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
Methods for payment of the value of a policy. An insurance company can select one of three options in settlement of a loss: make a cash payment; take possession of damaged or destroyed ...
Representative of an insurance company who sells ordinary and industrial life insurance policies. In an effort to move their field forces into the ordinary life business, many industrial ...
Coverage in liability insurance for a ship owner in the event of collision with another ship. A running down clause, when added to basic hull marine insurance, protects against liability ...
Provision in most property insurance policies that permits a policyholder to use the insured premises to store materials and handle them in the manner needed to pursue his or her line of ...
Inland marine policy that protects an insured against loss for property that is shipped. One policy may be written for a single shipment, as for a family moving household goods, or it may ...
Maritime acts resulting in a liability circumstance falling under common law and statutory law. ...
Aggregate of face amount of coverage paid up, or on which premiums are still being paid, as issued by a life insurance company. This is one measure used to rank life insurance companies by ...
Total premiums written by a ceding company minus premiums ceded to its reinsurer. ...
Notice added to the employee retirement income security act (erisa) requiring the employer to disclose the following information concerning the pension plan to the employee: statement ...
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