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
Minimum of care owed by one party for the physical safety of another. Liability suits are brought because of negligent acts and omissions resulting from failures to exercise due care. ...
Professional designation earned after the successful completion of six national examinations given by the insurance institute of America (IIA). Covers such areas of expertise as ocean ...
Need for an insurance policy to be paid up or to be paid for a minimum number of years before the insured is eligible to receive any benefits. This requirement is typically found in ...
Same as term Deviated Rate: rates used by a property and casualty insurance company that are different from that suggested by a rating bureau. An insurance company may use deviated rates ...
Tort liability, which is defined by law, requiring an injured party to prove only that he or she was harmed in a specified way in order to collect damages. For example, the law provides ...
Liability and physical damage coverage for trailers under business or personal auto policies. Most automobile insurance policies offer liability coverage for common types of trailers owned ...
1945 federal legislation in which the Congress declared that the states may continue to regulate the insurance industry. Nevertheless, in recent years Congress has expanded the federal ...
Futures contracts based on automobile and health reinsurance policies to be traded on the Commodity Future Exchange of the Chicago Board of Trade. The purpose is to allow insurance ...
Policy covering an insured's property at several different locations. This coverage is used by business firms that have several locations and may move property from location to location. ...
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