Florida Surplus Lines study plan

Map the Florida Department of Financial Services and Office of Insurance Regulation structure, and state which entity licenses, disciplines, and regulates surplus lines agents

Identify the licensing pathway for a Florida surplus lines agent, including prelicensing hours, appointment, biennial renewal, and continuing education hour requirements

Distinguish the fiduciary duties a Florida licensee owes on premium funds, including trust account handling and commingling prohibitions

List the unfair trade practices and prohibited acts under the Florida Insurance Code that most often trigger administrative action

Explain when a risk is eligible for surplus lines placement in Florida and when it must be declined by admitted carriers

Define diligent effort and describe how declinations are documented and retained

Identify the Florida Surplus Lines Service Office's role in policy filing, premium tax collection, and reporting

Compute Florida surplus lines premium tax and the service fee on a sample policy

Differentiate eligible surplus lines insurers from unauthorized insurers, including trust fund and capital/surplus thresholds

Describe the Florida-only restrictions on placing coverage with unauthorized insurers and the penalties for improper placement

Outline the surplus lines agent's responsibilities for policy disclosure notices, buyer acknowledgment, and records retention

Order the steps of a surplus lines transaction from declination through policy issuance and SLIP filing

Identify which policy provisions are mandatory versus optional in Florida surplus lines policies, including the required notice language

Distinguish the elements of a valid insurance contract and apply them to surplus lines binders

Explain the legal effect of warranties, representations, concealment, and misrepresentation on coverage

Resolve practice scenarios involving waiver, estoppel, and the parol evidence rule

Analyze the structure of a policy: declarations, insuring agreement, conditions, exclusions, and endorsements

Differentiate the named insured, additional insured, and loss payee, and state each party's rights

Explain cancellation, nonrenewal, and conditional renewal notice requirements and how they differ

Apply the concepts of subrogation, assignment, and appraisal to sample claims scenarios

Define the core insurance terms of risk, peril, hazard, exposure, and loss, and classify hazards in given examples

Distinguish indemnity, insurable interest, utmost good faith, adhesion, and aleatory as contract characteristics

Compute coinsurance penalties, deductibles, and limits of liability in short practice problems

Compare the concepts of actual cash value, replacement cost, and agreed value

Integrate all four domains by answering mixed-topic practice sets under time pressure

Rank your weakest sub-topics from the error log and rebuild each with targeted review

Restate Florida surplus lines rules from memory without notes

Practice eliminating distractor answers that swap admitted and surplus lines terminology

Complete two full-length timed practice exams simulating exam conditions

Review every missed question and confirm no domain falls below 80%

Drill Florida-specific numerical facts: CE hours, renewal cycle, tax rate, and filing deadlines

Build a final one-page memory sheet of formulas and Florida-only rules