WASHINGTON–U.S. senators from the Gulf Coast are unleashing a multipronged legislative attack on the property-casualty insurance industry for sins they perceive in insurers' handling of hurricane claims.

First, a group of Gulf Coast senators, including those from Florida, Mississippi and Louisiana, introduced legislation Jan. 12 that would create a commission with the job of recommending promptly a “comprehensive approach” to dealing with the nation's property-casualty insurance “issues.”

Second, Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., said Jan. 19 that he would join with Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, in introducing legislation that would repeal the McCarran-Ferguson Act federal antitrust exemption for the property-casualty insurance industry.

Senator Lott, who is suing State Farm in a dispute over their handling of his claim for the destruction of his Gulf Coast home, said the bill will be similar to S. 4025, the Insurance Industry Antitrust Enforcement Act of 2006.

He introduced that measure in the last Congress with Sen. Leahy and then Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa. Sen. Lott said Sen. Specter will also be a sponsor of the new measure.

The Senate took no action on that bill, but Sen. Lott told the Jackson Clarion-Ledger that he “has received assurances from Chairman Leahy that Leahy will convene timely hearings in the Judiciary Committee this year.”

A spokesman for Sen. Leahy said the bill has not been introduced, but confirmed that he would be a co-sponsor.

Sen. Specter signaled late last year that he would reintroduce the measure.

Industry sources said they believe the Pennsylvania lawmaker and Sen. Leahy are supporting such legislation in retaliation for insurer groups' successful lobbying last year to block Sen. Specter's measure to create an alternative claims process for those injured by exposure to asbestos in the workplace.

Regarding the Commission legislation, Sen. Nelson, D-Fla., joined with Senators Lott, Thad Cochran, R-Miss., David Vitter, R-La., and Mary Landrieu, D-La., in introducing the “Commission on Catastrophic Disaster Risk and Insurance Act of 2007″ Jan. 12.

Sen. Nelson said the bill would create a federal commission “made up of a group of the best experts in the nation” to quickly recommend to Congress the best approach to addressing catastrophic risk insurance.

“We need a comprehensive approach that will make sure the United States is truly prepared for the financial fallout from natural disasters,” Sen. Nelson said. “I know this complicated process won't be easy for us–but let's roll up our shirtsleeves and get it done.”

In response, Justin Roth, senior director of federal affairs for the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, said: “If crafted correctly, this Commission could provide a useful forum for both the insurance industry and consumers to come up with common sense solutions to some of the problems homeowners are experiencing in disaster-prone areas.”

In his comments, Sen. Nelson said, “The inability of the private insurance markets to fully handle the fallout from these natural disasters has made our nation's p-c insurance market unstable.”

This instability, he said, “has forced the federal government to absorb billions of dollars in uninsured losses at a huge cost to all American taxpayers.”

Members of the panel would include the director of the Emergency Management Agency, the administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and 12 additional members, including a representative of a consumer group; representatives of an insurance company and a reinsurer; an independent insurance agent; a state insurance regulator; a state emergency operations official; a scientist; and an accredited university faculty member with risk management experience.

Also on the panel would be a member of a nationally recognized think tank with risk management experience; a homebuilder with structural engineering experience; a mortgage lender; and a nationally recognized expert antitrust law.

The members of the panel would be appointed by the majority and minority leaders of the House and the Senate in consultation with the president.

Special Reports /

Gulf Congressmen Attack Insurers On Many Fronts

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