(1) Subject to and in compliance with the provisions of this part authorizing insurers to be members or subscribers of rating or advisory organizations or to engage in joint underwriting or joint reinsurance, two or more insurers may act in concert with each other and with others with respect to any matters pertaining to:
(a) The making of rates or rating systems except for private passenger automobile insurance rates;
(b) The preparation or making of insurance policy or bond forms, underwriting rules, surveys, inspections, and investigations;
(c) The furnishing of loss or expense statistics or other information and data; or
(d) The carrying on of research.
(2) With respect to any matters pertaining to the making of rates or rating systems; the preparation or making of insurance policy or bond forms, underwriting rules, surveys, inspections, and investigations; the furnishing of loss or expense statistics or other information and data; or the carrying on of research, two or more authorized insurers having a common ownership or operating in the state under common management or control are hereby authorized to act in concert between or among themselves the same as if they constituted a single insurer. To the extent that such matters relate to cosurety bonds, two or more authorized insurers executing such bonds are hereby authorized to act in concert between or among themselves the same as if they constituted a single insurer.
(3)(a) Members and subscribers of rating or advisory organizations may use the rates, rating systems, underwriting rules, or policy or bond forms of such organizations, either consistently or intermittently; but, except as provided in subsection (2) and ss. 627.311 and 627.351, they shall not agree with each other or rating organizations or others to adhere thereto.
(b) The fact that two or more authorized insurers, whether or not members or subscribers of a rating or advisory organization, use, either consistently or intermittently, the rates or rating systems made or adopted by a rating organization or the underwriting rules or policy or bond forms prepared by a rating or advisory organization shall not be sufficient in itself to support a finding that an agreement to so adhere exists, and may be used only for the purpose of supplementing or explaining direct evidence of the existence of any such agreement.
(c) This subsection does not apply as to workers’ compensation and employer’s liability insurances.
(4) Licensed rating organizations and authorized insurers are authorized to exchange information and experience data with rating organizations and insurers in this and other states and may consult with them with respect to ratemaking and the application of rating systems.
(5) Upon compliance with the provisions of this part applicable thereto, any rating organization or advisory organization, and any group, association, or other organization of authorized insurers which engages in joint underwriting or joint reinsurance through such organization or by standing agreement among the members thereof, may conduct operations in this state. As respects insurance risks or operations in this state, no insurer shall be a member or subscriber of any such organization, group, or association that has not complied with the provisions of this part applicable to it.
(6) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this part, insurers shall not participate directly or indirectly in the deliberations or decisions of rating organizations on private passenger automobile insurance. However, such rating organizations shall, upon request of individual insurers, be required to furnish at reasonable cost the rate indications resulting from the loss and expense statistics gathered by them. Individual insurers may modify the indications to reflect their individual experience in determining their own rates. Such rates shall be filed with the office for public inspection whenever requested and shall be available for public announcement only by the press, office, or insurer.
History.—s. 16, ch. 67-9; s. 1, ch. 70-320; s. 1, ch. 71-6(B); s. 3, ch. 76-168; s. 1, ch. 77-457; s. 108, ch. 79-40; ss. 2, 3, ch. 81-318; ss. 357, 809(2nd), ch. 82-243; ss. 49, 79, ch. 82-386; s. 114, ch. 92-318; s. 1098, ch. 2003-261.