AAIS has initiated a filing
of revised forms, endorsements, and a multistate manual
under the Businessowners Program (BOP).
The program retains the traditional
format of providing separate stand-alone "Special"
(open perils) and "Standard" (named perils) base forms.
Among other things, the base forms have
been revised to allow for limits higher than built-in
sublimits for certain additional coverages and coverage
extensions.
Also, a new coverage extension for loss
to data and records is added with a built-in sublimit that
can be increased. The coverage extension incorporates
coverage for certain losses due to computer viruses and
hacking, coverage that was previously provided by
endorsement.
On the liability side, among other
changes, a provision is added for reimbursement of defense
costs and an exclusion is added for liability for loss to
data records.
The revised AAIS Businessowners Program
introduces an updated multistate manual with multistate
rules, classifications, and rating information, along with
state-specific exception pages.
Proposed effective dates for the BOP
revision start at June 1, 2012.
For information on affiliating with AAIS
for use of the Businessowners Program, contact Rick Maka,
director of marketing and strategic alliances, at
rickm@AAISonline.com,
or by calling 800-564-AAIS, ext. 222.
AAIS recently released revised schedules
and variable field endorsements under its Inland Marine
Guide of forms and rating information for the
traditionally nonfiled classes.
Variable field endorsements contain blank fields
that must be filled in, and this general revision is prompted, in part,
by recent requirements of the New Hampshire Insurance Department.
In 2011, New Hampshire regulators began requiring
that Guide forms bearing specific policy information, such as schedules,
include a place to insert the policy number.
AAIS has accommodated this requirement and made
other changes in the latest revision. The new fillable PDFs for the
revised schedules and variable field endorsements are available on
AAISdirect in addition to the Microsoft®
Word and nonfillable PDFs currently available.
As is AAIS policy, the revised schedules and
endorsements will be filed in states that do not exempt the
traditionally nonfiled classes from filing requirements. The proposed
effective date for the filings is July 1, 2012.
AAIS is filing a new mandatory
endorsement under several personal, commercial, and
agricultural programs in Hawaii to comply with that state's
new civil unions law.
In a law that took effect Jan. 1, 2012, Hawaii
defines "civil union" as a union between two individuals, including
members of the same sex, who are not, among other things, spouses in a
marriage as defined under Hawaii marriage laws. The law also recognizes
as civil unions legal unions entered in other jurisdictions.
The new law provides that a party to a civil union
must be included in any definition or use of the terms "spouse,"
"family," "immediate family," "dependent," "next of kin," and other
terms that denote a spousal relationship.
The proposed effective date of the filing is July 1,
2012, but the law is effectively immediately and companies must comply.
Insurers operating in Maryland have
through April 16 to respond to the latest request from the
Maryland Insurance Administration for information on company
plans to continue operations in the wake of a disaster in
the state.
A
bulletin from the MIA specifies the information sought, and how to
respond to the inquiry.
