A.M. Best Company, Inc., reported that optional federal
charter legislation will not come to a vote in the current Congress, according
to Rep. Judy Biggert, R-Ill., chairwoman of the U.S. House Financial Services
Subcommittee on Insurance, Housing and Community Opportunity.
According to Biggert, the subcommittee's agenda is
focused on reauthorizing and reforming the National Flood Insurance Program and
Dodd-Frank oversight.
Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., a sponsor of the National Insurance Consumer Protection
Act in the last Congress, still plans to introduce a
bill at some point, spokeswoman Audra McGeorge said.
Allstate, which has long supported OFC movements, is
holding out hope for consideration of a bill in 2012. A report due early that
year on the efficacy of state insurance regulation, to be created by the
Dodd-Frank-created Federal Insurance Office, could be the impetus, said William
Vainisi, Allstate's vice president and deputy general counsel.
Collision repairers have mixed feelings on the prospect
of insurance being federally regulated. Some like the idea as it would open the
business of insurance to a "fresh pair of eyes" and closer scrutiny.
Those against it cite the enormous resources it would take to lobby at the
federal level.
More information:
Collision Repairers Favor State Regulation of Insurance, Says SCRS Legislative Committee Chair
Federal Regulation of Insurance: Good or Bad for Repairers?