The Florida Financial Services Commission this week approved rules to speed up catastrophe loss reporting and require top insurance executives to certify the truthfulness of their rate filings.

Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty said the new rules carry out the spirit of the reforms passed earlier this year in a special session.

The rules, he said, "will help the Office of Insurance Regulation ensure that hurricane claims are paid in a timely manner and that all future rate filings are signed by company executives swearing under oath that the information in the filings is true and accurate."

The first rule provides standard requirements for insurance companies to report to Mr. McCarty's office in the event of a declared catastrophe.

In the past, the OIR has gathered this information by emergency rule, but having a standardized reporting format in a permanent rule is expected to greatly reduce the submission of incorrect company data, Mr. McCarty said in a statement.

The second rule adopts a standard affidavit for insurance company officers and their chief actuary to sign attesting to the accuracy and completeness of each rate filing.

"No longer can companies submit data to this office requesting a rate increase and, when the data is challenged, claim they were not aware of the incorrect or insufficient information," Mr. McCarty said.

Special Reports /

Fla. Issues New Rules For Rate, Data Submission

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