International activity has come to dominate the discussion of the future of insurance regulation in Washington, and central to the conversation is the development of a new international capital standard by the International Association of Insurance Supervisors. There are currently several federal agencies, including the Treasury Department, Federal Insurance Office, and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, engaged in these efforts. NAMIC has serious concerns about forcing uniformity across very different regulatory environments with very different economic and political goals as well as the potential negative impact any international agreement could have on the domestic marketplace or the state-based regulatory system. As these international efforts progress, NAMIC will continue working with U.S. representatives to ensure the association’s perspective helps guide their approach, and with Congress, to ensure strong oversight of their work.
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National Mitigation Investment Strategy
The costs of natural disaster recovery are rising at an alarming rate, but the current policy of the federal government is to wait for disaster to strike, and then spend enormous amounts of money, off-budget, with little to no oversight, only for the next disaster to inflict similar damage. NAMIC believes this is backward and fiscally unsustainable and that a policy shift toward pre-disaster mitigation at the federal level can help better protect communities from the effects of natural disasters and reduce the need for post-event aid and reconstruction. To that end NAMIC supports a broad array of policies, including incentives for stronger building codes and tax-free disaster savings accounts, which will encourage the states, communities, and homeowners to prevent losses.
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Unmanned Aircraft Systems/'Drones'
NAMIC members are exploring the potential for unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, to provide insurance services, and nearly all NAMIC members have had policyholders inquire about insuring them. The federal and state laws and regulations for drones and drone operations are changing quickly and dramatically, with respect to such key areas as safety, privacy, and liability. NAMIC is working with Congress and federal agencies, including the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the Commerce Department, as well as legislators and regulators at the state and local levels to develop reasonable and effective laws and regulations that will enable NAMIC members to use drones to better serve policyholders and to provide insurance protection.
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