Jacksonville-based Med Mal Direct has received its certificate of authority from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation. As the name implies, the company sells direct to the consumer, bypassing the agency distribution system. Its web site at www.mymedmal.com states, "We sell insurance directly to the physician; and the savings this new distribution model generates are passed directly to the physician. Why should you pay more — an average of 10% of your annual premium, paid each and every year — to compensate a broker?"

The company's founding board of directors includes Chairman Carter N. Bryan, a licensed insurance agent since 1966; CEO P. Butler Hall, the former COO of Independent Marketing Group, a life insurance general agency; President Timothy R. Bone, who served as president of Physicians Preferred Insurance Co. and Physicians Preferred Insurance Management, LLC; COO Michael J. Wallace, a former consultant to HomeWise Insurance Co., HomeWise Preferred Insurance Co. and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida; and Sheldon C. Bryan, who currently serves as CEO and chairman of the board for Independent Marketing Group.

MedMal says it is the only direct writer of its kind in Florida.