An insurance buyers' organization, while voicing support for NewYork's upcoming rule to require certainty of terms close to theinception of an insurance contract, is asking what penalties willbe invoked for non-compliance.

The Risk and Insurance Management Society also said it wanted tosee the regulation provide for buyer feedback.

RIMS' comments came after Thursday's announcement by New YorkState Insurance Department Superintendent Eric Dinallo that he isinstituting a strict policy on contract certainty for brokers andinsurers operating in-state in the next 12 months. In 90 percent ofcases, the aim would be to achieve contract certainty within 30days of inception.

RIMS said it is "eager to learn the next steps for the program,particularly how the New York Insurance Department intends tomeasure compliance and what penalties non-compliant companies canexpect to face."

The organization said it is urging an evaluation programallowing insurance clients to provide feedback on whether providersmeet, exceed or fall short of expectations.

A spokesman for the New York Insurance Department said in ane-mailed statement that if insurers and brokers cannot meet therequirements of the regulation in a year, "the department wouldconsider regulations spelling out more detailed rules. Regulationshave the force of law and penalties can be assessed onlicensees."

"But we would prefer industry itself take the necessary measurestowards attaining compliance in accordance with a principles-guidedregulatory approach," the spokesman added. "The U.K. FinancialServices Authority has attained notable success with contractcertainty using this approach."

The message also said in part that the department believesclient feedback is a good idea, and would be encouraged if theindustry took charge of the project and kept it informed of theirprogress on any issues that they believe need to be ironed out.

Besides RIMS, the only party to comment publicly on theregulation so far is the Willis brokerage, which said it has longheld the belief that contract certainty is one of the basicprinciples of service and should be adopted across theindustry.

"There is absolutely no excuse for policies to be deliveredmonths after their inception, an all-too-commonplace practice inthis business," said Willis Chairman Joseph Plumeri.

RIMS said that in the wake of Mr. Dinallo's action, it expectsother state insurance departments to also "take the initiative toreform the insurance placement process or, at the minimum,providers themselves will take steps to lead the processinternally."

RIMS said it is ready to offer guidance to service providersseeking buyer perspective as they develop measures for meeting thecontract certainty requirements.

Contract certainty is an issue at the heart of customer servicedeficiencies on the part of brokers and insurers, according to RIMSsaid.

The organization, which describes itself as the largest body ofrisk practitioners and commercial insurance buyers, said it is"grateful to Superintendent Dinallo for taking the necessary stepsto tackle the issue, and hopes that providers will work speedilyand aggressively to comply."

RIMS said that over the years, risk professionals have voicedincreasing concerns about the lack of responsiveness and quality ofservices offered by insurance providers, which prompted the groupin 2005 to develop its "Quality Program," to improve the serviceand delivery of insurance-related products to buyers.

The Quality Program has guidelines that are currently underdevelopment focusing on effective relationship-and insuranceprogram-management.

RIMS also launched a Quality Forum, an annual meeting conveningrisk practitioners and CEOs and other top executives from thelargest brokers and insurers, to discuss quality improvement in theinsurance placement process. Forum discussion in some cases haveallowed some insurers to develop internal programs to expedite theinsurance placement process, RIMS said.

RIMS' "Quality Guidelines for Performance Expectations" areonline athttp://www.rims.org/resources/QualityProgram/Documents/QIP_Guidelines_ONLINE.pdf.Further information on the RIMS Quality Program is available atwww.RIMS.org/Quality.