Darren T. Ellingson has been appointed Acting Director of Insurance by Arizona Governor Douglas A. Ducey.  Germaine Marks, who was the Director of Insurance, resigned to accept a position in the private sector.  Mr. Ellingson has served as the Arizona Department of Insurance Deputy Director since 2013 and   previously was…
Read More Arizona Governor Names Acting Director of Insurance

The NAIC’s Accounting Practices and Procedures Task Force chose not to use its planned template for obtaining terrorism risk insurance data at the NAIC Summer National Meetings in Chicago this past weekend. The template was intended to establish a uniform means nationwide for insurers to submit data about the terrorism…

Read More NAIC Decides Against TRIA Data Call Template

On Monday, August 17, 2015, California Assembly Bill 553 was signed by Governor Jerry Brown, and became immediately effective. AB 553 adopts much of the NAIC’s Model Corporate Governance Annual Disclosure Model Act, along with a number of measures to bring California’s Insurance Holding Company Systems Act into conformity with…

Read More California Adopts NAIC Corporate Governance Annual Disclosure Requirements

The UK’s Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) has, this month, written to insurance companies in the UK to find out more about how they deal with the threat posed by cyber attacks and what mechanisms they have in place to protect client data. The PRA is (since 1 April 2013) responsible…

Read More UK Insurers Probed for Cyber Risk

The 13th August 2015 was not just an unlucky number 13 but the date the Prudential Regulatory Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) chose to publish the long awaited rules on the Senior Insurers Manager Regime. From the 1st January 2016 the regime will enable the PRA…
Read More “Taking no prisoners!” The Senior Insurance Manager Regime

A recent report entitled “Promoting UK Cyber Prosperity: Public-Private Cyber-Catastrophe Reinsurance” issued by Long Finance examines the potential effects of cyber-catastrophe events on the economy. The report, available here, recommends the creation of a public-private cyber-catastrophe reinsurance scheme, or an extension to the existing terrorism pool, in order to…
Read More Recommendation for Cyber-Catastrophe Scheme to promote UK Cyber Competitiveness

Governor Cuomo recently signed Assembly Bill 7789, which will expand the scope of activities that insurance brokers may engage in with respect to Group Life and Group A&H insurance sales to multinational clients covering non-US employees. Under certain conditions, brokers will now be able to provide information to certain non-US…

Read More New York Creates Regulatory Safe Harbor for Certain Broker Activities Involving Non-US Entities

The Connecticut Supreme Court recently overturned a $34.7 million judgment against The Hartford Fire Insurance Company (“Hartford”) in a class action suit filed by over 1000 auto body repair shops alleging unfair trade practices by Hartford for paying the shops well below their hourly rates.

In 2009, a jury awarded…
Read More Connecticut High Court Overturns $35 million CUTPA Verdict in Auto Body Rate Case

In Preferred Mutual Insurance Company v. Vermont Mutual Insurance Company, 87 Mass App Ct. 510 (June 17, 2015), the Massachusetts Appeals Court discussed several interesting insurance coverage issues when it addressed a dispute between a homeowner’s insurer and a CGL insurer. The facts of the case were as follows.
Read More Massachusetts Appeals Court Holds Primary Insurer’s Excess “Other Insurance” Clause Does Not Avoid Duty To Defend

Since 2005, banks have continued to provide certain military service members with loans that require payment of interest far beyond the 16% New York state cap under what has become known as the “Fort Drum Loophole.” The loophole has specifically exempted banks from the New York usury laws for loans…
Read More New York Limits Interest Rates on Loans to New York-based Military Personnel