Thomas Considine, the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Insurance and Banking (the “NJDIBC”), recently stated in an interview with an insurance industry trade publication, that without uniform national standards for insurance regulations, the industry will continue to lobby for federal regulation.  As an example of the advantages of uniformity, Commissioner Considine pointed to how New Jersey has benefited from joining the Interstate Product Regulation Commission, the goal of which is to help state insurance regulators develop national standards for life insurance, annuities, disability income and long-term care insurance.

Commissioner Considine also stated there were benefits to moving civil insurance fraud enforcement from the state’s Office of the Attorney General to the NJDIBC in 2010.  According to the Commissioner, the fraud investigators have been given a “new lease on life” as they are now in a department where fraud enforcement is the top priority.