At the NAIC’s Innovation and Technology Task Force meeting held last week in Hawaii, the American Insurance Association (“AIA”) urged state insurance regulators to adopt legislation that would create “sandboxes” wherein certain regulatory requirements would be waived for insurers looking to pilot innovative insurance products, services and technologies. AIA asserted…
Read More American Insurance Association Urges NAIC to Create Regulatory “Sandboxes”

You are invited to a Complimentary Webinar for Clients and Friends of Locke Lord LLP

Title: Dissecting the Amendments to Florida’s Viatical Settlement Act – Plus, a brief update on Delaware’s Amended Viatical Settlements Act
Date: Wednesday, December 20, 2018
Time: 12:00 pm Central / 1:00 pm…
Read More Please Join Us for a Locke Lord Webinar – Dissecting the Amendments to Florida’s Viatical Settlement Act – December 20

The 2017 United States Atlantic hurricane season, which officially ended on November 30, was the most expensive ever according to one report. Disaster modelers Chuck Watson and Mark Johnson concluded that total damages for the season, which included Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, topped $202 billion. The staggering financial losses…
Read More 2017 Hurricane Season the Costliest on Record

Locke Lord’s Regulatory & Transactional Insurance Practice Group is pleased to be a part of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners meetings throughout the year. Being present at the NAIC national meetings and talking directly with attendees is one way that we stay abreast of industry trends, a critical component…
Read More Locke Lord and NAIC – Fall 2017 Meeting Information

The wine country wildfires of October 2017 are expected to have caused greater losses than any other in U.S. history.  AON Benfield predicts that on an aggregated basis, “this is costliest insured wildfire event ever recorded.”  Back on October 31, 2017, California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones revealed that the then…
Read More Heard It Through The Grapevine: Wine Country Wildfires

This week, the 21st Century Flood Reform Act (H.R. 2874) passed the House of Representatives and is now headed to the Senate. H.R. 2874 would renew the National Flood Insurance Program (“NFIP”) for an additional 5 years beyond its existing termination date. NFIP was originally enacted to provide…
Read More National Flood Insurance Program Gets One Step Closer to Renewal

On Monday, November 13, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, in conjunction with the Center for Insurance Policy and Research and The Griffith Insurance Education Foundation, presented a webinar entitled “Wearables and their Insurance Implications.” The webinar covered a broad range of developments in the wearable space, as well as…
Read More NAIC Co-Hosts Webinar on Wearable Devices

The Unclaimed Life Insurance Benefits Act, which requires insurers to periodically match their policies, annuity contracts, and retained asset accounts against the United States Social Security Administration’s Death Master File was signed into law on August 26, 2016 and became effective January 1, 2017.  In January of 2017, Illinois…
Read More Changes to Illinois Unclaimed Life Insurance Benefits Act Become Law

On October 27, the NAIC Model Law (E) Working Group released an exposure draft of its proposed revisions to the Life and Health Guaranty Association Model Act (#520), intended to address the financial challenges of Long Term Care (“LTC”) insurance insolvencies, such as this year’s Penn Treaty liquidation, and to…
Read More NAIC Working Group Exposes Proposed Revisions to Life and Health Guaranty Association Model Act

The Missouri Supreme Court has unanimously held a pollution exclusion to apply in a dispute between a lead smelting company and one of its insurers.  Doe Run Resources Corporation faced litigation alleging that its smelting operations caused pollution that injured various plaintiffs.  Doe Run sought defense costs from St. Paul…
Read More Missouri Supreme Court Upholds Pollution Exclusion