Mass. House approves updates to insurers insolvency fund

BOSTON, Mass. (SHNS)–Massachusetts residents and businesses would secure stronger protections if their property and casualty insurance carriers end up going bankrupt, under a bill gaining late-session momentum on Beacon Hill.

Without debate, the House last week quietly passed a bill (H 4772) that aims to update parameters for an insurance social safety net fund, created by the Legislature in 1970, and raise the caps on property and casualty claims that have not been revised in decades. The Senate sent the redrafted bill, originally sponsored by Rep. Daniel Cahill, to the Senate Ways and Means Committee on Monday.

The bill would ensure that the Massachusetts Insurers Insolvency Fund aligns with a framework promoted by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners in 2009, said Barbara Law, who administers MIIF and is the CEO of Guaranty Fund Management Services. The bill also clarifies that MIIF covers cybersecurity insurance claims.

“The Massachusetts version of the statute was one of the oldest in the country — it has not been updated from time to time over the years,” Law told the News Service. “So there are a lot of opportunities to bring current best practices from other states to Massachusetts, plus an opportunity to increase the cap for coverages. So individuals, particularly on the property side, we would be able to ensure that there was enough coverage allowed by the law so they would have a greater likelihood of having the entirety of their claims covered.”

Weather-related events in recent years have caused property insurance insolvencies in Louisiana, Florida and South Carolina, she said.

“We wanted to be prepared if those insolvencies started to have a greater effect on Massachusetts, and we also wanted to make sure that if we start to experience that type of weather up here, that we were prepared,” Law said. “So it really is about preparedness. We wanted to make sure that our law was in shape to make sure that it afforded enough coverage for the residents in Massachusetts.”

The bill would boost the existing claims cap, such as for car accidents and environmental cases, from $300,000 to $500,000, a level already enacted in Connecticut and Rhode Island, according to testimony Law sent to the Financial Services Committee co-chairs last fall. The new limit would not apply to workers’ compensation claims, which do not have a cap and are paid by the fund for life, Law said.

Aiming to provide a safety net for Massachusetts home and property owners, the bill also proposes a $1 million cap for residential or commercial property, a policy that Law said was implemented in California after a wildfire caused an insurer to go bankrupt.

“We do recognize that Massachusetts has high reconstruction values for property, so we recommend a $1 million limit for property claims just to ensure that we keep pace with the time,” she said.

All insurance companies that are licensed to provide property and casualty coverage in the commonwealth are members of MIIF, and they contribute to the fund to help pay out claims, according to GFMS.

The Massachusetts Association of Insurance Agents supports the bill, particularly the special real property cap provision due to the “increased severity and frequency of these claims,” said CEO Nick Fyntrilakis. In written testimony, Fyntrilakis warned Massachusetts is “currently disadvantaged compared to other states” that have embraced updated insurance policies.

“This bill would enhance benefits to Massachusetts residents affected by insurer insolvencies and reduce costs to the property and casualty insurance guaranty fund framework in the Commonwealth with no tax increases or increased appropriations if enacted,” Fyntrilakis said. He added, “These updates are much-needed and, in some instances, long-overdue.”

Law said MIIF, which is regulated by the Division of Insurance, has paid roughly half a billion dollars in claims to policyholders throughout its history when small and large insurance companies were insolvent. Workers’ compensation claims have largely driven activity in the fund, though Law said MIIF has also seen bursts of activity tied to insolvencies from asbestos-related claims in the late ’80s and early ’90s and the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.