Florida Department of Financial Services
Division of Agent and Agency Services
September 12, 2007
TO ALL AGENTS:
STAY
INFORMED - STAY LEGAL
VERIFY BEFORE YOU SELL!
The Division
of Agent & Agency Services is now recommending procedures agents
may use when researching whether an insurer is authorized or
not. By offering these guidelines, we hope to provide a valuable
service to all agents and another useful tool for protecting
the public.
Agents will
find that in most cases, the simple procedures outlined below
will easily identify those insurers presently authorized to
conduct insurance business in Florida. An agent my use a print
screen function to capture a printout of the insurer as listed
on the website and keep in their file to show they found the
authorized insurer.
1.
Make
sure you have the complete and correct name of the insurer.
Many insurer names are very similar.
2.
Check
our website to determine if the insurer is authorized to
conduct insurance business in Florida.
a.
Go to
http://www.myfloridacfo.com
b.
Click on “Look up your insurance company”
c.
Enter the insurer’s name
d.
Click on search
e.
Confirm that the insurer as identified in step 1
is listed and authorized to conduct the line of business
contemplated. Depending on the line of business, the
following Authorization Types confer authority:
i.
Certificate of Authority
ii.
Information Only
iii.
Letter of Approval
iv.
Letter of Eligibility
v.
Letter of Registration
vi.
License
vii.
Provisional Certificate of Authority
viii.
Residual Market
Insurers
shown with an Authorization Status as “Active” and Authorization
Type as “Permit” have only begun the authorization process,
and are NOT authorized to conduct insurance business.
If
the insurer is not listed on the website or the insurer is shown
with an Authorization Type not listed above, the agent should
not place insurance business with that insurer. Also,
just because an insurer is authorized today does not mean it
will necessarily remain authorized in the future. Always
check.
The
most common misconceptions regarding licensing requirements
involve two lines of business: Health benefit plans claiming
ERISA preemption of the Florida Insurance Code and offshore
insurers.
1.
If agents are approached to sell employers a group
health benefit plan that purports to be ERISA qualified
and claims to be exempt from Florida law, agents should
beware. ERISA does not preempt state regulation
of a health benefit plan that is sold to multiple employers.
This type of plan is technically called a Multiple
Employer Welfare Arrangement (MEWA). Even if it is determined
that the MEWA is ERISA qualified, the Florida Insurance
Code is not preempted.
2.
A MEWA principally located in another state but operating
in Florida must be licensed as a foreign insurer.
A MEWA principally located in Florida and not fully insured
by one or more licensed insurers must have its own Certificate
of Authority as a Florida MEWA from the Office of Insurance
Regulation. Authorized Florida MEWAs will be listed
on our website. Currently, there is only one authorized
Florida MEWA. Please remember, even if the MEWA
claims ERISA preemption, state criminal law is never preempted.
3.
Offshore insurers may claim to be exempt from Florida
Law. They are not. See Section 624.11 (1), Florida
Statutes.
Our website
lists authorized insurers involved in insurance business in
Florida. If they are not listed on the website, agents
should assume they are not authorized.
Agents who,
directly or indirectly, aid or represent an unauthorized insurer
could lose their agent’s licenses or face other disciplinary
sanctions. Please see F.S. 626.901.
The Department
of Financial Services and the Office of Insurance Regulation
stand ready to assist in determining insurers authorized to
conduct insurance business in Florida. Our websites are
updated expeditiously, as insurers become authorized.
