Two managers of well-known property/casualty
carriers have been added to the speaker lineup for the
2010 AAIS Main Event
executive conference, April 11-13 in Fort Myers, Fla.
Joel Brown (top), vice president of personal
lines for State Auto
Insurance, and Greg Hansen, actuarial research leader for
Westfield Insurance, will describe what their companies learned as they
implemented new approaches to underwriting and rating.
The theme of the conference is "Harnessing Data
for Results," and it focuses on practical considerations
companies face when implementing sophisticated data-based decision
making.
Among other things, the program includes a
presentation by AAIS staff on AAIS's initiative to develop by-peril
rating plans. Full details on the conference program are available
online.
To register for the conference
Reserve your hotel
room separately, using the code "ASIASIC" for the AAIS
group rate. The hotel
deadline is March 15.
If you have questions about the Main Event, contact
Joseph Harrington, AAIS director of corporate communications, at
joeh@AAISonline.com, or by
calling 800-564-AAIS, ext. 217.
A recent
bulletin from the Massachusetts Division of Insurance reminds
homeowners insurers of a new obligation to make coverage for costs
associated with oil spill remediation available to owners of
residential property.
Carriers must offer at least $50,000 in first-party
oil spill coverage and $200,000 in oil spill legal liability coverage
with homeowners policies offered, issued, or renewed on or after July 1,
2010. Consumers can decline the coverages.
The division is currently reviewing a November 2009 AAIS filing of oil
spill remediation endorsements, rules, and loss costs under the AAIS
Mobile-Homeowners Program. Once AAIS has received approval of those
filings, AAIS will submit Homeowners filings.
Copies of the proposed Mobile-Homeowners endorsements were provided by
bulletin in December to AAIS Mobile-Homeowners and Homeowners
affiliates. The endorsements define the terms "heating oil occurrence"
and "response action costs," and provide the required coverage, subject
to the limits and deductibles shown in the schedule. .
The
Property Loss Research Bureau (PLRB),
an insurance research organization based in suburban Chicago, recently
added a complete annotation of an AAIS Builders' Risk form to the PLRB's
well-known coverage research database.
In a statement
announcing the release, PLRB President Thomas Mallin said it was PLRB's
first annotation of an inland marine coverage form.
"The [builders' risk] form language we see in coverage inquiries
submitted to us often seems to be patterned after the AAIS
form language," he wrote. "Thus, it seemed logical and helpful to our
members for us to annotate [an] AAIS inland marine builders' risk form."
The annotation is available to insurance organizations that are members
of PLRB. For information on becoming a member of PLRB, go to
www.plrb.org, click "About," then
click on "Membership Information."
A recent
bulletin from the
Michigan Department of Insurance states that all personal lines
policies will have to be filed and approved before being sold in
that state. The directive takes effect for polices initiated on or
after Aug. 1, 2010.
The directive completes the rescission of a 1997
order that had exempted personal lines policies from filing
requirements. The exemption was eliminated in 2009 for personal auto
and homeowners policies, and is now to be rescinded entirely.
The change does not impact companies that have
granted filing authorization to AAIS, as advisory organizations were
never exempt from Michigan filing requirements. Companies using
independent forms will need to have them filed and approved before
using them on or after Aug. 1, however.
Members of the North
Carolina Insurance Underwriting Association have until March 1, 2010
to report 2008 and 2009 data on residential property writings in
coastal areas to the state's insurance department.
Instructions and forms for reporting the data
are provided in a recent
bulletin from the department.
AAIS statistical plans do not capture the level
of data sought in this data call; companies will have to respond on
their own.
Companies that
report statistical data to
AAIS now have access through AAISdirect to programs for
detecting errors in their data before submitting it to AAIS.
Users can access PC- and mainframe-based
statistical edit programs under the "Statistical" section of
AAISdirect. The programs are available for all lines of
insurance except Boatowners.
On Friday, Feb. 12, AAIS will release its updated Affiliate Guide
on AAISdirect. The guide provides basic information about
AAIS products, services, and procedures, and includes an updated
directory of AAIS staff members.
The Affiliate Guide lists and describes
all AAIS insurance line programs and support services, including
support services for customizing, pricing, filing, and automating
AAIS programs. It also describes the "Election of Services" form
used to initiate changes in a company's affiliation.
For questions about information in the guide,
contact Pat Peters, director of membership, at
patp@AAISonline.com, or by
calling 800-564-AAIS, ext. 289.
A
bulletin from the Kentucky Department of insurance clarifies
that insurers can collect and report the state's increased premium
surcharge at the time a policy is written, as opposed to waiting for
payments to be collected from the policyholder.
A
bulletin from the Maryland Insurance Division asks insurers to
make "reasonable accommodations," including a grace period for
premium payments, to policyholders who faced disruptions during a
Feb. 5 snow emergency.
