State Supervision And Regulation
Primary responsibility for overseeing the insurance industry that has rested with individual states since 1945, after Congress passed the MCCARRAN-FERGUSON ACT (PUBLIC LAW 15). In addition to supervision and regulation, states receive taxes and fees paid by the industry that amount to several billion dollars a year. State insurance laws are administered by state insurance departments that are responsible for making certain that (1) rates are adequate, not unfairly discriminatory, and not unreasonably high, and (2) insurance companies in the state are financially sound and able to pay future claims. To this end, states set requirements for company reserves, require annual financial statements, and examine company books. Each state has an insurance commissioner or superintendent who is either elected or appointed by the governor, with responsibility for investigating company practices, approving rates and policy forms, and ordering liquidation of insolvent insurers. The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF INSURANCE COMMISSIONERS (NAIC) has drafted model legislation and worked for policy uniformity, but regulations vary widely from state to state.
Whether insurers should be regulated by the states or the federal government remains at issue, but so far insurers and the NAIC lobbying have been effective in resisting federal regulation. Nevertheless, the federal government has a profound effect on the insurance industry through its taxes and a variety of regulations.
Popular Insurance Terms
Type of commercial form that provides coverage for business vehicles regardless of whether they are owned, leased, hired, or borrowed. The form's coverages are divided into the following ...
Additional coverage available on most property insurance policies through the extended coverage endorsement. Windstorms, including hurricanes, cyclones, and high winds, are not among the ...
Losses paid plus positive or negative changes in the year-end loss reserves during that particular year. The total amount includes payments for any old claims as well as new claims, plus ...
Requirement of an employer to report annually to the U.S. Treasury Department the names of employees who terminated employment with vested benefits, and the amount of the benefits. The ...
Physical contact of an automobile with another inanimate object resulting in damage to the insured car. Insurance coverage is available to provide protection against this occurrence. ...
Peril that occurs when personal property of two or more people is mixed to such an extent that any one owner can no longer identify his or her property. ...
Sum of money to be received by an insured in the event a given loss occurs. ...
Individual who possesses a unique ability essential to the continued success of a business firm. For example, this individual might have the technical knowledge necessary for research and ...
Observance of an event occurring on a repeated basis that leads one to believe that a certain probability is attached to the occurrence of that event. For example, if there are a red ball ...
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