The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF INSURANCE
AND FINANCIAL ADVISORS – FLORIDA

We never stop fighting to protect your career and our industry as those who would do harm to us never stop. Others have fought these battles in the past – now it is our turn.

Political, regulatory and legislative victories

(We are working daily within OIR, DFS and at the Capital in Tallahassee and these do not include the great work of NAIFA on the federal level in Washington D.C.)

- Worked with Governor to declare September Life Insurance Awareness Month and put out formal proclamation declaring it such for three years running. (You think it’s easy getting Charlie Crist to do something positive for the insurance industry?)

- Passed 2010 legislation to provide increased protections for owners of annuities. NAIFA-Florida proposed the legislation to raise the limits from $100,000 to $250,000 in cash values on annuity claims that the Florida Life & Health Insurance Guaranty Association (FLHIGA) will pay in order to mirror the increased guaranty by the FDIC on bank deposits.

- Removed requirement in 2010 that all life agents had to complete 3 hours of annuity suitability training as part of their required CE training if they certified to DFS they have no active individual life or annuity contracts during the CE cycle.

- Launched a political action plan when a Commission attempted to put a sales tax on services on the ballot and intervened when services taxes came up in 2009. Previously we were instrumental in defeating a proposed sales tax on agents’ commissions and insurance products.

- Greatly extended surrender periods and percentages in 2009 FL Senate annuity suitability bill. Intervened when a 2008 Capitol annuity task force was formed without agent representation. Within one-day the CFO added a NAIFA-Florida member. Also greatly limited legislation requiring substantial suitability standards that would have extended to sale of traditional life insurance products such as term coverage.

- Fought or language to allow an insurer to give a discount on auto if that agent also maintains the homeowners policyeven if that policy is placed with Citizens. NAIFA-Florida amended this “multi-line discount” provision to assure the discount is available even if the policy is thereafter removed from Citizens by a takeout company. (2008)

- Worked with House members, in 2008, to take out many harmful provisions contained in Senate Bill 2860 which was an attack on property insurance and inserted many provisions that are beneficial to the industry.

- Amended language in SB 2012 to require enhanced public adjuster continuing education and licensing requirements; increased disclosure to policyholders and felony penalties for fraud; limited ability of public adjusters to solicit insureds after incident causing a claim and promulgated a “cool down” period for policyholder to cancel contracts. It also put limits on amount public adjusters can charge and prohibits them from seeking compensation for settled claims when reopening claims.

- Intervened to thwart effort to require 2 additional hours of Long Term Care Continuing Education, in 2008, for those who had already completed eight hours initial LTC. Previously we secured a six-month extension to allow long term care agents to obtain 8 hours of training necessary to sell qualifying “part­nership” long term care policies. Without the extension many agents would have had to stop selling ALL long term care as they could not have completed the requirements.

- Blocked plans in 2008 to change agent commissions for micro-group health plans – having lawmakers address agent commission AT ALL is a slippery slope we zealously oppose. Previously we stopped Citizens Property Insurance Corporation from substantially reducing agents’ commissions on residential coverage. NAIFA-Florida worked with other agent groups to stop Citizens and the legislature from reducing the already low average residential commission of 6.9% for agents on Citizens policies.

- Stopped un-affiliated consultants from selling insurance without a license. FAIFA killed a proposal which would have allowed attorneys, risk managers, and certain college degree holders from “advising” commercial clients on which insurance to purchase, yet none of these individu­als would be required to have a license.

- Stopping Stranger Owned Life Insurance (“STOLI”). These schemes use annuity and life insurance issued on the lives of wealthy strangers with no insurable interest to pay investment returns to investors. FAIFA killed legislation to authorize these deals in Florida and backed efforts to strengthen our insurable interest laws. Turning life insurance into an commodity will cause Congress to reconsider the tax-free status of life insurance and annuity products, killing their value. This continues to be a pre-eminent issue for NAIFA-Florida and for NAIFA.

- Passed legislation for Agency “registration” versus “licensure.” The Legislature passed a new law requiring every single location where insurance is sold to be licensed as an insurance agency. A license can be revoked, so NAIFA-Florida drafted and passed legislation allowing agent-owned agency locations and companies to simply be “registered” instead of licensed. If regulators ever examine your agency, or take action against an agent in your agency; they won’t have leverage over you by trying to revoke your agency license if one of your agents screws up.

- Saw numerous full editorials published in most major Florida newspapers and in state and nationwide industry publications. We were quoted on hundreds of industry stories on statewide T.V. and radio and in newspapers and magazines.