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
Same as term Cancel: termination of a policy. Contract may be terminated by an insured or insurer as stated in the policy. If the insurance company cancels a policy, any unearned premiums ...
Same as term agent of record: individual who has a contractual agreement with a policyowner. The agent of record has a legal right to commissions from the insurance policy. ...
Coverage for bodily injury and property damage liability resulting from ownership, use, and/or maintenance of the insured business's premises, completed operations, and products. Covers ...
Attachment to a general liability policy thereby eliminating the exclusion of property under the care, custody, and/or control of an insured. Without this endorsement there would be no ...
Coverage during the transfer of securities and monies, precious metals, and other specified types of valuables by armored guard services. Policies are specifically designed to fit an ...
Automatic protection for an insurer against losses that exceed a predetermined loss limit. This reinsurance may be subdivided into three primary types: excess of loss, catastrophe loss, and ...
Omissions from coverage found in products liability insurance. The policy does not provide coverage if the business manufactures a product that does not meet the level of performance as ...
Protects a cedent against an aggregate amount of claims over a period, in excess of a specified percentage of the earned premium income. Stop loss reinsurance does not cover individual ...
Grouping of applicants for life insurance according to expected mortality, so as to produce an underwriting classification in which the spread between health of the worst and best applicant ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.