Latest Legislation Headlines

All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.

News Currents

Oct 8 2007 // The offshore reinsurance tax debate resurfaces in Congress againDomestic-owned insurers claim Bermuda-based companies hold an unfair tax advantage An industry executive, representing a coalition of 14 large U.S.-based...

News Currents

Oct 8 2007 // House-passed flood insurance bill provides optional windstorm coverageThe U.S. House of Representatives has passed a measure updating the nation’s flood insurance program that will give homeowners the option of...

Florida Legislature Passes No-Fault Car Insurance for Jan. 1 Return

Oct 6 2007 // Florida drivers, you may want to be a little more careful than usual for the rest of the year.Despite the fact that it caused a lot of late nights and tension for lawmakers and lobbyists this month, most people in Florida...

N.Y. Proposes ‘Rainy Day’ Catastrophe Insurance Fund With Eventual Tax Break

Oct 5 2007 // Insurance companies providing homeowners, business and other property insurance in New York State would be required to create a catastrophe reserve fund to help pay claims caused by hurricanes and other natural disasters...

Safety Group Opposes Ill. Senate Bill that Increases Truck Speed Limits

Oct 4 2007 // A safety group is speaking out about the what they say are the dangers of the override of Illinois SB 540, which allows large tractor-trailer trucks to travel on rural, four-lane highways at the same speed limits as...

Fla. Governor: Some Insurance Rate Filings Will Likely be Rejected

Oct 4 2007 // Despite a Florida law passed in January that officials promised would lower property insurance rates, many companies this week have requested to raise rates. Gov. Charlie Crist said, however, that insurance regulators...

For Small Fla. Insurer, Sunshine State Brings Storm Clouds

Oct 3 2007 // From “Happy Days” to “The Perfect Storm” is how one Florida insurance executive describes her state’s turbulent and defining years between 2003 and 2007 – and she isn’t talking...

Fla. Releases Medical Malpractice Report, Favorable Trend Continues

Oct 3 2007 // A recent state-sponsored report showed a continuing trend of recovery for the Florida medical malpractice industry – an industry that experienced double-digit rate increases and lack of availability prior to the 2003...

House Panel to Begin Airing Insurance Regulatory Reform Proposals Today

Oct 3 2007 // Congressman Paul E. Kanjorski, D-Pa., chairman of the House Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises, will hold a hearing today on the need for insurance regulatory reform .This...

Judge Dismises Corruption Charges Against Marsh, Brokers, Insurers

Oct 2 2007 // The same federal judge who early in September dismissed all federal antitrust charges against Marsh & McLennan Companies and a group of other brokers and insurers has now thrown out all related federal charges of...

Pa. Judge Accused of Bilking Insurers to Take His Defense to Trial

Oct 2 2007 // Suspended Pennsylvania Superior Court Judge Michael T. Joyce intends to stand trial on federal money laundering and mail fraud charges, according to his lawyer.Attorney David Ridge refused to comment on the defense...

No Consensus for Alabama Special Session on Coastal Insurance

Oct 2 2007 // Alabama legislators unveiled a law designed to help the Gulf Coast real estate industry and coastal homeowners hit by high insurance rates but Gov. Bob Riley said there is no current consensus to address it in a special...

FERMA Conference Opens in Geneva

Oct 2 2007 // More than 1200 participants assembled Monday morning at Geneva’s International Conference Center for the fifth Forum of the Federation of European Risk Management Associations (FERMA). Delegates were welcomed by...

Mo. Governor: 2006 Med Mal Report Shows Positive Results

Oct 2 2007 // The medical malpractice insurance market has stabilized following escalating medical malpractice costs that caused a downturn in the market from 1999 – 2003, according to the 2006 Medical Malpractice Report recently...

N.Y. Judge Dismisses Suit over Gauguin Painting Appraisal

Oct 1 2007 // A judge has dismissed a lawsuit over a small landscape painting by Paul Gauguin which a buyer said was appraised at millions of dollars above its value by a well-known dealer who had “an ownership interest” in...

N.D. Commissioner’s Departure Sparks Debate on Conflict of Interest

Oct 1 2007 // Consumer spokesmen want a national group of insurance regulators to toughen its conflict-of-interest policies, in part because of questions raised by last month’s resignation of former North Dakota Insurance...

Speaker Asks Gov. to Add No-Fault to Florida Special Session

Sep 30 2007 // Florida House of Representatives Speaker Marco Rubio asked Gov. Charlie Crist to add auto insurance and property tax relief to the Legislature’s special session on budget-cutting next week after Senate President Ken...

Regulators Move to Align U.S. Reinsurance Regulation with Foreign

Sep 30 2007 // The nation’s insurance regulators are moving to modernize reinsurance regulation in the United States.The proposal — developed by a subgroup of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ (NAIC)...

More States Join Centralized Insurer Market Conduct Exam Initiative

Sep 30 2007 // Alabama, California, Montana, Rhode Island and Washington will begin requiring insurance companies to file annual statement data as part of a growing effort to make market conduct exams more efficient that now includes 30...

Scruggs Asks Alabama Judge to Throw Out Katrina-Related Charge

Sep 30 2007 // Mississippi trial lawyer Richard Scruggs has asked a federal judge to throw out a charge accusing him of criminal contempt in a dispute related to insurance claims after Hurricane Katrina.In court papers made public last...