On May 30, the U.S Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held that an insured’s broad allegations of pollution over a course of decades are enough to trigger a liability insurer’s duty to defend environmental contamination lawsuits. 

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Read More First Circuit Finds Flexibility in “Sudden and Accidental” Pollution Exception

On May 29th, Eliot Spitzer, Governor of New York, signed an executive order creating the New York Commission to Modernize the Regulation of Financial Services.  The Commission’s objective is to streamline state regulation of an industry that has become increasingly complex over the past decade. 

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Read More Eliot Spitzer Establishes Commission to Modernize Insurance Regulation in New York

Joel Ario, former insurance administrator of the Insurance Division in the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services (“DCBS”), has confirmed that he has accepted the nomination by Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell to serve as Insurance Commissioner for Pennsylvania. 

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Read More Introducing Pennsylvania’s New Insurance Commissioner

A Florida appellate court recently recognized a new statutory cause of action for bad faith in the handling of medical malpractice claims. 

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Read More Florida Court Recognizes New Statutory Medical Malpractice Bad Faith Cause of Action

On June 4, 2007, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) adopted the Military Sales Practices Model Regulation.  The purpose of the Model Regulation is to provide uniform standards through which active duty service members of the United States Armed Forces are protected from dishonest and predatory insurance sales practices. 

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Read More NAIC Adopts Military Sales Practices Model Regulation

Given the escalating costs of covering legitimate health care services, the last thing the health insurance industry needs is to be paying for services that were never rendered.  Fortunately, state and federal laws provide harsh penalties for this sort of fraud. 

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Read More Group Health Incorporated Spots Insurance Fraud in Alleged Brain Surgery Scam

In an effort to stay one-step ahead of related federal legislation, an interested parties group within the NAIC has begun drafting an interstate compact that will allow for the uniform regulation of excess/surplus line transactions. 

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Read More NAIC Begins Drafting of Excess/Surplus Lines Interstate Compact

Earlier this week, the Reinsurance Task Force (“RTF”) met at the NAIC’s quarterly conference in San Francisco to discuss ways to overhaul reinsurance regulation in the United States thereby reducing collateral charges for nonadmitted reinsurers. 

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Read More NAIC Plans to Address Collateral Issue by Modernizing Reinsurance Regulation

On May 24, 2007, optional federal charter (OFC) legislation was reintroduced into the Senate as the National Insurance Act of 2007 (S. 40) (NIA), co-sponsored by John Sununu (R-NH) and Tim Johnson (D-SD).  A similar bill is expected to be reintroduced into the House by Ed Royce (R-CA) in the coming weeks. 

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Read More National Insurance Act/Optional Federal Charter Legislation Reintroduced in Senate