Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Emergency Assessment — Termination Effective January 1, 2015
The State of Florida is terminating the Florida Hurricane Emergency Assessment as of January 1, 2015. The termination of the assessment applies to mortgage insurance premiums on loans for Florida properties insured by United Guaranty.
New MI Submissions: For certificates put in-force by United Guaranty on or after January 1, 2015, the assessment will no longer be charged. This applies to all premium options.
Certificates Put In Force Prior to January 1, 2015: United Guaranty is required to collect the hurricane assessment fee on all insurance certificates put in force prior to January 1, 2015.
Existing Loans with Renewals: United Guaranty is required to collect and remit the assessment on monthly premium renewals until the 2015 anniversary date of the certificate. (Florida applies the assessment on an annualized basis.) For example, the assessment will be collected with each monthly renewal premium due for a certificate issued on March 2014 through the March 2015 premium due date. This assessment will no longer be collected after the March 2015 premium and assessment have been received.
Kentucky and West Virginia
For Kentucky and West Virginia Master Policyholders, or an originator and/or servicer of Kentucky or West Virginia loans, the departments of insurance for these states require United Guaranty to collect a state premium surcharge. In Kentucky, a local tax is also collected from the insured.
A premium tax is imposed if a municipality, urban county government, or county government adopts the tax. The local government sets the tax rate; the location of the property securing the loan determines the applicability of the tax. (This is subject to change; West Virginia mortgage indemnity is based on lender location.)
The premium surcharge for Kentucky is 1.8% of the insurance premium. The premium surcharge for West Virginia is .55% of the insurance premium. The surcharges apply to all insurance premiums on loans secured by mortgages on Kentucky or West Virginia properties.
The premium tax and surcharge are charged on all initial and renewal premiums. The amount due for Kentucky is listed on commitments issued for new insurance effective on or after October 1, 1990. The surcharge for West Virginia will be listed on commitments issued for new insurance effective on or after July 1, 1992. For our Premiums Due statements, renewal premiums calculated using the level method will show the pre-calculated surcharge and tax on the statement. For premiums calculated using the declining loan amount, servicers must apply the surcharge and tax rates to the calculated premium to determine the amount due.