to regulation by the Florida Office of Insurance

INFORMATIONAL MEMORANDUM OIR-06-012M ISSUED July 7, 2006 Florida Office of Insurance Regulation Kevin M. McCarty, Commissioner To All Insurers and Entities Regulated by the Office of Insurance Regulation Electronic Filing of Financial Documents Using Industry Portal Insurance companies and other related entities are subject to regulation by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (Office). One aspect of this regulation is that the companies are required to provide the state with information regarding their financial status and other statutorily required information. The Office has created a computer-based application that will transfer the majority of reporting activities to electronic format. The Regulatory Electronic Filing System (REFS) will allow companies to submit their financial related documentation, requests, and other correspondence electronically to the Office. Effective Monday, July 10, 2006, REFS will be available for use by all entities regulated by the Office. Beginning on this date, all financial-related filings, including various agreements, reinsurance documents, dividend requests, and all other correspondence with the Financial Oversight business areas, are to be submitted using REFS. REFS can be found on the Office’s Industry Portal at https://apps.fldfs.com/REFS/. Page 2 of 2 OIR-06-012M For all companies under the oversight of Life & Health Financial Oversight or Property & Casualty Financial Oversight: o If applicable, amended Filing Checklists will be available mid-July. They are located at http://www.floir.com/Office/OIR_Required_Filing_Reporting.aspx. o Most documents filed with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) will not need to be provided to the Office by the company. Please note: A signed & notarized Jurat Page will be required for each company. o All Florida-specific documents must be submitted electronically using REFS. For all companies under the oversight of Specialty Product Administration, instructions for completing the necessary filings are contained within each respective form for the specific regulated authority. Prior to using REFS, companies can review the REFS tutorial and user guide, which have been posted on the Office’s website at http://www.floir.com/Office/OnlineApplications/REFSindex.aspx. To open the tutorial: open the WinZip file. Select the REFS-Video-v1.0.avi file and click on Extract. Choose the most appropriate location to save the file. Remember the location; you will need it. Double click on CamPlay.exe in the WinZip file. Click on Run when the Unknown Publisher message box appears. When the Camtasia Player window appears, click on File, Open. For the Look In location, designate the location of the saved REFS-Video-v1.0.avi file. Click on Open. The tutorial should automatically begin. Please note: you need a sound card and speakers/headphones to receive the full benefit of the tutorial. The User Guide can be saved for ease of future reference. For further information regarding REFS or questions regarding new filing requirements, please refer to the contact information provided in the Filing Checklists or contact the analyst assigned to your company.