This Friday, July
27, AAIS will issue a bulletin instructing affiliates that write
property coverage in Florida on immediate action they need to take to
implement one of the mandates arising from HB1A.
HB1A is the Florida
statute enacted in January governing property insurance in that state.
Effective July 1, 2007, it requires companies to offer residential
property insureds the option of excluding coverage for windstorm and/or
personal property.
A related AAIS
filing submitted in May was recently approved by the Florida Office of
Insurance Regulation (FLOIR) and must therefore be implemented immediately.
Further instructions regarding compliance are available in a July 17
memorandum issued by the FLOIR.
AAIS is
filing amendments to intentional acts and criminal
acts exclusions in Louisiana to comply with a new state
law protecting "innocent insureds" following an intentional fire
loss. The amendments will be filed under all AAIS programs that provide
property coverage in that state.
Under the law, insurers cannot deprive any innocent insured of coverage
for fire losses that result from wrongful or malicious acts of a named
insured. Innocent insureds shall be entitled to coverage up to the
applicable limit or the amount of their insurable interest, whichever is
less.
Also, the law effectively limits an insurer's ability to void a policy
by restricting court rulings of fraud or material misrepresentation from
being applied retroactively. AAIS amendatory endorsements in Louisiana
already restrict the ability to void policies to situations where
intentionally deceptive statements were made when applying for
coverage.
AAIS will be
undertaking filing action to address a new Oregon
law establishing same-sex domestic partnerships in that state.
Among other things,
the law states that rights and responsibilities of married persons will
"be granted on equivalent terms" to partners in domestic partnerships.
The law takes effect Jan. 1, 2008, and AAIS anticipates having the
necessary endorsements available for use by that date.
In a recent
bulletin, the
Minnesota Department of Commerce announced that, as of
Jan. 1, 2008, all rate and form filings in Minnesota must be submitted
using "SERFF," the System for Electronic Rate and Form Filing developed
under the auspices of the National Association of Insurance
Commissioners (NAIC).
To date, the following jurisdictions, plus
Minnesota, have implemented electronic requirements that have taken effect
sometime between Jan. 1, 2007 and Jan. 1, 2008: Alabama, Delaware,
District of Columbia, Georgia, Iowa, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and
Utah.
AAIS is a licensed
third-party provider of SERFF filings, and can submit custom filings of
company forms and manuals, whether or not they are based on AAIS
programs. For information, contact
compliance@AAISonline.com.
