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 Direct Response Marketing: method of selling insurance directly to insureds through a companies own employees, through the mail, or at airport booths. The company uses this ...
Group arrangement in which a network of attorneys provides legal services to the participants in the plan with the attorney fees being reimbursed by the provider. The attorneys who are ...
Period allowed an insured to notify an insurer of loss. Many policies require immediate written notice, or notice as soon as practicable. Different types of policies have their own time ...
Insurance company that restricts its underwriting of risks to one state. ...
Commercial liability insurance form providing coverage for an insured business in the event of a pollution liability suit. The insurance provides claims made basis liability coverage. ...
Liability arising out of the operation of a motel or hotel as it pertains to the physical safety of guests and their property. ...
Section of the insurance company that administers claims for the losses incurred by the insured. ...
Prior to 1988, right to withdraw retirement assets before age 59 1/2 without having to pay a 10% penalty under the following circumstances: medical expenses are incurred. the plan ...
Required minimum amounts of coverage that an insurance company will underwrite. For example, for auto liability coverage the minimum that many companies will write is $25,000. Most ...
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