A New York agents association said it will work with the New York State Insurance Department during this legislative session to bring New York's producer licensing requirements in line with other states.

The Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of New York said a bill to increase an insurance producer's continuing education requirements from 15 to 24 credits and add other licensing lines of authority was introduced last year at the request of the department.

This would have brought New York requirements in line "with the majority of other states in adopting uniform licensing standards," IIABNY said.

Jill Muratori, vice president and counsel for Barrett Associates, IIABNY's legislative representative, said the bill would have also brought pre-licensing requirements in line with other states as well.

She noted the bill did not pass, but that there was no real opposition. She said it hit a "technical snag" and got hung up in the Assembly Codes Committee.

This year, she said, the department is expected to have a similar bill reintroduced, and IIABNY said it would like a provision added that would further align New York with other states by creating a single producer license, instead of the multiple broker and agent licenses under the current structure.

Ms. Muratori said the department was receptive to the request.

But the NYSID made no mention of an intention to add a single producer license provision to the bill proposal in a statement sent to NU Online.

Steven Nachman, Deputy Superintendent for Frauds and Consumer Services, responded to a request for the NYSID's plan for the proposal by stating, "We are working with producer associations, including [IIABNY], to streamline the licensing process. We are transitioning to a system which, by 2012, will renew licenses of agents and brokers on their dates of birth, which will provide greater convenience for producers.

"Separately, we have previously proposed, and expect to propose in the coming legislative session, a bill to increase continuing education requirements for most producers, and to create limited lines for producers seeking to sell credit, crop and surety insurance. These measures, if adopted, would help to bring New York further in line with NAIC [National Association if Insurance Commissioners] licensing standards.

"We welcome additional discussion with producer groups regarding further reforms to the licensing process."

Currently, New York has separate licenses that differentiate agents from brokers, and also lines of business such as life and health, property-casualty, and surplus lines, according to Ellen Kiehl of the Professional Insurance Agents of New York.

Many other states, she said, have one producer license that covers all agents and brokers, with the producer specifying authorities under that license.

Uniformity for producer licensing has been an NAIC initiative since the passage of the federal Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Modernization Act of 1999, Ms. Kiehl said.

She said PIANY would not oppose switching to a single producer license, as long as fees for licensing stay neutral.

Ms. Muratori said changing to one producer license will help simplify the licensing process for agents and brokers, particularly for those who do business in multiple states, as they will not have to keep track of multiple licenses.

Special Reports /

N.Y. Agents Group Supports Single Producer License

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