Missouri Passes Reciprocal Agent Licensing Bill; Legislative Session Ends

Missouri has become just the second state this year to pass legislation streamlining insurance producer licensing, action that 27 other states must take by November 2002 to meet a federal mandate.

The Missouri legislature also took other significant actions involving insurance, including amending an existing bill so as to exempt insurance company practices from its telemarketing restrictions and amending a domestic violence bill to require an innocent co-insured to complete an affidavit stating he or she did not in any way cause the loss covered by insurance and will aid in the prosecution of the person who did cause the loss. Legislators also defeated bills that would have restricted the use of competitive auto replacement parts and the use of credit histories by insurers.