Dan Sumner, deputy of legal affairs and general counsel for the DOI, announced the plan Oct. 19 at the Florida Insurance Council's lobbyists retreat at Amelia Island.

Sumner told the group that the bill's language has not been decided and that no preliminary draft is yet available.

However, Sumner assured those in attendance that the progress made in last year's workshops would not be in vain.

The persistence of the regulators on the sliding issue emphasizes the work that still faces Specialty Agents on this issue.

Two issues that remained unresolved last year were definitions of ancillary products and efforts of the DOI to make violation of proposed sliding regulations a third degree felony.

Our position during the negotiations was that the regulation should apply to all non-auto products -- not just motor clubs and hospitalization policies -- and that making sliding a felony was unacceptable unless there were clear guidelines on compliance with the informed consent language in the law.

Class action suits
On other auto issues, the Department suggested that our domestic companies pursue a rework of the policy cancellation issues and the three-option letter. These issues have been the grist for the class action mill that has decimated our domestic carriers.

The auto committee also targeted class action issues and discussed the attorney fees "multipliers" that class action lawyers use to fleece class action targets.

After-market crash parts
Another issue sure to be addressed in the 2000 session is the use of after-market parts in the repair of damaged vehicles. An Illinois court decision against State Farm granted damages to a class that alleged the insurer failed to live up to policy benefits by using after-market parts, which failed to equal the quality of OEM parts.

An after-market parts bill failed to clear last year's session.

One of the revelations in the class action was State Farm's estimation that using OEM parts would raise the cost of insurance by just $29.

Counter-signature law
Florida's counter-signature law is expected to come under attack on two fronts. State Farm will reintroduce a bill that would exempt State Farm from the counter-signature provisions because they have company agents doing business in the state.

Another bill is expected that would strike down the entire counter-signature statute.

The genesis of Florida's counter-signature bill was the desire to keep out-of-state agents who vacation in Florida from writing business to finance their vacation. (Some have described it as an anti-Yankee statute.)

It is admittedly a protectionist statute for Florida agents, but the real benefactors are Florida consumers who would not have to chase an agent across the country for service on their policy. It further guarantees that the selling agent is conversant with Florida law, another protection for Florida consumers.

Florida is one of the few remaining states with a counter-signature law. Supporters of the law point out that Florida has a higher incidence of "carpetbagging Yankees" than most of the other 50 states.

The agent associations are fighting the repeal of counter-signature. Most companies, national agencies and banks are supporting its repeal. It may be an uphill fight.

Other issues
Legislators who attended FIC's retreat -- House Speaker John Thrasher, House Insurance Committee Chairman Stan Bainter, and Betty Holzendorf, a member of the Senate Banking and Finance Committee, talked about a quiet Year 2000 session for insurance issues.

However, DOI representatives and members of the various committees presented a different picture.

The DOI will seek repeal of the mandatory arbitration system, support for strengthened uniform building codes for Florida, and insurance credits for windstorm and hurricane mitigation.

You can expect legislation on the tax status of take-out bonuses for the JUA and for the take-out companies. Both feel they should be tax free.

A number of other issues may grace the halls of Tallahassee. Look for a Holocaust bill, uniform receivership laws, new rate and form filing regulations for life and health, commercial lines deregulation, workers comp fraud, small group health issues, including mandated benefits and a self-evaluation privilege for insurers who uncover problems within their own companies and report their corrective action to the department.

Also, viaticals will again be a front-burner item for the DOI. Efforts will be made to further regulate the industry to prevent the clean sheeting practices that have come under fire in recent months in Florida and the rest of the nation.

With Cabinet reorganization also on the 2000 legislative plate, it looks like a very busy year for insurance.

With your help, SA will be there to fight for the interest of agents on all these issues.