Latest Legislation Headlines

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

Fifth Circuit Court Rules in Insurers’ Favor in Katrina Levee Breach Case

Aug 3 2007 // A highly anticipated federal appeals court ruling in a Hurricane Katrina class-action case has insurers breathing a little easier. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled Aug. 2, 2007, in In re Katrina...

Insurers Win as Appeals Court Refuses Former Ohio Judge’s Appeal

Aug 3 2007 // A federal appeals court in Cincinnati has declined to reopen the case of a former judge ordered to pay $587,000 in legal fees she accrued while defending herself from accusations of misconduct.A district court in Columbus...

Disaster Response Legislation Signed in Florida

Aug 2 2007 // Gov. Charlie Crist ceremonially signed two bills Wednesday to provide aid to Floridians preparing for and recovering from natural disasters.Senate Bill 2482 – relating to tax administration provides $1.2 million in...

Fla. Gov.Suggests Property Insurers not Following Rate Savings Law

Aug 2 2007 // Gov. Charlie Crist suggested Tuesday that some property insurers may be deliberately flouting a new state law that requires them to buy cheaper reinsurance and pass the savings on to consumers.Crist said he was concerned...

House Committee Advances Bill to Extend Terrorism Reinsurance Backstop for 15 Years

Aug 2 2007 // The House Financial Services Committee voted yesterday to extend and expand the federal terrorism reinsurance law, going against the wishes of the Bush Administration.The panel voted by 49 to 20 in favor of H.R. 2761, the...

N.Y. City Rules Would Require Permits, Insurance of Photographers

Aug 2 2007 // Filmmakers, photographers and civil liberties advocates are protesting proposed rules for New York City that would require permits and $1 million insurance policies for people trying to film or take pictures in one of the...

Del. Restricts Insurers’ Use of Credit Scoring for Auto, Home Renewals

Aug 2 2007 // Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner has signed legislation restricting the use of credit information in setting auto and homeowner insurance rates, making Delaware’s credit scoring law one of the toughest in the country...

Virginia Judge Throws Out Controversial Bad Driving Fees

Aug 2 2007 // A Virginia judge has put up a roadblock to the state’s sizable penalties for bad driving.In the first known court challenge to the fees, Henrico County General District Judge Archer L. Yeatts ruled that the new fees...

Global Insurance Leaders Place Growth at Top Of List

Aug 1 2007 // The leading overall issue facing the global insurance industry is capitalizing on new market opportunities, according to a survey of the participants at the 43rd Annual Seminar of the International Insurance Society (IIS)...

Senate Banking Panel to Hear Natural Disaster Commission Bill Today

Aug 1 2007 // A Senate Banking committee is scheduled to mark-up a bill today to establish a natural catastrophe commission to examine how best to mitigate disaster risks and deal with the after-effects of these events.The Senate...

Oregon Supreme Court Rules SAIF Not Immune from Lawsuits

Jul 31 2007 // The Oregon Supreme Court ruled the State Accident Insurance Fund Corp. can be sued for violations of federal constitutional rights.The court said that SAIF can be considered a “person” under federal law and,...

Mass. Agents Could Be Losers Under Competitive Auto Rating

Jul 31 2007 // Massachusetts insurance agents aren’t happy about the decision to introduce competitive rating into the state’s price-regulated private passenger auto insurance system. They enjoy the best market share (86...

Vioxx Federal Judge Sees 2008 Focus on Stroke Cases

Jul 30 2007 // Next year’s federal Vioxx trials may focus on people who had strokes after taking the once popular painkiller, the judge assigned to handle pretrial matters in all 8,575 federal lawsuits said last Friday.“We...

Okla. Regulator’s Concerns Impacts Federal Medicare Legislation

Jul 30 2007 // Two months ago, Insurance Commissioner Kim Holland was in Washington expressing dismay to a Senate panel that government policies prevented her from protecting elderly Oklahoma consumers from unscrupulous Medicare...

Ala. Judge Appoints Prosecutors in Katrina Insurance Case

Jul 30 2007 // A federal judge appointed two veteran Birmingham, Ala., attorneys to prosecute a prominent Mississippi attorney and his law firm for criminal contempt in a Hurricane Katrina insurance dispute.In an order made public July...

Insurers Balk as House Panel Votes to Add Wind Coverage to Flood Program

Jul 27 2007 // Private insurance companies are balking at a decision by a key House panel to expand the federal flood insurance program to include wind coverage.The House Financial Services Committee voted yesterday to add wind coverage...

Judge: La. Road Home Suit Should Name State as Well as Contractor

Jul 26 2007 // Sue the state as well as its contractor for Louisiana’s troubled Road Home problem, a federal judge in Baton Rouge, La., told the attorney who filed a class-action lawsuit alleging the contractor is cheating...

Terror Insurance Act Moves Forward in House with Lowered Event Triggers

Jul 25 2007 // The federal Terrorism Risk Insurance Revision and Extension Act moved out of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises this week and on to the full House...

Industry Still Divided as House Federal Charter Measure Reintroduced

Jul 25 2007 // U.S. Reps. Melissa Bean, D-Ill., and Ed Royce, R-Calif., have reintroduced their National Insurance Act of 2007, the so-called optional federal charter bill that proposes letting insurance companies choose federal over...

Insurance Referendum Appears Headed for Wash. Ballot

Jul 24 2007 // In its latest attempt to block a Washington regulation that insurers say would drive up insurance rates, the insurance industry association has launched a public campaign to take their issue to the ballot box.A campaign...