Meet Your ICA
Tasha Carter joined the Department of Financial Services in 2003 and recently served as the Director of the Division of Consumer Services for nearly 9 years where she led a team of over 100 professionals who advocate and assist more than 300,000 insurance consumers annually. In this role, Tasha tirelessly advocated for Florida’s insurance consumers by engaging with the insurance industry, promoting education and outreach and working closely with Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis. Additionally, Tasha also spearheaded the CFO’s education and outreach initiatives to promote financial education for all Floridians.
In August 2019, Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis appointed her as Florida’s Insurance Consumer Advocate. ICA Carter is committed to using her 17 years of insurance experience to work closely with the CFO, stakeholders and legislators to find consumer-focused policy solutions and ensure consumers’ interests are represented when insurance decisions are made. ICA Carter’s professional experience includes nearly 20 years of leadership, professional responsibility and broad experience in regulation, consumer advocacy and education, and outreach.
Vision for the Insurance Consumer Advocate
Balancing Florida’s Insurance Market
The Office of Insurance Consumer Advocate is instrumental in maintaining a balance between a viable, competitive insurance market with the fiscal capacity to fulfill obligations to policyholders and consumers’ needs for accessible, affordable insurance products that protect their lives, their health and their property.
Identifying Trends and Improving Market Practices
Tapping into market
reports, along with some 300,000 inquiries made annually to the
Department of Financial Services statewide consumer helpline, the
Insurance Consumer Advocate is able to identify, first hand, market
trends affecting Floridians. This data empowers the Insurance Consumer
Advocate to seek early and proactive resolution of business practices
that may adversely affect Floridians, as well as to assist in expansion
of those beneficial to the consumer.
Representing the Consumer in Rate and Form Filings
Florida law authorizes the Insurance Consumer Advocate to represent consumer interests in regulatory proceedings regarding all insurance activities conducted under jurisdiction of the Department of Financial Services and the Office of Insurance Regulation. The Insurance Consumer Advocate also examines rate and form filings to assure rate changes are justified and fairly apportioned and that policies clearly and accurately reflect coverage provided.
Accomplishments
ICA Carter has Been Working for Florida’s Insurance Consumers
Since her appointment in August 2019, ICA Carter has been working diligently to determine the key insurance issues that consumers face and to develop solutions that protect and represent consumers’ interests.
View the list of ICA Carter’s 2019 accomplishments and consumer advocacy work: Florida’s Insurance Consumer Advocate 2019 Accomplishments.
Boards, Commissions, Advisory Groups
The Insurance Consumer Advocate represents the public in a wide range of public forums that include: health care panels, public hearings, rate filings, National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Working Groups, and statutorily appointed boards or task forces as identified below: (Dates of meetings and sub-committees are scheduled weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annually.)
Florida Workers’ Compensation Joint Underwriting Association (FWCJUA)
Created in section 627.311(4), Florida Statutes, the FWCJUA provides workers’ compensation and employers’ liability insurance to applicants who are required by law to maintain workers’ compensation and employers’ liability insurance but who are unable to purchase this insurance through the admitted voluntary market.
Florida Surplus Lines Service Office (FSLSO)
Created in section 626.921, Florida Statutes, the FSLSO is a self-regulating organization whose purpose is promoting a stable, efficient and financially strong surplus lines insurance market in Florida.
Florida Commission on Hurricane Loss Projection Methodology (FCHLPM)
Created in section 627.0628, Florida Statutes, the FCHLPM is a board of experts who provide the most actuarially sophisticated guidelines and standards for the projection of hurricane losses.
Florida Workers’ Compensation Insurance Guaranty Association (FWCIGA)
Created in section 631.911, Florida Statutes, the FWCIGA provides a source of funds for insureds whose insurance companies become insolvent.
Florida Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (Appeals Board)
Created in section 627.291(2), Florida Statutes, the Appeals Board provides individuals an independent review of the employers’ classification code assigned to them by an insurance company for the purpose of establishing their workers’ compensation rate.
Contact Your ICA
Florida's Insurance Consumer Advocate
Office of the Insurance Consumer Advocate
200 East Gaines Street, Tallahassee, FL 32399
Phone: (850) 413-5923
Email: YourFLVoice@MyFloridaCFO.com
