Friday, August 31, 2012

NAPSLO Issues Notice of Annual Business Meeting & Nominating Committee Report

NAPSLO has issued its Notice of Annual Business Meeting & Nominating Committee Report  and the 2012 Annual Business Meeting will be held in the Atrium A Ballroom at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia on Wednesday, October 10, 2012, at 10:45 a.m. Eastern.

At the Annual Business Meeting NAPSLO membership will act on the slate of officers and directors presented by the Nominating Committee and any other business properly brought before the membership.

The Nominating Committee's slate of Wholesale Broker Nominees for three-year terms are:
Gilbert C. Hine, Jr., CPCU, CFP, McClelland & Hine, Inc., San Antonio, Texas
Davis D. Moore, Worldwide Facilities, Inc., Los Angeles, California
Matthew D. Nichols, ASLI, All Risks, Ltd., Hunt Valley, Maryland

Company Director Nominees for three-year terms are:
Scott A. Culler, Markel West, Woodland Hills, California
Michael D. Miller, CPCU, CLU, ARe, Scottsdale Insurance Company, Scottsdale, Arizona

Officer Nominees for one-year terms in 2012 – 2013 are:
President - Matthew D. Nichols, ASLI, All Risks, Ltd., Hunt Valley, Maryland
Vice President -  Kevin T. Westrope, Westrope, Kansas City, Missouri
Secretary - Hank H. Haldeman, The Sullivan Group, Los Angeles, California
Treasurer - Gilbert C. Hine, Jr., CPCU, CFP, McClelland & Hine, Inc., San Antonio, Texas

The members of the 2012 Nominating Committee are: Letha E. Heaton (Chair & Immediate Past President), Admiral Insurance Co.; Jim Carey, Admiral Insurance Company; Hank H. Haldeman, The Sullivan Group; Jacqueline M. Schaendorf, Insurance House, Inc.; and John F. Wood, III, Specialty Risk Associates, Inc.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Illinois Becomes 49th State to Pass NRRA Compliance Legislation

Illinois became the 49th state to enact Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act enabling legislation with the signing of HB1577. The bill, signed by the Governor on August 14, authorizes the state to tax the gross premium on a surplus lines policy when Illinois is the home state of the insured but does not authorize tax sharing.

The bill includes most of the significant NRRA definitions and defines affiliate, affiliated group, exempt commercial purchaser, home state, qualified risk manager and state. This bill does not limit the scope of the law to policies where Illinois is the home state of the insured and taxes the gross premium when it is the home state of the insured.

The bill includes NRRA eligibility terms but goes beyond the NRRA in continuing to require that the broker use insurers that have standards of solvency and management that are adequate for the protection of policyholders or the broker is to provide a warning to the policyholder if the insurer does not meet such standards.

Illinois did not implement NRRA legislation in 2011 but issued a bulletin saying the state would tax 100% of the premium if Illinois were the home state in the policy. Comprehensive information on 2012 legislation in Illinois and other states is available on NAPSLO's website, in addition to a number of NRRA resources. To date the only Michigan and the District of Columbia have not passed NRRA compliance legislation.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Technology Program Added to Convention

A program to review recent actions by U.S. carriers and the London market concerning technology issues has been added to the schedule of the 2012 NAPSLO Annual Convention in Atlanta.

The session, Current Technology Issues: Bringing Carriers into the Mix, will take place on Tuesday, October 9 from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and will include Adam Stafford, Head of Electronic Distribution for Lloyd's; Tammie Miller, Risk Placement Services Director of Automation and Chair of the E&S Joint Working Group London Subgroup; and Greg Ricker, Strickland Insurance Group CIO and Co-Chair of the Joint Working Groups Carrier Subgroup.

The program will review proof-of-concepts demonstrating the goal of transferring data from retailers to managing general agents/brokers and to carriers. Panelists will also review the information requested by London brokers and syndicates on binding business and the efforts by the London subgroup to work with U.S. MGAs and brokers to supply the requested information. In addition, recent actions on technology issues in the London market will be discussed.

The panel will also review actions by the E&S Joint Working Group. The Working Group's carrier subgroup has been working with ACORD and the vendor community to create a common messaging solution.

The London subgroup has focused on communications and standards between MGAs and the London market and is making great strides in workflow efficiency and reporting. Current activities include understanding risk modeling and the data required for analysis, rolling out the newly developed XML bordereaux standard, working towards a claim standard that has been submitted and seeking approval, and helping develop standards around reporting risk data.