Florida OIR Orders Unlicensed RRG to Cease and Desist After Owners Arrested

Florida’s insurance commissioner on Monday ordered an unlicensed risk retention group and its principals to cease operating, two months after the owners were charged in connection with collecting thousands of dollars in premiums and keeping the money.

Christopher Jason Brossett, of Destin, Florida, was arrested in June and charged with theft while operating a company known as Hydrogen Deep, doing business as The Wave Risk Retention Group. A month later, authorities charged Destin insurance agent Brady Allen Howard, age 59, with representing the group, according to the Office of Insurance Regulation order, dated Aug. 28.

The duo collected more than $100,000 in premiums from people, and diverted the funds for personal use, Commissioner Michael Yaworsky said in a statement.

OIR’s Market Conduct team and the Florida Department of Financial Services found that Brossett and Howard had operated under company names and provided insurance policy quotes, collected premiums, issued insurance binders, provided certificates of insurance, then failed to pay claims.

Risk retention groups are not required by law to be licensed in every state in which they operate, as long as they are chartered in a domiciled state. But no records can be found in other states, and the OIR has no record that Hydrogen Deep or The Wave were ever granted a certificate of authority in Florida. Florida corporation records show The Wave has a principal address in Destin.

“Operating without a required license and soliciting consumers is not only unacceptable, but it can also cause immediate danger to public health and safety,” Yaworsky said.

Brossett and Howard could not be reached Monday at email addresses and phone numbers listed for them.

Yaworsky did not explain why the cease-and-desist order came a more than a month after the principals were arrested, or why the Office did not announce the order until four weeks after it was issued.

Florida DFS records show that Howard is a licensed insurance producer, appointed with one life insurance company but not with a property-casualty company. Corporation records show that he previously worked with Coconut Financial Group, in Destin, and with Bikini Bottom Scuba LLC, in Fort Walton Beach.

A web page for The Wave included no information, other than “coming soon” posted at the bottom of the page.

Brossett and Howard were booked into the Okaloosa County jail this summer, but posted a hefty surety bond and were released. Both have an Oct. 12 pretrial conference date.