The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation will conduct a public hearing to review Florida law and regulations to determine whether there are adequate protections for purchasers of life insurance policies in the secondary life insurance market to ensure that this market continues to exist for Florida’s seniors. The Florida Administrative Code defines the "secondary market" as the assignment, transfer, sale, devise, or bequest of the death benefit or ownership of all or a portion of a viaticated life insurance policy or viaticated certificate of insurance. A viaticated life insurance policy is a life insurance policy that has been sold by the initial policyholder in exchange for compensation, usually for more than the policy's cash surrender value. All contracts for the sale of a life insurance policy by the policyholder to a third party in exchange for compensation are considered to be a "viatical settlement contract" under Florida law, which does not make a distinction in the term used based on whether the owner of the policy is terminally ill when the policy is sold.
The Office is required to issue a report to the Legislature regarding the findings by December 1, 2013.
Input from investors in the secondary life insurance market, insurers, and other interested parties will be received at this public hearing. If any interested party has materials or comments for the Office to consider including in the report, please submit them no later than October 30, 2013 via email at: SecondaryLife@floir.com.
Click here to review a copy of the hearing agenda.
Click here to access the “Secondary Life Insurance Market Public Hearing” website page.
A video recording of the hearing can be found here.