July 15, 2021
The U.S. insurance industry is enormous. Net insurance premiums written in 2020 totaled $1.28 trillion with premiums by life/annuity insurers accounting for 49%, or $624.0 billion of that total.
1 Who helps regulate such a massive industry?
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) and the National Insurance Producer Registry (NIPR) exist to help insurance professionals and consumers alike. The NAIC works to assist state insurance commissioners to regulate the insurance industry. The NAIC’s affiliate, the NIPR, provides licensing and compliance services for professional insurance providers.
What is the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC)?
The
National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) is a nonprofit association of chief state insurance regulators. It aims to help protect consumers by providing expertise, data, and analysis to insurance commissioners as well as drafting model laws and regulations with the collaborative effort of regulators, insurers, and consumer representatives.
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This organization is governed by the
chief insurance regulators from the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories to coordinate regulation of multistate insurers.
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What does an insurance commissioner do?
Insurance commissioners advocate for and protect consumers. They regulate the insurance industry by setting standards and ensuring fair and competitive insurance markets.
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The NAIC’s sole purpose is to support insurance commissioners, who make up their membership.2
How does the NAIC support insurance commissioners?
The NAIC staff helps insurance commissioners’ efforts to:
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- establish model standards and best practices
- conduct peer review
- coordinate their regulatory oversight
The NAIC also helps educate both regulators and consumers.
The NAIC helps educate regulators.
The NAIC provides education and training courses to regulators covering various insurance topics. It also runs the Insurance Regulator Professional Designation Program to “enhance regulators’ skills, techniques, and strategies for monitoring the insurance marketplace.”
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The NAIC helps educate consumers.
The
NAIC Consumer website helps provide basic information about the major types of insurance, including:
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- Homeowners insurance
- Life insurance
- Auto insurance
- Health insurance
- Flood insurance
You will also find information on insurance claims processes and practical insurance tips on the
NAIC Consumer website that may be of use to you.
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More NAIC Consumer website features that may be helpful include:
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This tool may help consumers locate life insurance policies and annuity contracts of a deceased family member or close relationship.
This resource helps inform small business owners about how to help protect their business.
This list helps define commonly used insurance-related terms and definitions.
This search feature may help you discover information about insurance company complaints, licenses, and financial health.
This compilation of resources may help you gain a better understanding of insurance via apps, games, and quizzes.
File a complaint
The
NAIC Consumer website has a “File a complaint” section that helps consumers find their state insurance department and state-specific information about filing a complaint.
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This is not a comprehensive list of features the
NAIC Consumer website offers.
What is the National Insurance Producer Registry (NIPR)?
The
National Insurance Producer Registry (NIPR) is a not‐for‐profit technology company that is an affiliate of the NAIC. It provides licensing data and compliance services for insurance professionals.
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The NIPR provides the insurance industry with a data warehouse of producer licensing information from all fifty states, the District of Columbia, and four U.S. territories. NIPR's products and services seek to help eliminate paperwork and data entry, helping provide a faster turnaround time for the producer licensing process.
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The NIPR helps with licensing.
The
NIPR’s Licensing Center helps insurance professionals obtain, renew, and manage producer and adjuster licenses through the NIPR.
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The
NIPR’s Licensing Center has several features insurance professionals may want to note, including:
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Apply for a new resident or non-resident insurance license.
Add additional line(s) of authority, which is a “general subject area of insurance that a producer can be licensed to sell,”
10 to an existing resident or non-resident license.
Renew a resident insurance license or one or more non-resident insurance licenses.
Provides information about the three main steps involved in the insurance licensure application process.
Other
NIPR Licensing Center features that may be helpful include:
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This feature helps lead insurance professionals to websites where they can obtain state-specific information on procuring a copy of their insurance license.
This tool helps insurance professionals find state-specific requirements for insurance licensing and determine eligibility.
This is not a comprehensive list of features the
NIPR Licensing Center offers.
The NIPR provides products and services.
The
NIPR’s Products and Services page details information about the products and services the NIPR offers to “assist insurance companies and state insurance departments with the monitoring and/or regulation of insurance professionals.”
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The
NIPR’s Products and Services page has several features insurance professionals may want to note, including:
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A central repository of producer licensing information from participating state insurance departments.
A way to request date supplied by insurance departments in all 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands.
This gateway “facilitates the electronic exchange of producer information between state insurance regulators and the entities they regulate.”
This is not a comprehensive list of features the
NIPR’s Products and Services page offers.
The NAIC and NIPR work together to help protect insurance consumers.
The NAIC helps insurance commissioners’ efforts to establish model standards and best practices, conduct peer review, and coordinate their regulatory oversight. The NAIC also helps educate insurance regulators and consumers about insurance-related matters. The NIPR is a not-for-profit affiliate of the NAIC. The NIPR provides licensing data and compliance services for insurance professionals including housing a data warehouse of producer licensing information.
For more information on the NAIC:
For more information on the NIPR:
Sources:
- III, Insurance Industry at a Glance, 2021
- NAIC, Our Story, accessed July 2021
- NAIC, 2021 Membership List, 2021
- Ballotpedia.org, Insurance Commissioner, accessed July 2021
- NAIC, FAQ, accessed July 2021
- NAIC, Regulator, accessed July 2021
- NAIC, Consumer, accessed July 2021
- NIPR, About NIPR, accessed July 2021
- NIPR, Licensing Center, accessed July 2021
- NAIC, Chapter 9 – Lines of Insurance, 2020
- NIPR, NIPR Products and Services, accessed July 2021