Florida Senate - 2013                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 1770
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Barcode 893998                          
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                   Comm: WD            .                                
                  03/19/2013           .                                
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       Appropriations Subcommittee on General Government (Hays)
       recommended the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Between lines 341 and 342
    4  insert:
    5         Section 5. Subsection (11) of section 626.854, Florida
    6  Statutes, is amended to read:
    7         626.854 “Public adjuster” defined; prohibitions.—The
    8  Legislature finds that it is necessary for the protection of the
    9  public to regulate public insurance adjusters and to prevent the
   10  unauthorized practice of law.
   11         (11)(a) If a public adjuster enters into a contract with an
   12  insured or claimant to reopen a claim or file a supplemental
   13  claim that seeks additional payments for a claim that has been
   14  previously paid in part or in full or settled by the insurer,
   15  the public adjuster may not charge, agree to, or accept any
   16  compensation, payment, commission, fee, or other thing of value
   17  from any source based on a previous settlement or previous claim
   18  payments by the insurer for the same cause of loss. The charge,
   19  compensation, payment, commission, fee, or other thing of value
   20  must be based only on the claim payments or settlement obtained
   21  through the work of the public adjuster after entering into the
   22  contract with the insured or claimant. Compensation for the
   23  reopened or supplemental claim may not exceed 20 percent of the
   24  reopened or supplemental claim payment. The contracts described
   25  in this paragraph are not subject to the limitations in
   26  paragraph (b).
   27         (b) A public adjuster may not charge, agree to, or accept
   28  any compensation, payment, commission, fee, or other thing of
   29  value from any source in excess of:
   30         1. Ten percent of the amount of insurance claim payments
   31  made by the insurer for claims based on events that are the
   32  subject of a declaration of a state of emergency by the
   33  Governor. This provision applies to claims made during the year
   34  after the declaration of emergency. After that year, the
   35  limitations in subparagraph 2. apply.
   36         2. Fifteen Twenty percent of the amount of insurance claim
   37  payments made by the insurer for claims that are not based on
   38  events that are the subject of a declaration of a state of
   39  emergency by the Governor.
   40         (c) Any maneuver, shift, or device through which the limits
   41  on compensation set forth in this subsection are exceeded is a
   42  violation of this chapter punishable as provided under s.
   43  626.8698.
   44  
   45  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   46         And the title is amended as follows:
   47         Delete line 23
   48  and insert:
   49         certain circumstances; amending s. 626.854, F.S.;
   50         revising the amount of compensation that may be paid
   51         to a public adjuster under specified circumstances;
   52         providing sanctions for a violation of these limits;
   53         amending s. 627.062, F.S.;