The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (“Florida OIR”) recently took regulatory action against a New York-based company (“Company”) regarding its alleged unlicensed activities in Florida. According to the Florida OIR, the Company had been administering business on behalf of admitted insurers in Florida without a Certificate of Authority as an Insurance Administrator in Florida, in violation of Section 626.8805(1), Florida Statutes.
This matter apparently came to the attention of the Florida OIR as a result of the Company’s filing its application for an Insurance Administrator Certificate of Authority in Florida. The Florida OIR’s Insurance Administrator application requires applicants to provide a Plan of Operation and state if any administrative services are currently being performed for any insurer on behalf of Florida residents.
As a result of the above allegations, the Company recently entered into a Consent Order with the Florida OIR in which it agreed to the assessment of a fine of $10,000 for each written agreement it had entered into with an insurer as an unlicensed Insurance Administrator. The total fine assessed was $50,000, pursuant to Section 626.8805(1) Florida Statutes.
In addition to assessing the $50,000 penalty, the Florida OIR also approved the Company’s application for a Certificate of Authority as an Insurance Administrator in Florida in the Consent Order.
As reported in one of our prior e-Alerts, the Company had previously entered into a Consent Order with the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance (“Tennessee Department”) in 2015 for allegedly entering into a contract with an insurer to provide TPA services in Tennessee without being licensed as an Administrator in Tennessee. As a result, the Company entered into a Consent Order with the Tennessee Department in 2015 in which it was ordered to pay a $20,000 penalty and to cease and desist from conducting unlicensed TPA services in Tennessee until such time that it obtained an Administrator license in Tennessee.
