Florida Senate Bill 76 - Property Insurance

"CS/CS/CS/SB 76 — Property Insurance

by Rules Committee; Judiciary Committee; Banking and Insurance Committee; and Senators Boyd and Brandes

This summary is provided for information only and does not represent the opinion of any Senator, Senate Officer, or Senate Office.

Prepared by: Banking and Insurance Committee (BI)

Prohibited Property Insurance Practices by Contractors

The bill prohibits contractors, and persons acting on behalf of contractors, from:

• Soliciting residential property owners through prohibited advertisements, which are communications to a consumer that encourage, instruct, or induce a consumer to contact a contractor to file an insurance claim for roof damage;
• Offering the residential property owner consideration to perform a roof inspection or file an insurance claim;
• Offering or receiving consideration for referrals when property insurance proceeds are payable;
• Unlicensed public adjusting; and
• Providing an authorization agreement to the insured without providing a good faith estimate.

The above acts are subject to license discipline by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation and a $10,000 fine per violation. The bill provides that the residential property owner may void the contract with the contractor within 10 days of its execution if the contractor fails to provide notice to the residential property owner of the contractor’s prohibited practices.

The bill prohibits licensed contractors and subcontractors from advertising, soliciting, offering to handle, handling, or performing public adjuster (PA) services without a license. The prohibition does not prohibit the contractor from recommending that the consumer consider contacting his or her insurer to determine if the proposed repair is covered by insurance.

The bill prohibits a PA, PA apprentice, or person acting on behalf of a PA or PA apprentice, from offering financial inducements for allowing a roof inspection of residential property or making an insurance claim for roof damage. The bill also prohibits them from offering or accepting consideration for referring services related to a roof claim. Each violation subjects the PA or PA licensee to up to a $10,000 fine. Unlicensed persons not otherwise exempted from PA licensure commit the unlicensed practice of public adjusting when they do these prohibited acts, and are subject to a $10,000 fine per act and the criminal penalty for unlicensed activity."   read more

The source of the above is Florida Senate Bill Summaries you can use the "read more" link, the link below or the pdf version also below to read the complete summary,