Iowa Insurance

If a concerted effort by consumer groups and insurance agents in the country to convince governments to approve minimum standards for the financing, structure and personnel services to settle insurance business.

A major reason for this unusual alliance is concerned about a rash of insolvency of insurance companies in recent years, such as the Mission Insurance Company, Iowa USA and mutual reciprocal responsibility. In addition, the passage of Proposition 103 in California during the past year shows that insurance reform is considered a priority by many voters.

The representatives of consumers and insurance agents made public last week a series of guidelines. This week, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners approved its own set of proposals. Both groups are requested for the strengthening of public insurance schemes in Germany.

”These standards have the potential to save consumers the aggregation of hundreds of millions of dollars,’’said Stephen Brobeck, Executive Director of the Consumer Federation of America. ”If utilities insurance has a much more active role, consumers can save an amount of Dollars on the market.”Best prices

Esther Peterson, advising consumers of the National Association of Professional insurance agent, said that if the guidelines were developed by States, consumers benefit, weil”Es would probably be better in a multitude of cases, and it would be a means of redress’ in services.

The proposed standards call for such measures:

* The strengthening of financial supervision of insurance companies by the States, so that insurers in financial difficulties could be identified before the deadline, in active device.

* Blocking insurance members of the Committee on Employment on insurance companies for one year after leaving their state jobs.

* The expenditure of at least 10 percent of the insurance premium tax on the functioning of public services insurance.

* Maintaining a complaint and analyze data regularly.

* The adoption of higher wages and better training of workers in the insurance sector departments.

* The independent creation in favour of consumers or advise citizens to defend consumers in regulatory decisions. “Scale”

The objective of the proposed standards, “said Peterson, die”eine barline, that legislators and regulators can use to assess the effectiveness of the insurance regulators in their countries.”She is also president Consumer Committee Insurance Interest Group, an independent consumers - Advocacy consortium, that the development of new guidelines.

On a parallel front of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners has just a similar approach to nature and how to deal with, say insurance companies, including minimum standards of staffing, funding and organizational practices. David Gates, the Nevada Insurance Commissioner and president of the association, said Commissioner hoped that Leitlinien”als action against States to assess their programs.”

Another member of the Consumer Interest Group Insurance, J. Robert Hunter, chairman of the National-Versicherungs-consumer organization, said the new state standards for employment insurance by former commissioners have been necessary weil’’selbst the appearance of conflicts of interest must be strictly avoided. Early Warning”

David L. Y machine Ries, president of the Association of insurance agents, said regular surveys of the State of insurance companies offer systems würde”Frühwarn, so that departments can act more quickly.”

Accordingly, he says,”the agents would have greater certainty that their business transactions with customers financially sound.