Category(s): Connecticut - 11/20/2017

Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy recently signed House Bill 7183 (the “Act”), which makes various changes to the state’s insurance laws. The Act, among other changes, creates a new section of the insurance code pursuant to which a dormant captive insurer may apply for a certificate of dormancy from the insurance commissioner. It also reduces the amount of unimpaired and paid-in capital and surplus that a sponsored captive insurer is required to maintain. The bill will now be referred to as Public Act No. 17-198, and may be accessed here.

Alan J. Levin, Esq. - LOCKE LORD LLP, (212) 912-2777 , alan.levin@lockelord.com

Category(s): Florida - 11/20/2017

Citizens Property Insurance Corporation issued a personal lines bulletin on October 16, 2017, advising that the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation has approved new rules and endorsements filed by Citizens for residences held in trust which apply to personal residential new-business submissions with effective dates on or after December 1, 2017.  Information will be provided when available regarding changes for existing policies with residences held in trust.  Revisions were also made to the Trust Endorsement forms to provide clarification and amend certain language in the forms.

Richard J. Fidei, Esq. - GREENBERG TRAURIG LLP, (954) 592-5530

Category(s): Florida - 11/20/2017

Florida Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier has issued a Final Order granting approval to the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) for a statewide overall rate level decrease of 9.5% and premium level decrease of 9.8%. This applies to both new and renewal workers’ compensation insurance policies effective in Florida as of January 1, 2018.  NCCI received this approval after submitting an amended rate filing to the Office on November 7, 2017, which met the stipulations of an Order issued by the Commissioner on October 31, 2017.    For more information about the NCCI public hearing and rate filing, visit the Office’s “NCCI Public Rate Hearing” webpage.

Fred E. Karlinsky, Esq. - GREENBERG TRAURIG, P.A., (954) 768-8278 , karlinskyf@gtlaw.com

Category(s): Florida - 11/20/2017

In an 18-7 vote, a House panel voted to overturn Florida’s no-fault car insurance system.  HB 19 sponsored by Rep. Erin Grall, R- Very Beach, repeals the state’s Personal Injury Protection law that has been in effect since 1971 and replaces it with required bodily-injury liability coverage, which most Florida drivers already have.  Florida drivers are generally not happy with the current system.  Indeed, many have argued that the current system forces drivers to pay for a form of car insurance long plagued by fraud and high costs and also allows Florida’s unsafe drivers to avoid responsibility while safe drivers are forced to pay the bill.  HB 19 is set to go before the House floor when the 2018 session starts in January.

Richard J. Fidei, Esq. - GREENBERG TRAURIG LLP, (954) 592-5530

Category(s): Georgia - 11/20/2017

On October 24, 2017, the Georgia Court of Appeals ruled a garage insurance policy Acceptance Indemnity Company had issued to the Tommy Nobis Foundation provided coverage for an automobile accident which occurred at the Blue Ridge Auto Auction, which was auctioning vehicles donated by the Tommy Nobis Foundation.  Acceptance’s garage insurance policy issued to the Tommy Nobis Foundation provided coverage for its “garage business.”  Acceptance had denied coverage under the garage insurance policy, arguing that the accident at the auto auction was not part of the Tommy Nobis Foundation’s garage business.  The Court found that the term “garage business” was sufficiently ambiguous to include operations incidental to the Tommy Nobis Foundation’s sale of donated used vehicles.

Brian T. Casey, Esq. - LOCKE LORD LLP, (404) 870-4638 , bcasey@lockelord.com
David M. Green, Esq. - LOCKE LORD LLP, (404) 870-4657 , david.green@lockelord.com

Category(s): Georgia - 11/20/2017

On September 29, 2017, the Georgia Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s grant of summary judgment to Jerry Rockefeller in a case interpreting O.C.G.A. §33-7-11 (i) regarding the limitation of liability provisions in the uninsured motorist insurance policies Rockefeller held with Georgia Farm Bureau.  Rockefeller was involved in a two-car automobile accident from which he sustained personal injuries.  The other driver’s insurance company paid $25,000 to settle Rockefeller’s claims.  Because Rockefeller was working when the accident occurred, he received worker’s compensation insurance wage benefits totaling $197,966, were less than he was earning at the time of the accident and he accumulated $183,022 in lost wages.  

Rockefeller sought additional compensation under four UM policies he held with Georgia Farm Bureau. Each policy provided up to $25,000 in UM benefits for a combined policy limit of $100,000 and contained a "limit of liability" clause which reduced the UM limits of liability for sums paid under worker’s compensation law.
 
Georgia Farm Bureau moved for summary judgment, arguing that because the amount of workers' compensation benefits Rockefeller received exceeded the combined coverage limits of his UM policies, Georgia Farm Bureau's liability under the UM policies was reduced to zero. Rockefeller filed a cross-motion for partial summary judgment, arguing that his UM policies should cover up to $100,000 of his uncompensated damages and future medical expenses that were not covered by his settlement with the other driver's insurer or his workers' compensation award.  The trial court denied Georgia Farm Bureau’s motion for summary judgment and granted Rockefeller’ cross motion for partial summary judgment. 

On appeal, Georgia Farm Bureau argued that the trial court misapplied O.C.G.A. § 33-7-11 (i) with regard to the limitation of liability provision in Rockefeller’s UM policies that O.C.G.A § 33-7-11(i) and the limit of liability of the UM policies allowed an offset the Rockefeller's workers' compensation award-against its combined liability of $100,000 under the UM policies, thus reducing Georgia Farm Bureau's liability to zero. However, the Georgia Court of Appeals found that the trial court properly concluded that the UM statute does not permit the dollar-for-dollar reduction in the limits of UM policies. Rather, Georgia Farm Bureau was liable up to the $100,000 combined coverage limit of the four UM policies for losses sustained in the accident that were not covered by Rockefeller’s worker's compensation award or his settlement with the other driver's insurer.

Brian T. Casey, Esq. - LOCKE LORD LLP, (404) 870-4638 , bcasey@lockelord.com
David M. Green, Esq. - LOCKE LORD LLP, (404) 870-4657 , david.green@lockelord.com

Category(s): Georgia - 11/20/2017

In Prudential Ins. Co. of America v. Bailey, No. CV 616-060 (S.D. Ga., Sep. 29, 2017), a federal district court in Georgia refused to dismiss claims brought against a life insurer by a surviving spouse accused of killing her husband after Prudential froze the account established by Prudential and into which it had previously deposited the proceeds of his life insurance policy.  The apparent mistake by Prudential was that it had, in effect, paid the wife the death benefit proceeds by depositing them into an account, maintained for her benefit by the insurance company.  Prudential had notified her, “We have approved your group life insurance claim and have settled your benefit through Prudential's Alliance Account settlement option.  An interest bearing account [maintained by Prudential] has been established in your name.  With the Alliance Account, you can access your money immediately by writing a draft for the amount you'd like to withdraw.  You can withdraw the entire amount immediately, which will close the account, or you can write drafts as needed.  Any balance you maintain will earn continuous interest.”  After her indictment, she withdrew $83,855.50 from the account.  Claims brought by Ms. Bailey against Prudential for conversion, punitive damages, fraud, bath faith and attorney’s fees (under the Georgia bad faith statute) survived Prudential’s motion to dismiss.

Brian T. Casey, Esq. - LOCKE LORD LLP, (404) 870-4638 , bcasey@lockelord.com
David M. Green, Esq. - LOCKE LORD LLP, (404) 870-4657 , david.green@lockelord.com

Category(s): Illinois - 11/20/2017

Earlier in 2017, the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (“DHFS”) issued an RFP for medicaid managed care. The goal was to have a more efficient system in place.  In August, DHFS awarded contracts to:

Statewide:  Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, Harmony Health Plan, IlliniCare Health Plan, Meridian Health, and Molina Healthcare of IL

Cook County only- CountyCare Health Plan

For DCFS Youth- IlliniCare Health Plan

In September, DHFS awarded an additional contract to NextLevel Health for Cook County only.

Daniel A. Cotter, Esq. - Dickinson Wright PLLC, (312) 423-8170 , DCotter@dickinson-wright.com

Category(s): NAIC - 11/20/2017

The head of the Division Regulation and Enforcement at the Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance recently reported that the Auto Insurance Working Group was created to come up with a comprehensive data call related to the availability and affordability of auto insurance. She noted that the comprehensive nature of the data call would make it a “big lift” for insurers to respond, resulting in a standstill for several months.

Partial resolution may have been achieved at last summer’s NAIC meeting in Philadelphia, where statistical agents offered to assemble aggregate data that will be available to states by the end of the year. Once the information has been assembled, the Auto Insurance Working Group will determine whether additional data is needed, although it was conceded that additional information may be required because the aggregate data will not be broken down by insurer.

William J. Toman, Esq. - QUARLES & BRADY LLP, (608) 283-2434 , william.toman@quarles.com
John A. Bliming - QUARLES & BRADY LLP, (608) 283-2444 , john.blimling@quarles.com

Category(s): NAIC - 11/20/2017

A policy advisor at the Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance recently reported that the NAIC Cybersecurity Task Force's fifth draft of an Insurance Data Security model law was proposed heading into the NAIC’s August meeting. Response to the fifth draft was significant, and due to the amount of negative feedback, a sixth draft was released at the August meeting. The features of the sixth draft discussed were:

•	In an effort to provide uniformity between states, the draft stated that compliance with New York State’s regulation would constitute compliance for purposes of the model law.
•	In an effort to make compliance less onerous to insurers, the requirement in previous drafts that insurers report their compliance annually was replaced with an annual certification of compliance.
•	The sixth draft still requires notice to the Commissioner within 72 hours of a cybersecurity incident, but this 72 hour report is not necessarily expected to be complete. In response to a question, it was noted that confidentiality of such initial reports would likely be subject to a balancing test.

It was also noted in response to questions that the model law may move to an accreditation model at some point in the future, but there are no such plans at present.  In response to another question, it was noted that the model law does take into account the size of an entity when determining requirements.

William J. Toman, Esq. - QUARLES & BRADY LLP, (608) 283-2434 , william.toman@quarles.com
John A. Bliming - QUARLES & BRADY LLP, (608) 283-2444 , john.blimling@quarles.com