The latest
comprehensive revision of the AAIS Homeowners Program has now been
approved in more than half the states, with effective dates ranging from
July 1, 2007 to March 1, 2008.
All but one of those states have
also approved the new Homeowners
equipment breakdown coverage
parts filed separately. Other filings are in process and more approvals are
expected imminently.
A
brochure is available
summarizing the features of the revision, along with other benefits of
using AAIS. For further information and resources, contact Rick Maka,
AAIS director of marketing, at
rickm@AAISonline.com, or by calling 800/564-AAIS.
Refinements to
Homeowners policy provisions are discussed in
audio files featuring comments by
Susan Luecke, AAIS assistant vice president of personal lines and the
principal developer of the revised Homeowners forms.
In a series of
short interviews being posted over coming weeks, Sue will describe how AAIS has developed or modified
provisions related to water loss, personal injury, business activities,
motorized vehicles, equipment breakdown, and new family structures.
In this week's
comments, Sue describes how refinements in AAIS policy provisions
address exposure to certain water-related losses in homeowners
insurance.
Insurers writing homeowners coverage in Louisiana are required to offer
owners of certain properties the option of purchasing dwelling coverage
without personal property coverage. The requirement, recently imposed by
statute, applies to structures damaged by hurricanes Katrina or Rita and
located in regions declared disaster areas following those events.
As
of mid-July, companies were required to offer dwelling policies with
coverage on structures but not personal property; such coverage is
currently available under the AAIS Dwelling Properties Program. As of
Jan. 1, 2008, insurers are required to offer the option under homeowners
policies; AAIS will be filing materials under its Homeowners and
Mobile-Homeowners Programs in advance of that date.
The Oregon Insurance Division approved a mandatory
endorsement developed by AAIS to enable companies to comply with the
recently enacted
Oregon Family Fairness Act.
Among other things, the act requires that all
privileges, immunities, rights, or benefits granted to spouses must be
granted, on equivalent terms, to individuals in a domestic partnership.
The endorsement will be distributed on Sept. 28 to
companies writing most AAIS programs in Oregon; it takes effect Jan. 1,
2008.
Colorado and the District of Columbia (DC) are the
latest jurisdictions to require the use of "SERFF," the System for
Electronic Rate and Form Filing, for insurance filings.
The DC requirement takes effect almost immediately,
Oct. 1, 2007, according to a
bulletin from the district's Department of Insurance, Securities,
and Banking. However, the bulletin includes a form for applying for a
temporary exemption from the requirement.
The Colorado mandate applies only to rate filings,
and takes effect Jan. 1, 2008, according to a
bulletin
from that state's insurance department.
To date, the following jurisdictions have implemented requirements that
filings be submitted electronically: Alabama, Delaware,
District of Columbia, Georgia, Iowa, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and
Utah. Requirements in those jurisdictions take effect sometime between
Jan. 1, 2007 and Jan. 1, 2008.
Missouri has indicated it will give priority
consideration to filings submitted using SERFF, but has so far come
short of mandating use of it.
AAIS is a licensed
third-party provider of SERFF filings with EFT capability, and can submit custom filings of
company forms and manuals, whether or not they are based on AAIS
programs. For information, contact
compliance@AAISonline.com.
AAIS invites
property/casualty professionals to submit their observations and
concerns regarding emerging exposures through our
AAISalert
web page.
The AAISalert online
submission form asks users to describe new exposures they are concerned
about, indicate how they address the exposure or plan to address it, and
how it is likely to affect AAIS programs. One need not be a member of
AAIS to participate.
Ideas generated through AAISalert may be incorporated into AAIS's
program revisions, and may also become topics for the AAIS Main Event,
an executive-level conference devoted to product-related issues of
strategic importance to property/casualty insurance companies. The 2008
Main Event is scheduled for April 20-22 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
For more information, contact Joseph Harrington, AAIS director of
corporate communications, at
joeh@AAISonline.com.
