NAMIC and other property/casualty trade associations united last week to dispel concerns some lawmakers have voiced about the industry's claims-paying activities after Hurricane Katrina.
At a hearing of the House Financial Services Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, Robert Hartwig, president and chief economist of the Insurance Information Institute, testified for the industry and told lawmakers of the accomplishments of insurers.
In response to comments by a few detractors that the insurance industry should no longer be exempt from antritust laws, Hartwig explained that McCarran-Ferguson provides a very narrow exemption that allows insurers to pool data and that without it many smaller insurers would be unable to compete with larger insurers, thereby driving up rates for consumers.
Despite the fact that Katrina was the most expensive storm to face the U.S. insurance industry, carriers stepped up and helped thousands whose property was damaged or destroyed. In the wake of the weather disaster:
Posted: Tuesday, March 06, 2007 12:00:00 AM.
(317) 875-5250 - Indianapolis | (202) 628-1558 - Washington, D.C.
Contact NAMIC | Press | Advertise | Sponsor