SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS--A unit of the National Association ofInsurance Commissioners took no action here to move ahead with ratederegulation for personal lines.

At a meeting of the Personal Lines Regulatory Framework WorkingGroup at NAIC's winter meeting Saturday, regulators could not agreeon model regulation and legislation that would grant more ratefreedom for insurers.

The regulators will continue to try and reach some sort ofconsensus on what rate regulation package could pass over the nextfew weeks.

David Snyder, American Insurance Association assistant vicepresident, called the work of the panel this year a "missedopportunity."

"What began as an NAIC initiative to update personal lines rateand form regulation by injecting competition into the system hasdeteriorated into a rhetorical defense of the most intrusive andanticompetitive forms of regulation now being practiced in somestates," Mr. Snyder said.

In 1999 following passage of the federal Gramm-Leach-BlileyFinancial Modernization Act, the NAIC appeared open to exploringthe issue of personal lines rate deregulation after approving avariation of it for commercial underwriters.

But following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and thesubsequent sharp spike in rates, enthusiasm for deregulation seemedto be dampened.

Some states have introduced so-called "flex rating" systems thatallow insurance rate changes within certain percentages as a sortof introduction to rate freedom.

Congress has previously put forward drafts of Optional FederalCharter legislation, which has not moved. Leaders of the incomingCongress have said they will debate the issue but have beennoncommittal about action. Bills are due to be introduced early inthe new session.

Meanwhile, the National Conference of Insurance Legislators hasapproved a model statute for personal lines rate deregulation and aflex rating measure as an alternative.