The Florida Department of Financial Services requires specific obligations to be met when conducting annuity business in their state. While the requirements are not new, this notice should serve as a reminder and show how ESI has solutions to help ensure compliance.
These obligations outline that the agent, must have reasonable grounds for believing that the recommendation is suitable for the consumer, based on the consumer’s suitability information. To assist with this requirement, they offer an Annuity Suitability Questionnaire form DFS-H1-1980. This form is required for any annuity business occurring in Florida regardless of the client’s age. ESI has added this document to our forms library. Docupace StartingPoint will automatically add it to Florida annuity form kits as a required form effective 04/07/2023.
Additionally, Florida requires the Disclosure and Comparison of Annuity Contracts form DFS-H1-1981 to inform the client of material facts when a replacement transaction is occurring. ESI has also added this form to our library; however, it will remain as an optional form that can manually be added to the forms kit when necessary.
It is worth noting that these forms may also be needed for subsequent deposits into existing Florida contracts. Rep’s assembling paperwork via Merrill will continue to be responsible for adding them when necessary.
Please call Direct Business Suitability at 800-344-7437 with questions.
TC132706(0423)1