NAPSLO applauds passage of H.R. 1065

NAPSLO applauded Monday’s passage of the Non-Admitted and Reinsurance Reform Act of 2007 (H.R. 1065) by the U.S. House of Representatives and expressed optimism that the Senate would take up a companion bill soon.

“This approval is an important step toward ultimately improving the operation and regulation of the surplus lines market,” said NAPSLO President William Newton. “NAPSLO is pleased that the House of Representative has approved H.R. 1065 and we are hopeful the Senate will also approve a bill.”

H.R. 1065 is, in part, aimed at making access to the surplus lines market more efficient for consumers and the brokers and agents who assist them.

“We believe that once this legislation is enacted it will make access to the surplus lines market more efficient and ease the consumers' burden of obtaining insurance coverage in difficult insurance markets,” said NAPSLO Executive Director Richard Bouhan.

H.R. 1065 was submitted by Reps. Dennis Moore (D-Kan.) and Ginny Brown-Waite (R-Fla.). Cosponsors included Financial Services Ranking Member Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.), and Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises Chairman Paul Kanjorski (D-Penn.). House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., and and Deborah Pryce, R-Ohio, also assisted in passage of the legislation.

The bill, which was approved unanimously Monday by voice vote, would establish national standards for how states regulate the surplus lines market and reinsurance and would create a uniform system of surplus lines premium tax allocation and remittance, one-state compliance on multi-state surplus lines risks, and direct access to the surplus lines market for sophisticated commercial purchasers.

The Senate version of the bill, S 929, was introduced in March by Florida Senators Mel Martinez and Bill Nelson and has been referred to the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.

"With such broad, bipartisan support, I'm hopeful that this legislation, which is long overdue, will be approved by the Senate soon and signed into law," Rep. Moore said in a news release. "It's the right thing to do."

NAPSLO’s Washington D.C. representative, Maria Berthoud of B&D Consulting said "we have been meeting with members of the Senate Banking Committee and look forward to working with the full Senate on passing this bill.”