Florida is letting insurers sell eyewear coverage, including for smart glasses, through the same point-of-sale license used for phones and tablets.
The change comes from CS for SB 772, an enrolled bill from the 2026 Florida Legislature, which takes effect July 1, 2026. It rewrites the state's limited portable electronics insurance license and renames it portable electronics or eyewear insurance. Three related statutes are updated to match.
Under the new law, eyewear is defined as smart glasses and nonelectronic eyewear, with the nonelectronic category covering prescription and nonprescription eyeglasses and sunglasses. Coverage runs to loss, theft, mechanical failure, malfunction, or damage.
The license goes only to employees or authorized representatives of a licensed general lines agent, or to the lead business location of a retail vendor with a contractual relationship with a general lines agent. One license covers both product lines, and a seller does not have to offer both. The statute is explicit that vendors cannot be forced to obtain two separate licenses to sell either product.
Insurers, or general lines agents they appoint, supervise the program and must run a training program for the vendor staff making the sales. Every location must keep brochures or written materials on hand for prospective customers. Those materials have to flag that the coverage may duplicate a homeowners or renters policy, state that enrollment is optional, lay out the material terms including the insurer's identity, the supervising entity, the deductible and how it is paid, the benefits of coverage, and whether the product can be repaired or replaced with reconditioned or nonoriginal manufacturer parts. They also have to walk through the claims process, including return rules and any maximum fee for failing to return equipment. Customers can cancel at any time and get back any unearned premium.
Commissions stay limited to licensed sellers. Vendors paying supplemental compensation for noninsurance products can include incidental compensation for insurance sales as part of the broader plan.
Billing is prescriptive. Bundled coverage has to be disclosed clearly and conspicuously, with the stand-alone premium for similar coverage shown on the customer's bill and in any marketing materials at the point of sale. Unbundled coverage has to be itemized. Premiums must be remitted to the insurer or supervising entity within 60 days of receipt and are treated as funds held in trust by the licensee in a fiduciary capacity for the benefit of the insurer. Licensees are not required to keep those funds in a segregated account.
Electronic notice is now a default. A customer who provides an email address is treated as consenting to electronic policy notices, as long as a conspicuously located disclosure tells the customer that is what is happening. The general lines agent appointed to supervise the program can send those notices on the insurer's behalf.
The bill also simplifies branch appointments. A branch can ride on a single appointment from the lead business location instead of getting individual appointments from each insurer or warranty association, provided the lead location holds appointments from each. Renewals run every 24 months, with a $30 fee per appointment.
On claims, the licensing exemption for employees doing data entry into an automated claims adjudication system carries over, capped at 25 such employees per supervising licensed independent adjuster or exempt agent. The system has to be certified as compliant by a licensed independent adjuster who is an officer of a licensed business entity. The bill also keeps a rule blocking Canadian residents from being licensed as nonresident independent adjusters for these claims unless they already hold an adjuster's license in another state.
Fingerprinting requirements under section 626.171(4) do not apply to these limited licensees, and the standard examination and knowledge-and-experience requirements that apply to general lines agents do not apply either.
The act takes effect July 1, 2026.
