Latest Legislation Headlines

Fla. House Proposal Would Use Full Surplus to Mitigate Citizens Deficit

Apr 19 2006 // Nearly $1 billion in state tax dollars would go to offset the deficit faced by Citizens Property Insurance under an amendment approved in Tallahassee, Fla. by a House panel that would help out Florida homeowners who are...

N.J. Officials Push for Tougher Chemical Plant Safety Rules

Apr 18 2006 // Speaking near a cluster of chemical plants, New Jersey’s two United States senators and its new homeland security director said the state should be able to enact tougher safety standards for chemical facilities than...

Alaska Unfair Claim Settlement Bill Would Undermine Insurance Commissioner’s Authority, Insurers Say

Apr 18 2006 // A bill to change Alaska’s insurance settlement practices, “is unnecessary, would likely cause insurance rates to increase, would unreasonably usurp the Insurance Commissioner’s regulatory prerogative and...

As Usual, Much Work Remains in Final Weeks of Fla. Legislature

Apr 17 2006 // Lawmakers return to Tallahassee, Fla. today after Passover and Easter break still facing some high profile priorities in the final three weeks of the annual legislative session. Bills that would save Gov. Jeb Bush’s...

Critics allege wind modelers following politics over science

Apr 17 2006 // Risk Management Solutions has defended its hurricane risk models in the face of consumer groups’ criticisms that the models are more political than they are scientific and that they are designed to justify insurance...

Not all agents oppose an optional federal charter

Apr 17 2006 // The Commissioners are now fully prepared to go before their various legislative committees with recommendations for a system of insurance law which shall be the same in all States – not reciprocal, but identical; not...

Jobs and more on the line in R.I. as Beacon Mutual-Carcieri political saga enters critical period

Apr 17 2006 // Executives at Rhode Island’s largest workers compensation carrier, Beacon Mutual Insurance Co., figure they could be looking for new jobs as early as June if Governor Donald Carcieri gets his way. They expect that if...

Mass. makes health insurance history by making it compulsorypq”The state says the uninsured tend to be low income, par

Apr 17 2006 // Everyone pays their part: individuals, government, health care providers and employers,” proclaims the document outlining the latest plan to expand health insurance to all citizens in Massachusetts. The Commonwealth...

Apr 17 2006 // People Hub International Ltd., a Chicago-based brokerage has named Jonathan Axel senior vice president of the Kagan-Kozberg Division at Hub International of California Insurance Services Inc., a subsidiary of the insurance...

Agents: Optional Federal Charter Dual Structure

Apr 17 2006 // Optional federal chartering, federal regulation and the creation of a new federal bureaucracy go too far, the equivalent of throwing the baby out with the bath water. The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of...

Risk Management

Apr 17 2006 // Call for stepped-up regulation of third-parties providing hurricane rating and credit scoring data Risk Management Solutions has defended its hurricane risk models in the face of consumer groups’ criticisms that the...

10 Deadly storms hit Midwest again in new round of tornadoes

Apr 17 2006 // Claim counts include March and April storms N1 U.S. tort costs reach a record $260 billion, study reports Cost exceeds other countries’ by large margin N1 Private companies at increased risk of liability...

FAIA briefs agents about Florida bills, holds meetings with legislators

Apr 17 2006 // More than 120 of Florida’s independent agents who attended the March 29 and 30 Florida Independent Insurance Agents Legislative “Fly-In” heard Skip Long, Scott Johnson, Laura Pearce and Kyle Ulrich...

Judge rejects Allstate request to dismiss hurricane lawsuit

Apr 17 2006 // The company (Allstate) “is pleased that the judge ruled, ‘The exclusions found in the policy for water damage and for damages attributable to flooding are valid and enforceable policy provisions,'”...

States balk at growing trend of federal preemption

Apr 17 2006 // Federal regulatory preemption is an “underhanded means by which unelected federal bureaucrats impose their will on the states,” charges New York Senator Michael Balboni, of the National Conference of State...

States balk at growing trend of federal preemption

Apr 17 2006 // Federal regulatory preemption is an “underhanded means by which unelected federal bureaucrats impose their will on the states,” charges New York Senator Michael Balboni, of the National Conference of State...

Critics allege wind modelers influenced by insurers

Apr 17 2006 // News Currents Risk Management Solutions has defended its hurricane risk models in the face of consumer groups’ criticisms that the models are more political than they are scientific and are designed to justify...

New law pushed by agents may hamper Nevada mining watchdog group

Apr 17 2006 // The chief proponent of a new law cited by Nevada in trying to block a mining industry watchdog group’s efforts to stop pollution from an old Nevada gold mine said that he didn’t envision the law being used that...

Critics allege hurricane risk modelers influenced by insurers

Apr 17 2006 // News Currents Risk Management Solutions, Newark, Calif., has defended its hurricane risk models in the face of consumer groups’ criticisms that the models are more political than they are scientific, and that they...

By Robert Poli

Apr 17 2006 // A national insurance license helps agents by providing uniformity of regulatory standards; eliminating rate regulation; and allowing new products to be brought to market more quickly. Not all agents oppose an optional...