Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
News Currents
Nov 19 2006 // Calif. associations take issue with broker definition, OAL to weigh in The California Office of Administrative Law (OAL) has decided to accept a petition filed by Insurance Brokers and Agents of the West (IBA West)...
Power shift in the political landscape
Nov 19 2006 // Although it took a little time for all the votes to be counted, the 2006 midterm elections saw a wave of Democratic candidates wrest control of both houses of Congress, gain a majority of the governorships and take control...
IIABA president: contingency commission crisis threatens agents
Nov 19 2006 // For a small- to mid-sized independent insurance agency, contingency commissions can determine whether the business survives, according to many within the industry. That explains why Alex Soto, a Miami agent who is also...
Democratic Congress OK for industry traditionally tied to Republicans
Nov 19 2006 // News Currents The new Congress may be blue on Capitol Hill, but insiders say that’s not necessarily a bad color for the insurance industry. “The more things change, the more they may remain pretty much the...
The Locomotive That Drive the Insurance Train
Nov 19 2006 // The insurance industry’s excess and surplus lines (E&S) sector has experienced a pronounced reversal of position in the last 20 years. Once considered a mere adjunct, a safety valve for risks that were too hard...
Judge Allows Miss. Suit Against Agent for Lapsed Flood Policy
Nov 17 2006 // A federal judge has ruled that a Gulf Coast couple can sue their insurance agent for negligence after he allegedly allowed their flood insurance policy to lapse only days before Hurricane Katrina wrecked their...
Conn. Agents Told to Brace for Bill to Ban Contingent Pay
Nov 17 2006 // Connecticut Insurance Commissioner Susan Cogswell has warned independent agents in her state that they should expect to see legislation to restrict or wipe out their contingent commissions. She said that legislation should...
S.D. Announces New Online Enhancements for Insurers, Agents
Nov 15 2006 // Insurance carriers, agencies, and producers will be able to connect with the South Dakota Department of Revenue and Regulation, Division of Insurance 24 hours a day, thanks to an agreement signed recently with a national...
Mass. Adopts ‘High Net Worth’ Exclusion for Insolvency Fund
Nov 15 2006 // Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) has signed legislation that creates a high net worth exclusion into the state law governing the fund that covers claims when an insurer becomes insolvent. A high net worth policyholder is...
Neb. Senator’s Driver’s Certificate Legislation Raises Questions
Nov 14 2006 // To combat problems created by uninsured drivers, Nebraska State Sen. Ray Aguilar of Grand Island plans to introduce legislation next year that would create a driver’s certificate. The certificate would allow a person...
Mississippi: Judge May Consider Consolidating 1,000 Lawsuits
Nov 13 2006 // Six lawsuits against insurance companies over damage claims from Hurricane Katrina once set for trial in 2007 have been delayed by U.S. District Judge L.T. Senter Jr. Senter also says he is willing to consider...
S. D. J.A.I.L. for Judges Amendment Soundly Defeated
Nov 8 2006 // The American Insurance Association (AIA) and the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC) said today that common sense triumphed in South Dakota with the sound defeat of Amendment E, the so-called...
Georgia Issues Annuity Regulations
Nov 7 2006 // The Georgia insurance commission has adoped new regulations that promise to protect consumers who buy annuity products. Insurance Commissioner John W. Oxendine said an insurer or agent must have reasonable grounds for...
Lawmakers say New Orleans insurance analysis reveals racial imbalance
Nov 6 2006 // Outreach measures never reached many minority homeowners, study found Associated Press analysis showing white homeowners in New Orleans were three times as likely as minorities to appeal insurance settlements after...
Rising tide of lawsuits–EPLI
Nov 6 2006 // The reality of today’s workplace is that a wide variety of employee grievances may escalate, almost without warning, into costly lawsuits. Any time an employee objects to a company employment practice that is...
Honesty is the best insurance policy
Nov 6 2006 // Why government should require insurance policies to declare what is NOT covered I have introduced legislation in the U.S. Senate to make future insurance policies easier for consumers to understand. The “Honesty is...
Calif. approves reinsurance regs
Nov 6 2006 // California’s Office of Administrative Law has approved “Reinsurance Accounting, Agreements and Oversight” regulations proposed by the Department of Insurance. The regulations set forth the principal...
Golden State Division of Workers’ Compensation proposes penalties against laggard insurers
Nov 6 2006 // California’s Division of Workers’ Compensation has issued a revised proposal of regulations that would penalize insurers and self-insurers that show a pattern of denying or delaying workers’ compensation...
Judge rules former N.M. superintendent must appear for deposition
Nov 6 2006 // A judge has ruled that former New Mexico Insurance Superintendent Eric Serna and his former deputy must appear for depositions in a lawsuit that contends a Santa Fe couple paid too much for title insurance. Serna and Joe...
Many California Hispanics unaware of uninsured motorists requirements
Nov 6 2006 // On Oct. 1, 2006, the California Department of Motor Vehicles began enforcing Senate Bill 1500 that requires the DMV to suspend a vehicle’s registration if the vehicle does not have a valid insurance policy or bond....
