New York To Schedule Comp Hearings

“Those who sell insurance deserve to be fairly compensated, and those who buy insurance deserve to be fairly treated,” Insurance Superintendent Eric Dinallo says in a statement. “These hearings will help us understand how best to ensure the marketplace is competitive, transparent and fair to all.”

The New York department “wants to hear views about whether agents, brokers and all other insurance producers should be required to make full disclosure to the insured and obtain consent in writing for any compensation from an insurer, or other entity relating to the issuance, renewal or servicing of the insured’s insurance policy or annuity contract,” Dinallo says.

Dinallo and Cuomo also are seeking views on contingent commissions and whether such compensation creates an irreconcilable conflict of interest for producers, officials say.

Regulators want to know to what extent contingent, supplemental and flat percentage commissions are currently leading to steering or other deceptive or anti-competitive practices in the marketplace, and to understand what mechanisms are most effective in curbing such practices, officials say.