Latest Legislation Headlines

All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Calif. high court rules discovery does not apply to reinsurance documents

Sep 24 2007 // The California Supreme Court has ruled that a statute authorizing limited discovery of a defendant’s insurance coverage does not include authorization to look into reinsurance agreements as part of facilitating a...

CEA funding structure to be revamped under legislation sent to governor

Sep 24 2007 // By a wide margin, California lawmakers have approved a compromise between the California Earthquake Authority’s governing board and its participating homeowner insurers to replace a significant portion of the...

Florida’s private insurers try to be heard amid political storm

Sep 24 2007 // Protesters gathered on the steps of the old Florida Capitol to protest the high cost of property insurance rates in January in Tallahassee. The Legislature was in special session to pass homeowners insurance legislation....

CEA funding structure to be revamped under legislation sent to governor

Sep 24 2007 // p:By a wide margin, California lawmakers have approved a compromise between the California Earthquake Authority’s governing board and its participating homeowner insurers to replace a significant portion of the...

Prospects and pitfalls in a changing global insurance world

Sep 24 2007 // No European city has recently changed as much as Berlin (with the possible exception of Dublin). Since the fall of the wall in 1989, its 3.4 million residents have experienced an unprecedented building boom, as the German...

News Currents

Sep 24 2007 // Industry skeptical, while Treasury opposes natural disaster pool Federal legislation that encourages states to pool their catastrophe pool risks and then transfer them to the private market has been greeted with a lukewarm...

Alabama realtors call for coastal insurance relief

Sep 24 2007 // Owners of thousands of condominiums that line the Alabama Gulf Coast say they’re getting burned by soaring insurance premiums and insurance legislation to make coverage available and affordable on the coast...

Industry skeptical, while Treasury opposes natural disaster pool

Sep 24 2007 // Federal legislation that encourages states to pool their catastrophe pool risks and then transfer them to the private market has been greeted with a lukewarm insurance industry reaction at best and outright opposition from...

Declarations

Sep 24 2007 // Declarations Drive efficiencies “This will result in greater transparency in the rate-making process, increased price competition and lower premiums for employers because it will drive carriers to achieve greater...

Need for lawyers PL coverage increasing

Sep 24 2007 // The perils facing employed lawyers have increased substantially in the past five years. Attorneys should know better than anyone, other than perhaps insurance professionals, about the perils that exist and the value of...

Burnes: four insurers eyeing deregulated Mass. auto market

Sep 24 2007 // Massachusetts Insurance Commissioner Nonnie Burnes says four insurers not now writing auto insurance in the state have said they might enter if her plan to allow competitive pricing goes forward. Burnes is not naming the...

Calif. high court rules discovery does not apply to reinsurance documents

Sep 24 2007 // The California Supreme Court has ruled that a statute authorizing limited discovery of a defendant’s insurance coverage does not include authorization to look into reinsurance agreements as part of facilitating a...

Thriving in today’s challenging insurance environment

Sep 24 2007 // The insurance industry has witnessed a reduction in the number of markets, agents and brokers, and overall industry personnel in the past 10 years. Meanwhile, many markets continue to soften, competition has increased with...

Lawyers should not dismiss lawyers’ professional liability coverage

Sep 24 2007 // The perils facing employed lawyers have increased substantially in the past five years. Attorneys should know better than anyone about the perils that exist and the value of professional liability coverage. Yet there are a...

Washington’s Trial Bar, Insurers Roll Up Sleeves for Ref. 67 Fight

Sep 24 2007 // Who says an off-year election has to be boring? With millions in campaign contributions, weeks of bruising TV ads and plenty of name-calling, trial lawyers and insurance companies are doing their best to spice up this...

Fla. House, Senate Close in on Pact to Extend No-Fault Car Insurance

Sep 24 2007 // Florida legislators reached a general agreement to extend the state’s no-fault car insurance law rather than letting it expire as scheduled on Oct. 1, key members of both chambers said. The requirement that Florida...

Declarations

Sep 24 2007 // Drive efficiencies “This will result in greater transparency in the rate-making process, increased price competition and lower premiums for employers because it will drive carriers to achieve greater efficiency....

Surplus Lines Rules Clarified for Calif. Retail Agents

Sep 24 2007 // California retail agent-brokers not transacting insurance on behalf of surplus line broker organizations are not required to follow a new law affecting surplus lines brokers, the California Department of Insurance...

From Consumer Viewpoint, New Mass. Auto Rules Need Work

Sep 21 2007 // A Massachusetts consumer group and Attorney General Martha Coakley urged Insurance Commissioner Nonnie Burnes to incorporate more consumer protections and ban the use of credit scores in her proposed auto insurance...

House Approves Terrorism Insurance Backstop Extension

Sep 20 2007 // The House of Representative approved by a vote 312-110 H.R. 2761, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Revision and Extension Act of 2007 (TRIREA), legislation that extends and revises the federal terrorism insurance backstop for...