E-News  - February 16, 2007

NAPSLO praises reintroduction of surplus lines bill
The “Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act of 2007” (H.R. 1065) was introduced on Thursday by Rep. Dennis Moore (D-Kan.) and NAPSLO officials praised the introduction, saying "consumer oriented reform of the surplus lines insurance marketplace is a step closer to reality."

President William Newton noted that “this legislation will simplify the regulation of the excess and surplus lines business without diminishing consumer protections and provide consumers with more opportunities to secure property/liability insurance in areas where natural disasters have made insurance availability scarce.” 

Rep. Moore and Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-Fla.) submitted H.R. 1065, which also had several co-sponsors including Financial Services Ranking Member Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.), and Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises Chairman Paul Kanjorski (D-Penn.).  

The legislation, in part, is aimed at making access to the surplus lines market easier for consumers and the brokers and agents who assist them. H.R. 1065 would establish national standards for state regulation of the surplus lines and reinsurance markets including a uniform system of surplus lines premium taxation, elimination of duplicative compliance requirements for multi-state surplus lines transactions and direct access to the surplus lines market for large commercial insurance buyers.

NAPSLO is working with the CIAB, AAMGA, IIABA, PCI and AIA to promote the enactment of this legislation in the House and Senate. In addition, the NAPSLO PAC, which supports federal candidates, is playing an important role in helping achieve the Association's goals.

Reminder to complete Technology Survey 
The February 22 deadline to complete the NAPSLO Technology Survey is approaching and broker, agents and company members are urged to complete the survey on current uses of technology in the industry.  Contact Mike Ardis at NAPSLO (mike@napslo.org) if you have any questions on the survey.

E&S School registration to start soon
Registration for the two sessions of the NAPSLO E&S School will start at the beginning of March. Brochures will be mailed to members and will be posted on the NAPSLO website on March 1.

Because of increasing demand NAPSLO is offering two sessions of the school in 2007, the first will be June 9-12 and the second will be June 12-15. Both sessions will take place at the Eric P. Newman Education Center in St. Louis.

Attendees should note which session they would like to attend however NAPSLO can not guarantee the request.

A.M. Best Special Offer discontinued
The A.M. Best Co. has notified NAPSLO that it is discontinuing its special offer program that allowed NAPSLO members to purchase key A.M. Best publications at reduced rates.

Members who ordered the Best publications, including A.M. Best's Insurance Reports, Key Rating Guide, Underwriting Guide, Loss Control Manual, Best Review and BestWeek will need to order the publication at regular rates from AM Best.

This change does not involve the A.M Best Special Report on the Surplus Lines Market, commissioned annually by the Derek Hughes/NAPSLO Educational Foundation and distributed at no charge to NAPSLO members.