Convention Registration Now Open!

Registration for the 2009 NAPSLO Annual Convention is now open and members can register online for the meeting, set for October 7-10 at the Orlando World Center Marriott, by using the Registration link on the Convention webpage at http://annual.napslo.org. You will need your firm's Member ID for your office to register.

Please note the following items regarding the convention:

• Hotel rooms are available at the Orlando World Center Marriott ($225) and Caribe Royale Orlando ($154). NAPSLO will provide transportation between the hotels during convention hours.
• A large block of rooms is available on Tuesday for early arrivals.
• Complimentary wireless internet access will be available in the Brokers’ Lounge.
• Dr. Robert P. Hartwig, CPCU, president of the Insurance Information Institute, will present the Derek Hughes/NAPSLO Educational Foundation Lecture Series.
• A panel of company and broker members will review the current landscape in our industry.
• A panel pitting Generation X and Baby Boomers will review industry and workplace expectations and attitudes during a “Family Feud” type of program.
• NAPSLO will offer a Friday night activity for attendees under 40.

Webinar on E&S Market Available to View

A replay of the June 11 A.M. Best webinar organized by NAPSLO on the Pricing and Availability in the Excess & Surplus Lines market is now available to view on the A.M. Best website. More than 1,000 people signed up to view the webcast live.

Participants in the one-hour discussion were:

• Paul Springman, President and COO, Markel Corp.
• Marla Donovan, Vice President, Burns & Wilcox
• Kevin Westrope, President and CEO, Westrope
• Richard Kerr, Chairman and CEO, MarketScout Corporation
• Duncan McColl and Lee McDonald, A.M. Best Company
  

The panel examined today's market, including pricing and availability, for specialty insurance, and changes in the financial strength of the specialty insurance sector of the property/casualty industry.

Florida Governor Signs HB 853, Provides Remedy to Zota Ruling

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist today signed into law HB 853, which clarifies the surplus lines industry's status regarding forms and policy regulation that was challenged by the Florida Supreme Court’s ruling in 2008 in the Essex v. Zota opinion.

The Florida House of Representatives and Senate unanimously passed the legislation in May and sent the bill to the governor. On Wednesday representatives of the surplus lines industry met with the Governor to explain the importance of the legislation to Florida consumers and encouraged him to sign the bill.

The bill restores the industry's exemption from regulation of surplus lines forms and policies that was put into question by the court ruling which said that surplus lines was only exempt from the rating section of Chapter 627 of Florida’s statute (Insurance Rates and Contracts) but was subject to the chapter’s other provisions.

The new law affirms the industry's regulatory exemption retroactive to Oct. 1, 1988, the date the Florida Supreme Court’s decision ruled previous legislation initiated the exemption of rate, but not form regulation.

“We are pleased to see that the Governor signed the bill," said NAPSLO Executive Director Richard Bouhan. "This is was an important victory for the industry and for the Working Group that had drafted and steered the legislation to unanimous approvals in the Florida House and Senate."