NAMIC First to Join PIFC as Associate Member

The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC) recently joined the Personal Insurance Federation of California (PIFC) as an associate member.

According to Jerry Davies, PIFC communications director, NAMIC is the first organization to join PIFC as an associate member. PIFC president Dan Dunmoyer met with NAMIC’s officers in several meetings over the last couple of years and their mutual discussions resulted in a vote before PIFC’s board of directors. The decision to add NAMIC as an associate member was unanimous.

Davies said that NAMIC will work with PIFC on various legislation projects and regulatory issues, but PIFC will continue to make lobbying efforts. The two associations previously worked together last year to defeat legislation that would prohibit insurance companies from using insurance-based credit scoring in their underwriting processes.

NAMIC supplemented PIFC’s lobbying efforts with information from other states on the issue. PIFC and NAMIC’s collaboration partially contributed to the defeat of the bills and the adoption of the NCOIL credit scoring model. PIFC anticipates NAMIC’s corroboration on credit scoring again in the future and on special issues such as the use of C.L.U.E. reports.

PIFC sees the ability of tapping into NAMIC’s national research capabilities as a distinct advantage. “We will be able to get a full insurance industry point of view through the NAMIC research and the work that they do with their member companies,” Davies said. “We can ask questions about how other states’ industries have handled certain issues and we can get research projects completed that will enable us to better understand the issues in Washington, D.C. We’re just pleased that we’ll be able to work together.”
Joe Thesing, NAMIC’s state affairs manager for the central region, said becoming an associate member will allow NAMIC to shape the policy environment in California. “NAMIC is very excited about this development. This really helps us establish a presence on the West coast so that we can better serve the interests of our member companies. California often times is the state that sets trends that ripple over to other states, so to speak.
“Besides the fact that we share many members, we share a lot of other things, in terms of how we approach issues, in terms of the core values of the association. It just seemed like it would be a very natural fit for us to try and find an opportunity to work together in a more formal way,” Thesing continued.
“With their strong national profile and industry-leading public policy resources, NAMIC will clearly allow PIFC to better serve its members and their policyholders in California,” Dunmoyer said in a press release. “Our organizations have very similar philosophies and our mutual interests make this partnership a natural fit,” he added.
“Together, PIFC and NAMIC will bring a formidable voice to the legislative and regulatory arena in California. Our goal will be to oppose legislation and regulatory actions that threaten the insurance marketplace and help California continue to recover from its current economic challenges,” NAMIC president Charles M. Chamness said.