National Association of Insurance Commissioners
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) is an organization which represents the interests of all state insurance commissioners, and the chief insurance regulators of the District of Columbia and the five US territories. Formed in 1871, it is a corporation which is currently registered in Delaware and which has tax-exempt status as a non-profit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
Mission
The mission of NAIC is to provide support to state insurance commissioners and other chief insurance regulators to enable them to achieve the following five regulatory goals:
- To protect the public interest;
- To promote competitive insurance markets;
- To facilitate the fair treatment of consumers;
- To support and enhance the state regulation of insurance;
- To promote the financial soundness of insurance organizations.
In addition to its ongoing support services, NAIC also operates a number of education programs designed specifically for insurance regulators and staff at all levels, including a professional designation course. These programs are aimed at increasing the skills and knowledge which staff have in regulating their respective state markets.
Organization
As required by Article Three of NAIC's Bylaws, the organization consists of a President, a President-Elect, a Vice President and a Secretary-Treasurer, all of whom are elected by a secret ballot of the membership at the last national meeting in each calendar year.
The organization is divided into four geographic zones across the US and its territories: Northeastern, Southeastern, Midwestern and Western. Each of these four zones has its own chair, vice chair and secretary, who form part of the Executive Committee of NAIC.
In addition to its Executive Committee, NAIC maintains eight standing committees which are tasked in the specific areas of life and annuities, health and managed care, property and casualty, market regulation and consumer affairs, financial condition, financial regulation standards and accreditation, international insurance relations and information resources management.
As an organization NAIC holds national meetings four times per year, with the objective of holding one meeting per year in each of the four zones. The meetings consist of a series of consecutive committee sessions, and they provide a forum for discussing and resolving the insurance issues of the day, and for formulating the policies of NAIC.
NAIC's headquarters are located in Kansas City, Missouri, and it operates an executive office in Washington, D.C. for the purpose of furthering its relations with government. NAIC also maintains a securities valuation office in New York, and the functions of that office include analysing the quality and market values of insurers' investment portfolios.
Consumer Education
A secondary but important mandate which NAIC sees itself as having is the education of consumers on insurance issues. It has therefore developed a consumer website called Insure U which provides information on home insurance and other personal lines of coverage. The site contains disaster preparedness tips for homeowners and renters, a home inventory checklist, a detailed consumer's guide to home insurance, consumer alerts, consumer complaints reports and even an online insurance intelligence quiz.
