What’s up with AppleCare in Florida?

By Laurie A. Duncan

Randy pointed us to a story in the
St. Petersburg Times about Apple's failure to provide extended warranty coverage (i.e.
AppleCare) to "individual consumers" in Florida where
AppleCare can only be sold to businesses, non-profits and schools/educational institutions with a valid Tax ID.

Apple says that a complicated set of FL laws – which were intended to protect FL's senior citizen population from scams – are to blame, buta Florida Office of Insurance Regulation spokesperson says that under Chapter 634 of state statutes all Apple has to do is apply for and obtain a $500 license and meet a few financial requirements.

I'm guessing that's a gross oversimplification of what is actually required. From what I've been told, extended warranties in FL are treated like "insurance" and insurance laws and regulations in FL are the toughest in the country.
So I'm going to go out of a limb and say there's a lot more to it than this article suggests. There are only about a hundred companies total that are licensed to sell extended warranties in Florida. If is was so easy... wouldn't everyone be doing it?

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