Florida SB 30: Rate Filings for Property Insurers

Bill Text

30 
Rate Filings for Property Insurers 
2025-09-08T07:40:20Z 
Revising the powers of the consumer advocate; specifying that failure to obey certain court orders may be punished as contempt; authorizing a circuit court to order a person to pay certain expenses; prohibiting the Office of Insurance Regulation from approving certain rate filings, etc. 
Original Filed Version 
2026 
S 
2026-07-01T00:00:00Z 
GB 
General Bill 
__ 

 Florida Senate - 2026 SB 30 

 By Senator Sharief 

 35-00049-26 202630__ 
 1 A bill to be entitled 
 2 An act relating to rate filings for property insurers; 
 3 amending s. 627.0613, F.S.; revising the powers of the 
 4 consumer advocate; specifying that failure to obey 
 5 certain court orders may be punished as contempt; 
 6 authorizing a circuit court to order a person to pay 
 7 certain expenses; amending s. 627.062, F.S.; 
 8 prohibiting the Office of Insurance Regulation from 
 9 approving certain rate filings; authorizing the 
 10 consumer advocate to request a specified 
 11 administrative hearing and an expedited appellate 
 12 review; providing an effective date. 
 13 
 14 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 
 15 
 16 Section 1. Subsections (5) and (6) are added to section 
 17 627.0613, Florida Statutes, to read: 
 18 627.0613 Consumer advocate.—The Chief Financial Officer 
 19 must appoint a consumer advocate who must represent the general 
 20 public of the state before the department and the office. The 
 21 consumer advocate must report directly to the Chief Financial 
 22 Officer, but is not otherwise under the authority of the 
 23 department or of any employee of the department. The consumer 
 24 advocate has such powers as are necessary to carry out the 
 25 duties of the office of consumer advocate, including, but not 
 26 limited to, the powers to: 
 27 (5) Request an administrative hearing pursuant to s. 120.57 
 28 to challenge a notice of intent to approve or a notice of intent 
 29 to disapprove a rate filing. 
 30 (6) Administer oaths or affirmations to compel the 
 31 attendance and testimony of witnesses, or to issue subpoenas for 
 32 and compel the production of books, papers, records, documents, 
 33 and other evidence, pertaining to any investigation or hearing 
 34 convened under this section. 
 35 (a) In conducting an investigation, the consumer advocate 
 36 and its investigators must have access at all reasonable times 
 37 to premises, records, documents, and other evidence or possible 
 38 sources of evidence and may examine, record, and copy such 
 39 materials and take and record the testimony or statements of 
 40 such persons as deemed reasonably necessary for the furtherance 
 41 of the investigation. 
 42 (b) In the case of a refusal to obey a subpoena issued to 
 43 any person, the consumer advocate may make application to any 
 44 circuit court of this state, which court shall have jurisdiction 
 45 to order the witness to appear before the consumer advocate to 
 46 give testimony and to produce evidence concerning the matter in 
 47 question. Failure to obey the court’s order may be punished by 
 48 the court as contempt. If the court enters an order holding a 
 49 person in contempt or compelling the person to comply with the 
 50 subpoena, the court may order the person to pay the consumer 
 51 advocate reasonable expenses, including reasonable attorney 
 52 fees, accrued by the consumer advocate in obtaining the order 
 53 from the court. 
 54 Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) and subsection 
 55 (6) of section 627.062, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 
 56 627.062 Rate standards.— 
 57 (2) As to all such classes of insurance: 
 58 (a) Insurers or rating organizations shall establish and 
 59 use rates, rating schedules, or rating manuals that allow the 
 60 insurer a reasonable rate of return on the classes of insurance 
 61 written in this state. A copy of rates, rating schedules, rating 
 62 manuals, premium credits or discount schedules, and surcharge 
 63 schedules, and changes thereto, must be filed with the office 
 64 under one of the following procedures: 
 65 1. If the filing is made at least 90 days before the 
 66 proposed effective date and is not implemented during the 
 67 office’s review of the filing and any proceeding and judicial 
 68 review, such filing is considered a “file and use” filing. In 
 69 such case, the office shall finalize its review by issuance of a 
 70 notice of intent to approve or a notice of intent to disapprove 
 71 within 90 days after receipt of the filing. If the 90-day period 
 72 ends on a weekend or a holiday under s. 110.117(1)(a)-(i), it 
 73 must be extended until the conclusion of the next business day. 
 74 The notice of intent to approve and the notice of intent to 
 75 disapprove constitute agency action for purposes of the 
 76 Administrative Procedure Act. Requests for supporting 
 77 information, requests for mathematical or mechanical 
 78 co