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The Florida Senate

2013 Florida Statutes

Title XXXVII INSURANCE
Chapter 631 INSURER INSOLVENCY; GUARANTY OF PAYMENT Entire Chapter
SECTION 914
Assessments.
F.S. 631.914
631.914 Assessments.—
(1)(a) To the extent necessary to secure the funds for the payment of covered claims, and also to pay the reasonable costs to administer the same, the department, upon certification by the board, shall levy assessments on each insurer in the proportion that the insurer’s net direct written premiums in this state bears to the total of said net direct written premiums received in this state by all such workers’ compensation insurers for the preceding calendar year. Assessments shall be remitted to and administered by the board of directors in the manner specified by the approved plan of operation. The board shall give each insurer so assessed at least 30 days’ written notice of the date the assessment is due and payable. Each assessment shall be a uniform percentage applicable to the net direct written premiums of each insurer writing workers’ compensation insurance.
1. Beginning July 1, 1997, assessments levied against insurers, other than self-insurance funds, shall not exceed in any calendar year more than 2 percent of that insurer’s net direct written premiums in this state for workers’ compensation insurance during the calendar year next preceding the date of such assessments.
2. Beginning July 1, 1997, assessments levied against self-insurance funds shall not exceed in any calendar year more than 1.50 percent of that self-insurance fund’s net direct written premiums in this state for workers’ compensation insurance during the calendar year next preceding the date of such assessments.
3. Beginning July 1, 2003, assessments levied against insurers and self-insurance funds pursuant to this paragraph are computed and levied on the basis of the full policy premium value on the net direct premiums written in the state for workers’ compensation insurance during the calendar year next preceding the date of the assessment without taking into account any applicable discount or credit for deductibles. Insurers and self-insurance funds must report premiums in compliance with this subparagraph.
(b) Assessments shall be included as an appropriate factor in the making of rates.
(c)1. Effective July 1, 1999, if assessments otherwise authorized in paragraph (a) are insufficient to make all payments on reimbursements then owing to claimants in a calendar year, then upon certification by the board, the department shall levy additional assessments of up to 1.5 percent of the insurer’s net direct written premiums in this state during the calendar year next preceding the date of such assessments against insurers to secure the necessary funds.
2. To assure that insurers paying assessments levied under this paragraph continue to charge rates that are neither inadequate nor excessive, each insurer that is to be assessed pursuant to this paragraph, or a licensed rating organization to which the insurer subscribes, may make, within 90 days after being notified of such assessments, a rate filing for workers’ compensation coverage pursuant to ss. 627.072 and 627.091. If the filing reflects a percentage rate change equal to the difference between the rate of such assessment and the rate of the previous year’s assessment under this paragraph, the filing shall consist of a certification so stating and shall be deemed approved when made. Any rate change of a different percentage shall be subject to the standards and procedures of ss. 627.072 and 627.091.
(2)(a) The board may exempt any insurer from an assessment if, in the opinion of the department, an assessment would result in such insurer’s financial statement reflecting an amount of capital or surplus less than the minimum amount required by any jurisdiction in which the insurer is authorized to transact insurance.
(b) The board may temporarily defer, in whole or in part, assessments against an insurer if, in the opinion of the department, payment of the assessment would endanger the ability of the insurer to fulfill its contractual obligations. In the case of a self-insurance fund, the trustees of the fund determined to be endangered must immediately levy an assessment upon the members of that self-insurance fund in an amount sufficient to pay the assessments to the corporation.
(c) The board may allow an insurer to pay an assessment on a quarterly basis.
History.—s. 20, ch. 97-262; s. 48, ch. 99-3; s. 6, ch. 2003-267.