Following the failure of the Florida Senate Bill 516 to pass into law, the National Risk Retention Association (NRRA) is accelerating its campaign to challenge what it describes as “illegal discrimination against risk retention groups (RRGs) in Florida.” The Florida Senate Bill 516, which looked to change the definition of “motor vehicle liability policy”, and redefine the term “RRG”, failed to pass into law on 5 May. It was heavily criticised by the NRRA, who vowed to launch a pushback against it. The association’s executive director Joe Deems has since said: “No time is being wasted to see what previously ill-conceived legislative phoenix might rise from the ashes here.” Deems announced the association’s next steps following the news that other entities within the state appear to be relying on the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation's (FOIR’s) "Pop-up" Notice — essentially to prevent RRG members from trying to do business in the state. The FOIR’s Pop-up notice states that RRGs are “not authorised” to write liability insurance in the State of Florida. Deems says this is “legally incorrect and unnecessarily negative and prejudicial”. He adds: “Although federal law allows them to operate, RRGs are not chartered in Florida, meaning the state guarantee fund is not available to them in the state of insolvency. This is giving a false impression that RRGs are financially unreliable and steering businesses and governmental entities away from RRGs and towards traditional carriers.” Additionally, he says: “the FOIR does not appear to be enforcing its own pop-up directly, but is encouraging other state agencies and municipalities to do so, causing them to be the ones to violate federal law, and be subject to potential legal liability.” The NRRA says its next campaign target is the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) as it claims prior orders and directives undertaken by the FDOT were part of the motivation behind the Florida Bill 516. On 24 May, the NRRA issued a letter to the FDOT, explaining how the department is in “direct violation” of the Liability Risk Retention Act “as a front for the FOIR”. Deems has urged all RRG groups to join the NRRA’s fundraising campaign.
