The recent passage of the NARAB II proposal has been hailed by the Big I as one of its biggest legislative victories in a decade, but what does it mean to MIIAB members.  While the new law will make multiple state licensure much easier, it will take some time before that happens.  There is still considerable work to be done to get NARAB up and running. 

The new law establishes the National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers which will act as an independent not for profit corporation.  NARAB will serve as a national clearinghouse for insurance producers to obtain licensure and approval to sell insurance in multiple states.  NARAB would establish its own membership criteria, set up classes of membership and fees, require criminal background checks, and have the ability to deny membership for failure to meet or maintain its membership criteria.   NARAB will also be capable of receiving consumer complaints via a toll-free number and will refer complaints to state regulators. 

The national insurance press, your carriers and of course this association will provide you with updates on the construction of the NARAB website and the criteria for multi-state licensure. 

This legislation just passed by Congress also reauthorizes the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 for an additional six years.  TRIA's most recent authorization expired on December 31.  Congress made a couple of changes to the program that will lessen the share of the government's exposure to terrorism losses.  The new trigger for TRIA now will phase in at $200 million instead of the previous $100 million and raise the mandatory recoupment from $27.5 billion to $37.5 billion over five years.  Congress also directed the Secretary of the Treasury to report back on the effectiveness of the program, whether the program is discouraging commercial PC carriers from providing coverage and the impact of the program on workers' compensation insurers.  Beginning January 1, 2016, insurers will be required to provide earned premiums, geographic exposure, take-up rates and the amount of private reinsurance they purchase.    The next time that the program is up for reauthorization, decision makers in Washington DC will a lot more information on terrorism risk insurance. 

Dominic Sposeto

MIIAB Lobbyist