D.C. Regulator Offers Insurers New Web Service

By Steven Brostoff, Washington Editor

NU Online News Service, Feb. 26, 3:18 p.m. EDT,Washington?Insurance companies doing business inWashington, D.C., will be able to renew the appointment of theirproducers on the Internet.[@@]

D.C. Insurance Commissioner Lawrence H. Mirel said that D.C. isone of the first jurisdictions in the nation to provide thisservice through the Internet, with Oklahoma being the onlyother.

Mr. Mirel said that the program will begin March 15 and will bedone in association with the National Insurance Producer Registryvia NIPR's Web site at www.licenseregistry.com.

The program, he said, allows his department to respond to theneeds of the industry without compromising its regulatoryauthority.

"With this process in place, we now have the ability to allowinsurers to renew appointments in a more timely and efficientmanner," he said.

In addition, Mr. Mirel added, the system allows department staffto process demographic updates and renewals in real-time, thusgaining greater control over the process.

Currently, he said, there are more than 35,000 insuranceproducers licensed in D.C. Last year, he said, the departmentmanually processed more than 114,000 insurance company appointmentrenewals. The estimate is that more than 130,000 renewals will beprocessed this year.