Florida Statutes 627.066 – Excessive profits for motor vehicle insurance prohibited
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(1) As used herein:
(a) “Private passenger automobile business” means that insurance business that is written on a family automobile policy, standard automobile policy, or personal automobile or similar private passenger automobile policy written for personal use, as opposed to commercial automobile insurance business.
Terms Used In Florida Statutes 627.066
- Member: means an insurer who participates in or is entitled to participate in the management of a rating, advisory, or other organization. See Florida Statutes 627.041
- Motor vehicle insurance: means a policy of motor vehicle insurance delivered or issued for delivery in the state by an authorized insurer:(a) Insuring a natural person as the named insured or one or more related individuals resident of the same household, or both; and(b) Insuring a motor vehicle of the private passenger type or station wagon type, which motor vehicle is not used as public or livery conveyance for passengers or rented to others, or insuring any other four-wheeled motor vehicle having a capacity of 1,500 pounds or less which is not used in the occupation, profession, or business of the insured, other than farming;
other than any policy issued under an automobile insurance risk apportionment plan or other than any policy covering garage, automobile sales agency, repair shop, service station, or public parking place operation hazards. See Florida Statutes 627.041
- Rate: means the unit charge by which the measure of exposure or the amount of insurance specified in a policy of insurance or covered thereunder is multiplied to determine the premium. See Florida Statutes 627.041
(b) “Cash” means coins, currency, checks, drafts, or money orders.
(2) Each Florida private passenger automobile insurer group shall file with the office, prior to July 1 of each year on forms prescribed by the commission, the following data for Florida private passenger automobile business. The data filed for the group shall be a consolidation of the data of the individual insurers of the group. The data shall include both voluntary and joint underwriting association business, as follows:
(a) Calendar-year total limits earned premium.
(b) Accident-year incurred losses and loss adjustment expenses.
(c) The administrative and selling expenses incurred in this state or allocated to this state for the calendar year.
(d) Policyholder dividends incurred during the applicable calendar year.
(3)(a) Excessive profit has been realized if there has been an underwriting gain for the 3 most recent calendar-accident years combined which is greater than the anticipated underwriting profit plus 5 percent of earned premiums for those calendar-accident years.
(b) As used herein with respect to any 3-year period, “anticipated underwriting profit” means the sum of the dollar amounts obtained by multiplying, for each rate filing of the insurer group in effect during such period, the earned premiums applicable to such rate filing during such period by the percentage factor included in such rate filing for profit and contingencies, such percentage factor having been determined with due recognition to investment income from funds generated by Florida business. Separate calculations need not be made for consecutive rate filings containing the same percentage factor for profits and contingencies.
(4) Each insurer group shall also file a schedule of Florida private passenger automobile loss and loss adjustment experience for each of the 3 most recent accident years. The incurred losses and loss adjustment expenses shall be valued as of March 31 of the year following the close of the accident year, developed to an ultimate basis, and at two 12-month intervals thereafter, each developed to an ultimate basis, so that a total of three evaluations will be provided for each accident year.
(5) Each insurer group’s underwriting gain or loss for each calendar-accident year shall be computed as follows: The sum of the accident-year incurred losses and loss adjustment expenses as of March 31 of the following year, developed to an ultimate basis, plus the administrative and selling expenses incurred in the calendar year, plus policyholder dividends applicable to the calendar year, will be subtracted from the calendar-year earned premium to determine the underwriting gain or loss.
(6) For the 3 most recent calendar-accident years, the underwriting gain or loss will be compared to the anticipated underwriting profit.
(7) If the insurer group has realized an excessive profit, the office shall order a return of the excessive amounts after affording the insurer group an opportunity for hearing and otherwise complying with the requirements of chapter 120. Such excessive amounts shall be refunded in all instances unless the insurer group affirmatively demonstrates to the office that the refund of the excessive amounts will render a member of the insurer group financially impaired or will render it insolvent under the provisions of the Florida Insurance Code.
(8) The excessive amount shall be refunded on a pro rata basis in relation to the final compilation year earned premiums to the voluntary private passenger automobile policyholders of record of the insurer group on December 31 of the final compilation year.
(9) Any excess profit of an insurance company offering motor vehicle insurance shall be returned to policyholders in the form of a cash refund or a credit towards the future purchase of insurance.
(10)(a) Cash refunds to policyholders may be rounded to the nearest dollar.
(b) Data in required reports to the office may be rounded to the nearest dollar.
(c) Rounding, if elected by the insurer group, shall be applied consistently.
(11)(a) Refunds shall be completed in one of the following ways:
1. If the insurer group elects to make a cash refund, the refund shall be completed within 60 days of entry of a final order indicating that excessive profits have been realized.
2. If the insurer group elects to make refunds in the form of a credit to renewal policies, such credits shall be applied to policy renewal premium notices which are forwarded to insureds more than 60 calendar days after entry of a final order indicating that excessive profits have been realized. If an insurer group has made this election but an insured thereafter cancels his or her policy or otherwise allows the policy to terminate, the insurer group shall make a cash refund not later than 60 days after termination of such coverage.
(b) Upon completion of the renewal credits or refund payments, the insurer group shall immediately certify to the office that the refunds have been made.
(12) Any refund or renewal credit made pursuant to this section shall be treated as a policyholder dividend applicable to the year in which it is incurred, for purposes of reporting under this section for subsequent years.