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NEWS & NOTES
PPP FLEXIBILITY ACT SIGNED INTO LAW
In case you missed it … agencies and their clients now have more flexibility in using funds loaned under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Earlier this summer, Congress passed and the president signed into law H.R. 7010, the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act.
This legislation made several changes to the PPP (part of the bipartisan CARES Act passed by Congress in March), specifically: • Extending the window for businesses to spend funds loaned under the program from eight to 24 weeks • Reducing from 75% to 60% the percentage of loan money that must be spent on payroll • Extending the timeline for repayment of loans • Extending the deadline for rehiring workers from June 30 to Dec. 31 • Allowing payroll tax deferment for loan recipients Monitor Agent Headlines for any follow-up COVID-19 legislation.
SUMMARY OF MD INSURANCE LEGISLATION
Although Maryland state lawmakers wrapped up an abbreviated 2020 legislative session early due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they passed a number of insurance-related bills which will take effect in the coming months and beyond.
Among these is Senate Bill 40 (Chapter 558), which prohibits insurers from increasing the renewal premium for a private passenger motor vehicle policy based on a homeowner’s insurance claim, and vice versa prohibits insurers from increasing the renewal premium for a homeowner’s policy based on a private passenger motor vehicle insurance claim. The bill provides that motor vehicle insurers may consider homeowners’ claims, and homeowners’ insurers may consider motor vehicle claims, when rating the policy at the time of initial application and issuance. The new law takes effect July 1, 2021.
The Maryland Insurance Administration (MIA) recently published a bulletin providing insurance industry stakeholders with a summary of all of the 2020 insurance legislation signed into law by Gov. Larry Hogan. Access the bulletin, which includes life and health as well as property and casualty bills, for a summary of each and the effective dates.
Insurance.maryland.gov
PA NOW OFFERS REMOTE LICENSING EXAMS
Aspiring insurance producers in Pennsylvania now have greater flexibility in taking their licensing exam. Beginning on July 1, PSI Services began offering remote testing.
IA&B met with PSI Services and the Pennsylvania Insurance Department in advance of the go-live date to learn about the changes. Of note: • PSI unveiled a new landing page for its exams, home.psiexams.com. • At registration, candidates perform a compatibility check to ensure they have the necessary hardware and software (including a webcam). • Exams are proctored remotely. • Candidates learn immediately if they passed or failed. (They receive score reports via email.)
DE CYBERSECURITY PROGRAM REQUIREMENT
Delaware agencies: Is your Information Security Program in place? The Delaware Insurance Data Security Act was signed into law in July 2019. In part, it required agencies to develop and implement an Information Security Program addressing a number of specific elements by July 31, 2020.
• For those agencies with 15 or more employees, access our template (via the URL below), developed to help members formalize their program. • For those with fewer than 15 employees, you may be exempt from this specific requirement; however, you are not exempt from other laws and regulations that also require the development and implementation of an information security program (think: Gramm
Leach-Bliley Act). • For those agencies already complying with the Information
Security Program required under the Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act (HIPAA), that program will be sufficient to meet the new Delaware requirement.
As mentioned above, a template is available to members who wish to build their Information Security Program/Policy.
In addition, other requirements of this most recent law apply to all agencies, regardless of size, including the duty to notify the commissioner of any data breach within a certain timeframe.
E&O CONSIDERATIONS FOR NEW EXCLUSIONS As COVID-19 or pandemic-specific exclusions start popping up in certain policy renewals, now is the time to review agency renewal procedures and make any necessary adjustments.
BEST PRACTICES In general, and from a risk management and “best practices” standpoint, agents handling renewals are advised to:
1. Compare the expiring policy to the new policy, to ensure that the coverages are continuing and that there are no newly added exclusions (such as a COVID-19 exclusion) or limitations added to the policy that would limit coverage (“Mirror Test”). 2. If there are new exclusions or limitations in the renewal policy, indicate those in writing to the customer, so that the customer is informed of the limitation.
3. Have the customer sign acknowledging the change in coverage or, at a minimum, include a call-to-action in the notice, such as “If you have any questions about the coverages discussed above, or would like to make changes to these coverages, please contact our agency at your earliest convenience to make the appropriate changes.”
4. Document all calls, emails, texts, etc. in the agency management system.
The same guidance can be applied to changes between a proposal and an actual policy that is issued.
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