Premiums Up to $1.4 Trillion in 2006, NAIC Report Says

NU Online News Service

Premiums written in the United States increased to $1.4 trillion in 2006, with five states accounting for 37 percent of all insurance premiums, according to a survey by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

The Kansas City, Mo.-based NAIC last week released its annual "Insurance Department Resources Report," which the association said aims to help insurance departments manage their individual resources by comparing themselves to other states.

On a year-to-year basis, the report found premiums for all lines of business, life and property-casualty combined, increased by 9 percent to $1.4 trillion from 2005 to 2006.

The five states with the most premiums written in all lines of business were New York, California, Florida, Texas and Pennsylvania, accounting for 36.8 percent of all insurance premiums in the United States.

The report also says there were 7,660 domestic U.S. insurers in 2006.

State insurance departments received more than 394,000 official complaints and 2.6 million inquiries.

The report, developed primarily through an extensive survey of NAIC members, is organized into five sections: staffing; budget and funding; examination and oversight; insurance producers; and consumer services and antifraud.

A copy of the report can be ordered through www.naic.org/store_home.htm.

The NAIC also announced that Kathy Horsley of the Kentucky Office of Insurance was awarded the association's first professional designation--the Associate Professional of Insurance Regulation.

Launched in October 2006, the NAIC designation program provides a structured professional development path for regulators at all levels of experience.

There are three designation levels that regulators can work toward, depending on depth of experience:

o The Associate Professional in Insurance Regulation.

o The Professional in Insurance Regulation.

o The Senior Professional in Insurance Regulation.