Westmont Wire

Past midnight on July 1, 2019, the Delaware State Senate unanimously passed House Bill 242, which imposes a $2000 cap on form filing fees per insurer in the filing. HB 242 had been approved in the House the previous Thursday. The legislation will take effect upon signing by the Governor, which could take several weeks as the Secretary of the Senate sends bills to the Governor’s desk in daily batches over the course of the summer. Westmont Associates will monitor the status of this legislation.

HB 242 was the result of extensive discussions between industry representatives and the Delaware Department of Insurance, with feedback from staff at Westmont Associates. It is designed to give Delaware domiciled insurers relief from high retaliatory fee expenses in other states.

HB 242 may be viewed at the link below:

https://legis.delaware.gov/BillDetail?legislationId=47791 

On June 18, 2019, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed House Bill 301 into law, implementing two major changes to Florida’s surplus lines regulations. First, HB 301 lifts the $35 cap on surplus lines agent policy fees, instead only requiring the fee to be reasonable. The agent fees must be disclosed to the consumer before purchase and separately stated in the policy. Next, the bill revises the types of residential property that require only one declination instead of the standard three declinations to obtain surplus lines insurance from properties valued at $1,000,000 or more to properties valued at $700,000 or more. This will allow more homeowners to access the surplus lines market. HB 301 takes effect on July 1, 2019.

For any questions regarding House Bill 301, or for surplus lines regulatory inquiries, please contact Westmont Associates, Inc.