N.Y. Insurance Dept. Completes First Full Year of Online Agent Licensing

New York Superintendent of Insurance Gregory Serio announced that the state insurance department has finished its first full year of online licensing for agents and brokers for license renewals and new applicants.

The licensing reforms that have been instituted allow the Department to be more accessible and efficient to the needs of brokers and agents in New York State. The Department’s licensing reforms include online temporary adjuster permits, online applications for original licenses, online renewals for brokers and agents, and licensing through NIPR for non resident brokers and agents.

The issuance of licenses has been reduced from months to within 24-48 hours. In addition, In December 2001 New York became the first big state to allow non resident brokers to apply for licenses on-line through the National Insurance Producer Registry (NIPR). In June 2002 the property/casualty agent renewal was completed on time with almost 60 percent of agents renewing on-line. In June 2002 first time applicants for agents and brokers licenses were able to apply on-line.

In addition, the Licensing Bureau’s efforts resulted in the creation of an online temporary adjuster permit process in June of 2001 which allowed insurers to apply for permits online. This capability became quite valuable after the tragedy of Sept. 11 and resulted in hundreds of permits being issued in a matter of hours thus allowing insurers to begin the claim processing process and bring help to those affected by the tragedy.

In October, the Department received the Best Practice Award for Business to Business E-Commerce Applications from Technology Managers Forum and in September, the Department received The New York State Forum for Information Resource Management of the Rockefeller Institute of Government’s ‘Best of the Web’ Award in the state category as part of the Forum’s Annual Best Practice and Achievement awards.

Topics New York Agencies