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
Wording in life insurance policies to determine the order of deaths when the insured and the beneficiary die in the same accident. For example, if the insured is deemed to have died first, ...
Rate of return computed by dividing the current annual dividend (if a stock) or annual coupon amount (if a bond) by the amount paid for that financial instrument. ...
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 premium ...
Payment made by a party causing harm to the party incurring that harm. ...
In property insurance contracts, provision that states that the violation of one or more contract condition^) at a particular location that is insured will not void coverage at other ...
Insurance company that has the authority to assess or charge its policyholders for losses that the company is incurring. This company is sometimes called stipulated premium company or ...
Direct relationship between the use to which a building is put and the likelihood that it will catch on fire. Occupancy is one of the most important factors in setting fire insurance rates. ...
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 ...
Additional amount of life insurance above that provided by the employee benefit plan (standard group life plan) that may be chosen by the employee. A limit is usually placed on this maximum ...
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