In a
letter
to New York Department of Financial Services Superintendent Linda Lacewell today, NAIFA-NYS President Phil Held strongly urged the agency to reconsider its regulation requiring agents to notify all insureds of the temporary 90-day deferment of life insurance premiums. He cited the enormous administrative demand such a requirement is imposing as agents try to address numerous client inquiries arising from the coronavirus crisis.
"For agents who have hundreds or thousands of insureds, this regulatory mandate will take days, not hours, to accomplish," Held wrote in his
letter
, which was also copied to Executive Deputy Superintendent for Insurance, My Chi To. "We would ask your immediate intervention to revise the regulation to provide for more flexibility in making the notification, both in method and time," he requested.
Held also offered the services of NAIFA-NYS if the superintendent were to establish an advisory panel on insurance or insurance producer issues arising from the crisis. The purpose of such a panel, Held said, would be to "make certain that [regulatory options or proposed actions] best serve the public in the context of the market realities during this crisis."
NAIFA-NYS, and other insurance trade associations, have been inundated in recent days with questions and concerns about the 10-day period for making all such notifications. NAIFA-NYS legal counsel have been on numerous industry calls to discuss the issue, and have been communicating directly with the DFS. It is estimated that, according to the current regulation, all notifications would have to be completed by Monday, April 13th.
