Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Florida CFO: Why Aren’t Florida Property Rates Falling Along with Reinsurance?
Aug 9 2013 // Florida’s top financial officer is questioning regulators on why reports of significantly lower reinsurance costs worldwide are not translating into reduced premiums for homeowners around the state. Chief Financial...
NSA Leaks Could Stymie U.S. Cyber Policy Progress: Officials
Aug 9 2013 // Weeks of revelations about secret U.S. surveillance programs could stymie progress on negotiations over new laws and regulations meant to beef up the country’s defenses against the growing threat of cyber attacks,...
What Jeff Atwater Gets Wrong, and Right, About Florida Reinsurance
Aug 8 2013 // Yesterday, Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater penned a letter to Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty inquiring why property insurance rates continue to rise even as the cost of reinsurance falls. Atwater...
Remington Asks Judge To Dismiss Montana Lawsuit Over Rifle
Aug 8 2013 // Gun manufacturer Remington has asked a federal judge to dismiss a proposed class-action lawsuit by Montanans who bought a type of rifle that can reportedly misfire without the trigger being pulled. Allen Bowker and Eric...
WCIRB Raises Advisory Pure Premium 3.4%
Aug 7 2013 // The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau’s Governing Committee voted unanimously on Wednesday to authorize the WCIRB to file an advisory pure premium rate for 2014 of $2.62 per $100 of payroll, 3.4...
Judge: Fraud Convict’s Wife Can’t Get Policy Money
Aug 7 2013 // The wife of a man convicted of bilking millions of dollars out of people in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and elsewhere in an investment fraud scheme cannot collect proceeds from his insurance policy, a federal...
Florida Sen. Fasano, Veteran on Insurance Legislation, Leaving for Tax Job
Aug 7 2013 // Florida Gov. Rick Scott is appointing maverick legislator Mike Fasano to the position of Pasco County tax collector. The governor’s office said that Scott had appointed Fasano, R-New Port Richey, to the job on...
Commentary: Does FSOC Understand the Business of Insurance?
Aug 5 2013 // The Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) designated AIG as a Systemically Important Financial Institution (SIFI) after determining that “material financial distress at AIG could pose a threat to U.S....
R.I. Enacts Auto Body Repair Bill
Aug 5 2013 // Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee recently signed into law a bill (HB 5263/SB 465) that would prevent insurers from declaring a vehicle a total loss if the vehicle can be restored to its pre-accident condition at a cost...
Delay in Employer Mandate Review is Welcome
Aug 5 2013 // The Obama Administration’s recent decision to delay implementation of the Employer Mandate and reporting requirements in the Affordable Care Act should be viewed as a welcomed move. Namely, it’s an opportunity...
Florida Supreme Court Rules Replacement Cost Includes Contractor’s Profit
Aug 5 2013 // Florida’s high court has ruled that insurers under a 2008 law must pay a contractor’s overhead and profit as part of the expense of repairing a homeowner’s property despite repairs not having been...
Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Against Dodd-Frank by 11 States and Texas Bank
Aug 1 2013 // A lawsuit by 11 states and a Texas bank challenging the Dodd-Frank law’s financial regulation overhaul was dismissed by a federal judge. U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle in Washington Thursday ruled that the...
Judge Rejects California Suit Against Timber Co. Over Fire
Aug 1 2013 // A Plumas County judge has dismissed a state lawsuit against California’s largest timber company for a 2007 wildfire that destroyed more than 100 square miles of forest in Northern California. State and federal...
Hawaii Supreme Court Rules on Wrongful Death Suit
Aug 1 2013 // A la Moana Center had a duty to care for a woman who died after getting stuck in an exhaust duct, even though she was trespassing on the roof, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled. But the opinion also affirms parts of a lower...
Judge Won’t Toss $70M Jury Award Against Las Vegas Sands
Aug 1 2013 // A Hong Kong businessman is one step closer to collecting a multibillion-dollar award from Las Vegas Sands Corp., the largest U.S. casino company. A Nevada judge on Tuesday denied Sands’ request to throw out a jury...
Senate Bill on Chemical Safety Runs Into Roadbloack
Aug 1 2013 // A bipartisan measure on federal toxic chemical standards would undercut state efforts, the head of a Senate committee said in comments that may imperil a compromise to overhaul U.S. consumer-safety regulations. Senator...
New Law Means New Penalties For Minnesota Arsonists
Jul 31 2013 // Costly-to-fight wildfires that are intentionally set in Minnesota will soon carry tougher penalties under a new law. The enhanced arson law was passed in May and goes live on Thursday. It builds off an existing wildfire...
Allied World Launches Multinational Product Initiative
Jul 31 2013 // Allied World Assurance Company Holdings, AG announced the official launch of Allied WorldWideSM, which it described as “a newly created platform designed to meet the insurance coverage needs of multinational...
Insurers, Customers Were Kept Safe from 2008 Financial Crisis: GAO Report
Jul 30 2013 // At a time when efforts are underway to require additional supervision of some large insurers, a new government report concludes that the insurance industry’s own practices and the policies of state and federal...
Alabama Coastal Residents Bracing for Major Flood Insurance Increases
Jul 30 2013 // Flood maps aren’t due out for Alabama until next December, but the specter of rising flood insurance premiums is undeniable. Congress, seeking to undo the damage done to the National Flood Insurance Program after...
