, click
here.
Loss Mitigation Discounts on Property Insurance Premium
It is a fact that hurricanes cannot be prevented, but many
Floridians are not aware there are things they can do to better
protect their property from damage or destruction. Certain
construction techniques and features are very effective in
protecting your home. If your house has these features, you
may qualify for a
discount on your property
insurance premium. For more information on the premium discounts
Commissioner McCarty presented to the 2006 legislature, click
here.
Prescription Refill Law in Effect During Hurricane Season
Commissioner McCarty presented legislative changes to the 2006
Florida legislature to prevent health insurance companies from
refusing to renew more than a single 30-day prescription each month
during Hurricane Season. Click
here to find out more.
$97 Million in Federal Relief Obtained to Rebuild Florida's
Hurricane Damaged Low-Income Housing
In September, 2006, Commissioner McCarty accompanied former Lt.
Governor Jennings on a trip to Washington DC to meet with Housing
and Urban Development officials and persuade them that Florida
deserved a significant portion of the federal relief money set aside
for the ravaged Gulf States. The feds agreed and authorized
$90 million in disaster aide to Floridians.