It's no surprise that the top legislative issue for the Propertyand Casualty (P&C) insurance industry in 2015 is ride-sharingor transportation network company (TNC) bills. The issue of the newand innovative activity raising insurance coverage concerns emergedduring 2014 but legislative calendars allowed for only 10 states toconsider bills and just four states—Colorado, California, theDistrict of Columbia, and Illinois—to enact laws. Consequently, asindustry representatives prepared for the 2015 session it wasexpected that many states would be taking up legislation. As ofpress time, Georgia's House and the Oklahoma Senate both passedridesharing bills and no fewer than 25 states began debating theissue.

The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC)and other industry organizations are highly engaged in theeffort—not to block innovation, but to ensure proper insurancerequirements are part of the laws creating a framework for TNCoperations. Any bill that is enacted should recognize that TNCservices start when a driver logs on to the smartphone app and endsonly when the ride has been completed and the driver has logged offthe system. Additionally, bills should make clear that personalauto insurers have the ability to exclude commercial activityincluding TNC services and that specific coverage is necessary toprotect drivers and riders.

Insurance advocates could have their hands full just dealingwith TNC bills this year, but this issue only tops the list of whatis proving to be a very active year for insurance. Other areas thatNAMIC and partner advocates will focus on in 2015 include civiljustice reform, e-commerce and financial regulation, as well as asmattering of property- and auto-related issues.

Civil Justice Reform

Legislative party control probably has the most impact on tortreform or civil justice-related issues, as the trial bar hastraditionally found more allies among Democrats while Republicanstend to heed the concerns of the business community, but therealways are exceptions. Several positive proposals have already beenintroduced in states such as Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, and NewYork.

West Virginia is a good example of a state making strides ontort reform. A bill addressing trespasser lawsuits and another thatabolishes joint liability and allows fault to be allocated tonon-parties have swiftly made their ways to the governor'sdesk.

South Carolina has two comprehensive tort reform bills, onefocusing on the asbestos bankruptcy trust and seatbeltadmissibility. The other addresses trespass, punitive damages,innocent seller, and noneconomic damages.

E-commerce

The insurance industry has enjoyed some success during the pasttwo years in shepherding the adoption of legislation allowing forproof of insurance by use of an electronic device and allowinginsurers to use electronic distribution or online posting toprovide notices and policy forms to customers. States have produceda number of positive bills thus far, and we have seen legislationfiled in several states in 2015. NAMIC is currently working withother industry advocates to craft model legislation that will beintroduced in other states.