Posted On: September 24, 2004, 4:52 pm CDT

Posted By: Bob Fike, CPCU

Although I concur that the current system of regulation is not the most efficient I will state that giving anything else to Washington is not only short sighted but foolish. The federal government is already too big and ineffective. In my simplistic and utopian view, we need to eliminate regulation of form and rate on all commercial insurance and let the market dictate what will happen. The personal lines consumer should be given the choice of regulated or non-regulated companies while still having the benefit of protection in the form of guarantee funds. The purpose of regulation should be to ensure the solvency of carriers and be a point of assistance in the event of consumer complaints not to dictate every form and rate.

Will this ever happen in my lifetime, probably not, but one can hope. Giving oversight to the fed will gain the industry nothing in efficiency, other than one set of rules regardless of risk location. Nevertheless, can you imagine what that set of rules would look like based upon other federal programs. Just look to the tax code of this country if you need proof that the fed can do nothing but make a mess for everyone.