Florida Statutes 507.04 – Required insurance coverages; liability limitations; valuation coverage
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(1) LIABILITY INSURANCE.–
(a)1. Except as provided in paragraph (b), each mover operating in this state must maintain current and valid liability insurance coverage of at least $10,000 per shipment for the loss or damage of household goods resulting from the negligence of the mover or its employees or agents.
2. The mover must provide the department with evidence of liability insurance coverage before the mover is registered with the department under s. 507.03. All insurance coverage maintained by a mover must remain in effect throughout the mover’s registration period. A mover’s failure to maintain insurance coverage in accordance with this paragraph constitutes an immediate threat to the public health, safety, and welfare.
Terms Used In Florida Statutes 507.04
- Accessorial services: means any service performed by a mover which results in a charge to the shipper and is incidental to the transportation or shipment of household goods, including, but not limited to, valuation coverage; preparation of written inventory; equipment, including dollies, hand trucks, pads, blankets, and straps; storage, packing, unpacking, or crating of articles; hoisting or lowering; waiting time; carrying articles excessive distances to or from the mover's vehicle, which may be cited as "long carry"; overtime loading and unloading; reweighing; disassembly or reassembly; elevator or stair carrying; boxing or servicing of appliances; and furnishing of packing or crating materials. See Florida Statutes 507.01
- Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
- broker: means a person who, for compensation, arranges with a registered mover for loading, transporting or shipping, or unloading of household goods as part of a household move or who, for compensation, refers a shipper to a registered mover. See Florida Statutes 507.01
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Department: means the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. See Florida Statutes 507.01
- Estimate: means a written document prepared by a registered mover which sets forth the total costs and describes the basis of those costs relating to a shipper's household move, including, but not limited to, the loading, transportation or shipment, and unloading of household goods and accessorial services. See Florida Statutes 507.01
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
- goods: means personal effects or other personal property commonly found in a home, personal residence, or other dwelling, including, but not limited to, household furniture. See Florida Statutes 507.01
- Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- move: means the loading of household goods into a vehicle, moving container, or other mode of transportation or shipment; the transportation or shipment of those household goods; and the unloading of those household goods, when the transportation or shipment originates and terminates at one of the following ultimate locations, regardless of whether the mover temporarily stores the goods while en route between the originating and terminating locations:(a) From one dwelling to another dwelling;(b) From a dwelling to a storehouse or warehouse that is owned or rented by the shipper or the shipper's agent; or(c) From a storehouse or warehouse that is owned or rented by the shipper or the shipper's agent to a dwelling. See Florida Statutes 507.01
- Mover: means a person who, for compensation, contracts for or engages in the loading, transportation or shipment, or unloading of household goods as part of a household move. See Florida Statutes 507.01
- Shipper: means a person who uses the services of a mover to transport or ship household goods as part of a household move. See Florida Statutes 507.01
- writing: includes handwriting, printing, typewriting, and all other methods and means of forming letters and characters upon paper, stone, wood, or other materials. See Florida Statutes 1.01
(b) A mover that operates two or fewer vehicles, in lieu of maintaining the liability insurance coverage required under paragraph (a), may maintain one of the following alternative coverages:1. A performance bond in the amount of $50,000, for which the surety of the bond must be a surety company authorized to conduct business in this state; or2. A certificate of deposit in a Florida banking institution in the amount of $50,000.(c) A moving broker must maintain one of the following coverages:1. A performance bond in the amount of $50,000, for which the surety of the bond must be a surety company authorized to conduct business in this state; or2. A certificate of deposit in a Florida banking institution in the amount of $50,000.The original bond or certificate of deposit must be filed with the department and must designate the department as the sole beneficiary. The department must use the bond or certificate of deposit exclusively for the payment of claims to consumers who are injured by the fraud, misrepresentation, breach of contract, misfeasance, malfeasance, or financial failure of the mover or moving broker or by a violation of this chapter by the mover or moving broker. Liability for these injuries may be determined in an administrative proceeding of the department or through a civil action in a court of competent jurisdiction. However, claims against the bond or certificate of deposit must only be paid, in amounts not to exceed the determined liability for these injuries, by order of the department in an administrative proceeding. The bond or certificate of deposit is subject to successive claims, but the aggregate amount of these claims may not exceed the amount of the bond or certificate of deposit.
(2) MOTOR VEHICLE INSURANCE.–Each mover operating in this state must maintain current and valid motor vehicle insurance coverage, including combined bodily injury and property damage liability coverage in the following minimum amounts:
(a) Fifty thousand dollars per occurrence for a commercial motor vehicle with a gross weight of less than 35,000 pounds.
(b) One hundred thousand dollars per occurrence for a commercial motor vehicle with a gross weight of 35,000 pounds or more, but less than 44,000 pounds.
(c) Three hundred thousand dollars per occurrence for a commercial motor vehicle with a gross weight of 44,000 pounds or more.
(3) REGISTRATION SUSPENSION.–The department must immediately suspend a mover’s or moving broker’s registration if the mover or moving broker fails to maintain the performance bond or certificate of deposit required under subsection (1) or the insurance required under subsection (2), and the mover or moving broker must immediately cease operating as a mover or moving broker in this state. In addition, and notwithstanding the availability of any administrative relief pursuant to chapter 120, the department may seek from a circuit court an immediate injunction prohibiting the mover or moving broker from operating in this state until the mover or moving broker complies with subsections (1) and (2) and pays a civil penalty not to exceed $5,000 and court costs.
(4) INSURANCE COVERAGES.–The insurance coverages required under paragraph (1)(a) and subsection (2) must be issued by an insurance company or carrier licensed to transact business in this state under the Florida Insurance Code as designated in s. 624.01. The department shall require a mover to present a certificate of insurance of the required coverages before issuance or renewal of a registration certificate under s. 507.03. The department shall be named as a certificateholder in the certificate and must be notified at least 10 days before cancellation of insurance coverage. If a mover fails to maintain insurance coverage, the department may immediately suspend the mover’s registration or eligibility for registration, and the mover must immediately cease operating as a mover in this state. In addition, and notwithstanding the availability of any administrative relief pursuant to chapter 120, the department may seek from the appropriate circuit court an immediate injunction prohibiting the mover from operating in this state until the mover complies with this section, a civil penalty not to exceed $5,000, and court costs.
(5) LIABILITY LIMITATIONS; VALUATION RATES.–A mover may not limit its liability for the loss or damage of household goods to a valuation rate that is less than 60 cents per pound per article. A provision of a contract for moving services is void if the provision limits a mover’s liability to a valuation rate that is less than the minimum rate under this subsection. If a mover limits its liability for a shipper‘s goods, the mover must disclose the limitation, including the valuation rate, to the shipper in writing at the time that the estimate and contract for services are executed and before any moving or accessorial services are provided. The disclosure must also inform the shipper of the opportunity to purchase valuation coverage if the mover offers that coverage under subsection (6).
(6) VALUATION COVERAGE.–A mover may offer valuation coverage to compensate a shipper for the loss or damage of the shipper’s household goods that are lost or damaged during a household move. If a mover offers valuation coverage, the coverage must indemnify the shipper for at least the minimum valuation rate required under subsection (5). The mover must disclose the terms of the coverage to the shipper in writing at the time that the estimate and contract for services are executed and before any moving or accessorial services are provided. The disclosure must inform the shipper of the cost of the valuation coverage, the valuation rate of the coverage, and the opportunity to reject the coverage. If valuation coverage compensates a shipper for at least the minimum valuation rate required under subsection (5), the coverage satisfies the mover’s liability for the minimum valuation rate.