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
Coverage for additional buildings on the same property as the principal insured building. Most property insurance contracts such as the homeowners insurance policy cover appurtenant ...
Means of funding permitted under the employee retirement income security act of 1974 (ERISA). The administrator of a pension plan can comply with required minimum funding standards by ...
Very broad term for insurance covering liability exposures for individuals and business owners. It provides broad coverage, generally including all exposures for property damage and bodily ...
Payments awarded by a court in a liability suit. Money damages can be broken down into compensatory and punitive. Compensatory damages reimburse a plaintiff for expenses incurred for such ...
Endorsement to owners, landlords, and tenants LIABILITY POLICY, MANUFACTURERS AND CONTRACTORS LIABILITY INSURANCE, or other liability policies for business firms that provides liability ...
Clause in a property insurance policy that stipulates that either the insurer or the insured has the right to demand an appraisal in order to determine the monetary damage or loss to an ...
Clause found in an annuity contract that enables the owner of that contract to withdraw his or her money without surrender penalties, if the annual interest rate is lowered below a certain ...
Conducting of maritime suits involving ocean marine insurance policy claims before an admiralty court. ...
Losses paid plus positive or negative changes in the year-end loss reserves during that particular year. The total amount includes payments for any old claims as well as new claims, plus ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.