Florida Statutes, Rules, and Regulations Pertaining to Insurance
Licensing and regulation
Florida's insurance code (Chapter 626) is administered by the Department of Financial Services (DFS) for agent licensing and by the Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) for market conduct and rate filing. Common licenses include the 2-20 General Lines agent and the 4-40 Customer Representative. Agents must hold a valid license, be appointed by each insurer they represent, and complete 24 hours of continuing education every two years, including a 5-hour law and ethics update. Records of insurance transactions must be retained for at least three years and made available to the Department on request.
Conduct and fiduciary duties
Premiums collected belong to the insurer or the insured - never to the agent personally. Commingling or misappropriation is grounds for discipline and license revocation. Prohibited practices under the Unfair Insurance Trade Practices Act include misrepresentation, twisting (misrepresentation to induce replacement), churning (replacement to generate commissions), rebating (offering anything of value not stated in the policy), false advertising, coercion, and unfair claim settlement practices.
Claims and consumer protections
Insurers must acknowledge a claim promptly (generally within 14 days), conduct a timely investigation, and pay or deny within the statutory period after receiving proof of loss. Florida requires advance written notice of cancellation - roughly 10 days for nonpayment of premium and 20 days for other reasons on personal lines, with longer notice for nonrenewal. A Civil Remedy Notice starts a 60-day cure window before a bad-faith action may be brought. FIGA pays covered claims of insolvent insurers (subject to statutory caps), and Citizens Property Insurance Corporation serves as the state's insurer of last resort.
Worked example / rule of thumb
An agent accepts a $2,400 premium check and deposits it in a personal account to "hold it a few days." That is a fiduciary breach and commingling, regardless of intent to remit later - a license-suspension offense.
Rule of thumb: Anything of value offered outside the policy = rebating; any replacement to earn commission = churning; any replacement obtained by misleading the client = twisting.