State insurance regulators want to centralize the filing and storage of their annual market conduct reports on insurance companies.
The regulators are reviewing a proposal that would allow insurers to make one filing, as well as provide regulators the ability to nationally aggregate the data. There are currently 24 states collecting the market conduct annual statement data in 2008.
The current proposal would provide for the centralized collection and storage of data by all states in 2009 through a supplemental filing to the annual statement.
More than 100 regulators, consumers and industry representatives participated in a conference call on the proposal. The call was sponsored by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and led by NAIC President and Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger. State legislators, consumer representatives and industry executives provided oral testimony.
The NAIC’s Market Regulation and Consumer Affairs Committee supports the measure, saying it will lead to a more efficient and effective system of market regulation through greater coordination among the states.
The NAIC is expected to consider the proposal in the next 30 days.
The NAIC begins its summer meeting in San Francisco the May31 through June 3.
The issue of annual statements from insurance companies will be on the agenda there, too.
The American Insurance Association (AIA) has said it will use the upcoming meeting as a forum to voice its “strong opposition” to efforts by the NAIC to “collect confidential and proprietary insurer information.”
The insurer group feels that the NAIC should be doing more to guard the confidentiality of the information insurance companies supply state insurance departments.
“This information is extremely sensitive and if it were to be compromised, there would be needlessly harmful ramifications for both consumers and insurance companies. In the states where insurers file market conduct annual statements, there are clear statutory requirements governing their confidentiality, and regulators must take appropriate steps to ensure this information remains confidential,” said Marc Racicot, AIA president.
The AIA said it also has concerns about a proposal to require insurance companies to disclose their activities related to climate change and its effects on insurance in annual financial statements.
David Snyder, AIA vice president and assistant general counsel, said his group thinks the requirement “would potentially harm policyholders, investors and insurers” and that it would “not be appropriate in connection with the financial annual statement.”
Topics Carriers
Was this article valuable?
Here are more articles you may enjoy.
Harvard Study Again Stirs the Pot on Demotech Ratings of Florida Carriers 
Grand Jury Indicts ‘Hole in Won’ Owner on Prize Insurance Fraud Charges 
Trump’s Bond Insurer Tells Judge Shortfall Is ‘Inconceivable’ 
Vintage Ferrari Owners’ Favorite Mechanic Charged With Theft, Fraud From This Issue
