Short answer: According to SB 7052 (2023), Chapter 2023-172, Florida's Insurer Accountability Act, residential property insurers must create, follow, and annually certify claims-handling manuals that comply with the Insurance Code. It increases maximum administrative fines (by 250% generally, and 500% for violations tied to a declared emergency such as a hurricane), requires prompt responses to the DFS Division of Consumer Services, and mandates post-hurricane market-conduct review. Effective July 1, 2023.
What did SB 7052 (2023) change?
SB 7052 (2023), enacted as Chapter 2023-172, Laws of Florida and known as the "Insurer Accountability" Act, shifted several of the recent reforms back toward the policyholder side after the 2021 to 2022 changes had tightened deadlines and cut fees. It focuses on how carriers handle claims and how hard regulators can push back when they handle them badly. It took effect July 1, 2023.
Claims-handling manuals and annual certification
The centerpiece is accountability for the carrier's own process. Residential property insurers must create and use claims-handling manuals that comply with the Insurance Code and industry standards, and must annually certify that the manual complies with Florida law and that the insurer maintains adequate resources to implement it.
Key takeaway: a carrier now has to commit its own claims-handling standards to writing and attest to them. When adjusters deviate from those standards, that gap is a documented compliance problem, not just a disagreement.
Bigger penalties for bad claims handling
| Area | What SB 7052 did |
|---|---|
| General administrative fines | Increased maximum fines the Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) may impose, by 250% |
| Emergency-related violations | Increased maximum fines by 500% for violations stemming from a declared emergency, such as a hurricane |
| Consumer Services responsiveness | Requires insurers to respond promptly to the DFS Division of Consumer Services, with penalties for noncompliance |
| Market conduct | Provides for risk-based scheduling of examinations and post-hurricane market-conduct examinations, with enhanced penalties for poor claims handling |
| Criminal referral | Requires OIR to refer records to investigators or prosecutors when it has reason to believe a crime occurred |
Why this matters to your claim
SB 7052 does not add a new deadline you have to meet; it adds pressure on the carrier to handle your claim correctly and to answer to regulators when it does not. That makes two things more useful than before: a documented record of how the carrier handled your file, and a DFS complaint through the Division of Consumer Services, which the carrier is now required to answer promptly.
How does Ocean Point use SB 7052?
We document carrier conduct against the standards it is now required to certify: missed statutory deadlines under Fla. Stat. 627.70131, unfair settlement practices under Fla. Stat. 626.9541, and inconsistent adjusting. Where warranted, that record supports a DFS complaint and a Civil Remedy Notice. The Insurer Accountability Act gives that documented record more weight than it had before.