Latest Legislation Headlines

Judge: Stricter Regulation at Massey West Virginia Mine Not Justified

Jun 10 2010 // An administrative law judge ruled this week that there was no pattern of violations that would lead to stricter regulation at a Massey Energy Co. mine in Virginia. A Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission judge...

Florida Lawmaker: Lower Gulf Coast Property Assessments, Make BP Pay

Jun 10 2010 // Property appraisers from three Panhandle counties and a state representative say the Legislature should allow tax appraisers to lower coastal property values immediately because of the oil spill. Appraisers from Escambia,...

Pinnacol Officials Face Colo. Lawmakers

Jun 8 2010 // Officials from Colorado’s state-chartered workers’ compensation insurer Pinnacol Assurance have some explaining to do. The Legislative Audit Committee recently met to go over the company’s financial...

Hawaii Insurance Commissioner Schmidt Resigns

Jun 8 2010 // J.P. Schmidt, Insurance Commissioner of the State of Hawaii, announced he be leaving his position to join the Honolulu law firm of Bays Deaver Lung Rose Holma, effective July 1. Schmidt will be practicing general business,...

Judge: Policy Didn’t Cover Chinese Drywall Damage

Jun 7 2010 // An insurance company doesn’t have to pay for damages at a Virginia man’s home ruined by Chinese-made, sulfur-emitting drywall, a decision by a federal judge Thursday that could affect how lawsuits by thousands...

Maine Court Rules City Immune in Plane Crash Suit

Jun 7 2010 // Maine’s highest court has ruled that the city of Lewiston is immune from a lawsuit in connection with a plane crash in 2006 that killed three Lewiston High School students. A superior court judge last year ruled that...

Georgia Bans Texting While Driving; Targets Teens

Jun 7 2010 // Put down the cell phone and step away from the car. Georgia drivers soon will be banned from texting, checking e-mail or using the Internet behind the wheel and teens will be prohibited from using their cell phones at all...

Trade Groups Sue New York over Pay-Disclosure Rules

Jun 7 2010 // Agents Vow to Fight Regulations Two trade groups for New York insurance agents are suing the state’s insurance regulator over new rules that will force them to reveal to clients how much they are paid for a...

Massachusetts AG Wants New Regulations for Insurers, Agents

Jun 7 2010 // Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley is proposing new regulations that she says will rein in sales and underwriting practices for auto insurers and agents in the state. The regulations come in response to a report...

Declarations

Jun 7 2010 // Surplus Battle “It’s pretty much as outrageously unconstitutional, illegal and in-your-face as it gets.” —Kevin Fitzgerald, a lawyer for the policyholders of New Hampshire’s Joint Underwriting...

Jun 7 2010 // Congress’s inability to act leaves many in flood prone areas vulnerable – for the second time this year and the fourth in 12 months’ time. When it rains it pours, as the saying goes. By extension, one...

Florida Insurers Head Into Hurricane Season with Fingers Crossed

Jun 7 2010 // Florida’s property insurance companies haven’t suffered hurricane losses for nearly five years, but many claim to be losing money even while collecting hefty premiums. It’s a complex paradigm for almost...

Oklahoma Lawmakers Pass Workers’ Comp Legislation

Jun 7 2010 // The Oklahoma Legislature passed four measures that alter the state workers’ compensation system, including one that requires Senate confirmation of Workers’ Compensation Court judges – a proposal that...

Jun 7 2010 // Congress’s inability to act leaves many in flood prone areas vulnerable – for the second time this year and the fourth in 12 months’ time. When it rains it pours, as the saying goes. By extension, one...

Calif. Agents Could Face New CE Requirements

Jun 7 2010 // Agents, Insurer Groups Discuss Homeowners Replacement Cost Regulations California insurance agents and producers may face new continuing education requirements on estimating replacement value on homeowners insurance. The...

Supervisor Has Duty to Enforce OSHA Compliance

Jun 7 2010 // The workplace is undergoing a demographic change as “Baby Boomers” – born between 1946 and 1960 – retire and are replaced by Generation X (1961-1982) and Generation Y/Millennial Generation...

Commercial Market to Remain Stable, Challenging for Risk Managers

Jun 7 2010 // Marsh Sees Insurer Security, Transparency, Accountability as Issues Despite the global economic crisis, the commercial insurance market is poised to remain stable through 2010, but new challenges are emerging for risk...

New York Approves Disclosure-Compensation Statement

Jun 4 2010 // New York agents can use a 226-word, boilerplate statement written by a trade group to comply with compensation-disclosure regulations that go into effect next year, state regulators said. The Professional Insurance Agents...

After Child Fatality, Ohio Lawmakers Push for School Bus Seat Belts

Jun 4 2010 // State lawmakers say a school bus crash that killed an eastern Ohio kindergarten student has given new urgency to a proposal requiring seat belts on school buses. Six-year-old Kasey King of Frazeysburg died June 2 when a...

Bermuda Monetary Authority Launches Pilot Internal Capital Model

Jun 2 2010 // The Bermuda Monetary Authority has begun conducting a pilot of its internal capital model (ICM) review process with selected Class 4 companies, the largest commercial (re)insurers in the Bermuda market. “The ICM...