Insurance High On House Committee Agenda

By Steven Brostoff, Washington Editor

NU Online News Service, Feb. 5, 4:27 p.m. EST?The House Financial Services Committee has released plans for an aggressive insurance-related agenda during the 108th Congress, including examination of state regulation, terrorism insurance, toxic mold and credit scoring.

In an oversight plan published last week, Committee Chairman Mike Oxley, R-Ohio, said the plan reflects areas where the Committee and its subcommittees expect to conduct oversight over the next two years.

The insurance industry takes up a significant part of the plan, starting with insurance solvency.

The Committee said it will continue its examination of the solvency accreditation program of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners in Kansas City, Mo., focusing on the steps taken by NAIC to update the program since its inception in the early 1990s.

Similarly, the Committee said, it will examine such issues as the quality of market conduct regulation, agent licensing and product approval.

In particular, the Committee said, it will consider what further measures might be necessary to promote uniformity in agent licensing.

More broadly, the Committee said it will review various proposals for modernizing insurance regulation, including state-by-state improvements, coordination of state regulation through the NAIC, federal promotion of state uniformity and optional federal chartering.

The Committee said it also plans to examine state consumer protection efforts.

On terrorism insurance, the Committee says it will monitor the marketplace and implementation of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act by the Treasury Department, state insurance departments, insurance underwriters and agents and brokers.

The Committee said it also plans to examine toxic mold and natural disaster insurance.

On mold, the Committee said it will investigate the potential deleterious effect of mold on homeowners and the insurance marketplace. The Committee says it will pay particular attention to the Center for Disease Control's review on the effects of indoor exposure to mold which is expected this spring.

On natural disaster insurance, the Committee said it will examine the availability and affordability of coverage and consider proposals for improving insurers' access to capital in the reinsurance, banking and securities markets to ensure adequate capacity and solvency.

The Committee said it will pay particular attention to the potential benefits of securitization, catastrophe reinsurance and proper long-term reserving.

Turning to homeowners insurance in general, the Committee said it will review the availability crisis in several states, including a look at how state price controls diminish long-term supply and options for coverage.

The Committee said it will also examine insurance company underwriting criteria, including how insurance claims and inquiries are scored and how financial characteristics unrelated to a consumers' insurance history are factored into the sale of homeowners' policies.

Moreover, the Committee said, in its review of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, it will examine the increasing use of credit scores to determine consumers' eligibility for auto insurance policies.

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Insurance High On House Committee Agenda

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