Around the PIA Western Alliance States
California — Lara Names Members to Consumer Boards: Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has announced several appointments to help drive forward the California Department of Insurance’s mission to protect consumers. These appointments include naming three members to the California Automobile Assigned Risk Plan (CAARP) Advisory Committee, one member to the Curriculum Board, and one member to the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau (WCIRB) Governing Committee.
“I am very pleased to announce these appointments to the CAARP Advisory Committee, the Curriculum Board, and the WCIRB Governing Committee,” said Commissioner Lara. “Their advice and diverse perspectives are critical to our work protecting consumers across our state through preserving a robust, educated producer workforce and an overall healthy insurance industry in California.”
The California State Legislature created CAARP to provide auto insurance for motorists unable to obtain coverage in the private market due to their driving records or other extraordinary circumstances. One program within the plan — the California Low Cost Auto Program — aims to provide affordable liability insurance to income-eligible good drivers by assigning them to private insurers based upon the companies’ share of the auto insurance market. The CAARP Advisory Committee provides policy advice to Commissioner Lara on matters affecting the operation of its programs.
The Curriculum Board oversees the development of prelicensing and continuing education curriculum for agents and brokers to uphold professional standards that protect consumers. This includes a list of preapproved courses of study as well as courses of study for professional designations. This Board also develops standards for providers and instructors who offer courses and other training to licensed agents and brokers.
The WCIRB Governing Committee sets policy, oversees WCIRB management, and reviews all issues involving workers’ compensation insurance pure premium rates, classifications, rating plans, rating systems, manual rules and policy, and endorsement forms. The WCIRB is a private organization licensed by the Department of Insurance for the purpose of collecting, analyzing, and compiling rating data, with funding coming from assessments of its insurance company members. All workers’ compensation insurance companies in California are required by law to be members of the WCIRB.
Public members of the CAARP Advisory Committee receive two hundred fifty dollars per meeting. All other positions are uncompensated.
The next CAARP Advisory Committee meetings will be held on Tuesday, November 15, 2022 and Wednesday, November 16, 2022. The next Curriculum Board meeting will be held on Thursday, October 20, 2022, and the next WCIRB Governing Committee meeting will be held on Wednesday, December 14, 2022. More details are available at www.insurance.ca.gov/boards.
Idaho — Holidays and Fires: As the holidays approach, the Idaho State Fire Marshal’s Office is warning Idahoans against using water to douse candle fires.
Wax that melts and puddles from the candle is a fuel. Like a grease fire in the kitchen, applying water to the flame allows it to spread onto anyone or anything nearby that can burn.
“The best way to extinguish a fire is to blow it out or put a lid on it,” says Knute Sandahl, Idaho State Fire Marshal. “If you can take away the oxygen, the flame will go out. That’s the safest way to do it.”
The State Fire Marshal’s office is sharing this clip from a CBS affiliate in Pittsburgh. It is a consumer alert on the dangers of using water to put out a candle (warning: contains graphic images) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZI30ZnePn60
On average there are 2,500 home candle fires reported each day, but the top days for home candle fires are Halloween (jack-o-lanterns), Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Day, and New Year’s Eve. Additional candle safety facts include:
For more fire safety information, visit doi.idaho.gov/state-fire-marshal/ or follow Idaho State Fire Marshal’s Office on Facebook.
New Mexico — Licensing Department Hit by Cyber Attack: New Mexico’s Regulation and Licensing Department has been hit by a cyber attack. It currently regulates the licenses for 500,000 businesses and individuals in 35 different professions, trades and businesses.
Department officials do not know how many records were compromised and how much damage was done.
“For operational safety, we cannot comment further while the comprehensive investigation is ongoing,” said Renee Narvaiz, spokeswoman for the Department of Information Technology.
Officials for the state of New Mexico say the incident appears to be isolated and that it was immediately stopped once it was discovered.
Source link: Insurance Journal — https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2022/10/17/690544.htm
Oregon — The Oregon Division of Financial Regulation recently announced the following permanent rulemaking: ID 7-2022: In the matter of clarifying notice requirements for midterm cancellations of package policies
Amend Rule: 836-085-0055
Rule summary: Amend in order to clarify notice period requirements for commercial liability insurance policy cancellations as outlined within the published DFR product standards.
Filed: September 23, 2022
Effective: October 1, 2022
For more information on this recently adopted rule, please visit the division’s website:
https://dfr.oregon.gov/laws-rules/Documents/id07-2022_rule-order.pdf
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This service is provided to you at no charge by Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services. Visit us on the web at http://www.oregon.gov/DCBS/.
P.S. If you have any questions or problems visit subscriberhelp.govdelivery.com for assistance.
Washington — General filing instructions for carrier submission of provider agreements and HCBM contracts rulemaking (R 2022-06): We adopted the General Filing Instructions for Carrier Submission of Provider Agreements and HCBM Contracts rule (R 2022-06) on October 10, 2022. The rule takes effect on November 10, 2022. This rule amends existing rules in order to establish unique general filing instructions for the submission of provider agreements and HCBM contracts by carriers.
For more information, including the adopted rule (CR-103) and the concise explanatory statement, please visit the rule’s webpage.
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