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
Sale of life insurance policies through vending machines. This method of distribution is generally limited to travel accident insurance, supplemental health or disability policies, or life ...
Coverage that exceeds the normal insurance capacity of an insurer or reinsurer. ...
Measurement of the response of the cash flow of an insurance company to various interest rate scenarios; for example, how rising interest rates will affect the number of life insurance ...
Coverage for damage due to peril! of war, usually written as part of an ocean marine insurance policy. ...
Sum it takes to replace an insured's damaged or destroyed property with one of like kind and quality, equivalent to the actual cash value, minus physical depreciation (fair wear and tear) ...
Historic insignia representing evidence of coverage placed on property insured by a particular insurance company. If the property on fire did not have the company's fire mark, its private ...
All insured losses paid in full. ...
Policy provision designed to restore an insured to his or her original financial position after a loss. The insured should neither profit nor be put at a monetary disadvantage by incurring ...
Insurance facility composed of many different syndicates, each specializing in a particular risk; for example, hull risks. Lloyd's provides coverage for primary jumbo risks as well as ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.