Rhode Island: Dept. of Business Regulation Issues Regulation Addressing Hurricane Deductibles and Mitigation Measures

The Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation has issued its long-awaited regulation addressing insurers’ use of hurricane deductibles and mitigation measures for residential property business.

The regulation, which was issued April 30 on an emergency basis, is the product of legislation that was enacted last session following a series of hearings held by a special legislative commission convened to investigate the impact of natural disasters on homeowners insurance. NAMIC provided testimony on various legislative proposals that were viewed as substantially more problematic than the resulting statute, which was codified as R.I. Gen. Laws § 27-5-3.7.

The DBR will hold a hearing on the new regulation at 10 a.m. on June 5 and will accept written comments submitted up to that time. NAMIC will review the regulation in detail and provide comment as appropriate.

“The critical question for the regulation is the same question that had to be applied at the legislative level, which is whether the proposal would excessively hamper an insurer’s ability to manage its exposure to catastrophic risk effectively,” commented Paul Tetrault, NAMIC’s Northeast state affairs manager.

Direct questions to NAMIC State Affairs Manager Paul Tetrault.

Posted: Tuesday, May 06, 2008 12:00:00 AM. Modified: Tuesday, May 13, 2008 11:25:34 AM.

Salary Survey: Data by Size, Region, and More

(317) 875-5250 - Indianapolis | (202) 628-1558 - Washington, D.C.

Contact NAMIC | Press | Advertise | Sponsor

We are 1,400 property/casualty insurance companies serving more than 135 million auto, home and business policyholders, with more than $196 billion in premiums accounting for 50 percent of the automobile/homeowners market and 31 percent of the business insurance market. We are the largest and most diverse property/casualty trade association in the country, with regional and local mutual insurance companies on main streets across America joining many of the country’s largest national insurers who also call NAMIC their home. More than 200,000 people are employed by NAMIC members.