View this article online: https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2002/01/14/16577.htm
Rodger S. Lawson, Ph.D., president of the Alliance of American Insurers, released the following statement questioning the logic of the decision by the California and New York insurance departments to deny the ISO commercial lines policy exclusion and urging them to reconsider.
“While 46 jurisdictions have looked at the language in the ISO exclusion and found it to be in the best interest of all policyholders to accept the limited exclusions, New York and California have not taken any action to move on this critical issue. The Alliance urges them to reconsider and stands ready to assist them in adopting these sorely needed reforms,” said Rodger S. Lawson, Ph.D., president of the Alliance of American Insurers.
“Continued inaction will force insurers to accept risk when they cannot perform the essential function of insurance — spreading of risk — because of limited or no reinsurance availability. It also will force carriers to make underwriting decisions that are not helpful to the public, the state or the economy. The World Trade Center disaster of Sept. 11 has left a series of major insurance problems that need to be resolved and resolved now.
“The property/casualty insurance industry, in cooperation with regulators, has responded quickly and compassionately to the tragic events of Sept. 11 to help policyholders and their families recover. We now ask regulators to help us complete our job by adopting the ISO language so that California and New York business and industry can recover and contribute to the economic recovery by having access to insurance coverages they need.
“Since the U.S. Congress has dropped the ball in its obligation to provide relief, regulators in California and New York can step up and take this necessary action in the best tradition of state insurance regulation, whose strength has always been in providing effective solutions free from unnecessary delay and red tape.”
The Alliance of American Insurers, based in Downers Grove, Ill., is a national trade association representing 326 property/casualty insurance companies.