Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Insurance Regulation Modernization topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Insurance trade group urges committee to exempt specialty commercial lines from form filings
Summary
The American Property Casualty Insurance Association and industry witnesses told the Joint Committee on Financial Services that House Bill 1105 would modernize business‑to‑business insurance transactions by exempting certain specialty lines from rate and form filings and thereby spur product innovation while preserving regulator oversight.
Industry representatives told the Joint Committee on Financial Services that House Bill 1105 would modernize how specialty commercial insurance lines are regulated in Massachusetts by exempting certain large commercial and specialty lines from the standard rate and form filing process while preserving oversight by the Division of Insurance.
"H 1105 is designed to modernize business to business insurance transactions by exempting certain specialty lines of commercial insurance from the current rate and form filing process," Jonathan Treiber of the American Property Casualty Insurance Association said. He said the bill builds on a 2004 exemption for certain large commercial policyholders and would not apply to personal lines, workers' compensation or medical malpractice.
Treiber said the legislation would require companies and the Division of Insurance to keep underwriting files and statistical information and would allow the commissioner to reinstate filing requirements where competition is insufficient. He argued the change would help attract specialty insurers, increase product availability, and allow insurers to respond faster to new economic or technological developments without removing consumer protections for personal lines.
No committee vote was taken during the hearing; the witness urged a favorable report to encourage market modernization.
