This site is designed for Massachusetts insurance agents. As with any business, there are many legal issues that can and will impact the business of an insurance agency. Our hope is to provide information to insurance agents about various legal issues and when and how they might arise in the context of running an insurance agency.
Last month President Barack Obama signed into law The Wall Street Reform Bill. The new law which overhauls the financial regulatory system in the U.S., has also created new opportunities for foreign insurers in the Commonwealth. Previously, the law governing the Massachusetts excess and surplus market did not allow alien insurers, or insurers formed and [...]
August 10, 2010
The Massachusetts Commissioner of Insurance has given new auto insurance carriers until December 31, 2010 to obtain their two year assigned risk exemption. After Massachusetts changed to a competitive rating of personal lines automobile insurance on April 1, 2008, the Commissioner of Insurance issued new regulations to induce new automobile insurance carriers to enter the [...]
August 9, 2010
Governor Patrick has signed into law a bill granting producers in the Massachusetts Auto Insurance Plan (MAIP) commissions on assigned risk policies written voluntarily by assigned risk carriers. The signing of the bill overrules the Commissioner of Insurance’s decision not to allow producers these commissions and also reverses the Supreme Judicial Court decision that upheld [...]
July 31, 2010
The Legislature passed and sent to Governor Patrick a bill overruling the Commissioner of Insurance’s fourth decision not to allow producers commissions on assigned risk policies written voluntarily by assigned risk carriers. The bill, if signed by the Governor, would also reverse the Supreme Judicial Court decision that upheld the Commissioner’s denial of such commissions. [...]
July 30, 2010
The Commissioner of Insurance has disapproved for the fourth and probably final time a change to the Massachusetts Auto Insurance Plan (MAIP) that would have allowed producers to be paid commissions on policies voluntary written under the take-out rules of the MAIP. The focus of producers looking to maintain their property interests in such policies [...]
July 14, 2010
Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley Proposes Comprehensive New Regulations for Chapter 93A that Will Affect the Practices of Massachusetts Agents and Insurers.
July 8, 2010
Insurance agencies in Massachusetts, for purposes of their own employment practices and those of their customers (e.g. employment benefits clients, workers compensation insureds) need to be mindful of the current law concerning employment classification. Many Massachusetts employers believe that simply issuing one of their workers a 1099 and/or requiring that the worker sign an “independent [...]
July 1, 2010
In its 2010 Car Insurance Affordability Index, InsWeb Corp. awarded Massachusetts the top spot in a comparison of the most affordable automobile insurance rates in the United States. The June 16, 2010 report can be viewed here. The good news comes only two years after the reform of the automobile insurance marketplace in Massachusetts conducted [...]
June 24, 2010
On May 27, 2010, Attorney General Martha Coakley proposed comprehensive new regulations that could potentially have far reaching consequences for the Massachusetts Automobile insurance marketplace and those agents who represent it. The proposed regulations fall under 940 CMR 28.00: Automobile Insurance Regulations and can also be found on the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General’s [...]
June 3, 2010
Agency Checklists.com is an agent’s one-stop shop for all the legal information an agent needs to properly run one’s insurance agency. This website provides the important legal points an agent needs to know during the life-cycle of their insurance agency. Our comprehensive checklists cover all the items an agent needs to know including: Starting up [...]
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August 19, 2010
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