The PIA National Business Issues Committee renews its request of PIA members to share copies of carrier information/changes or the like that address compensation disclosures. This will enable the committee to assess the current status of the marketplace and provide the insurer a PIA National review and commentary, as PIA National does with agency agreements. PIA members can then factor these carrier-PIA exchanges into their decision making process.

Please provide electronic copies only, to include scanned attachments, along with your contact information to Teresa Goddard at teresago@pianet.org.

During its September meeting, the Business Issues Committee again expressed its concern for how some insurers are approaching this issue, especially in terms of directives/amendments to agency agreements that instruct PIA members to “disclose all compensation received from the transaction” or the like. PIA National remains deeply concerned about the legal exposure of PIA members in this area, especially regarding insurers that proceed with these changes absent legal consultation v/v PIA member legal compliance exposures.

Background

During the April 2005 PIA National meetings, PIA member leadership met with the carrier representatives participating in the PIA-Company Council of Executive Officers (PIA-CCEO) to discuss a wide range of issues. Among these was the advocacy positions and actions PIA National together with PIA affiliates were taking with regard to the Insurance Producer Disclosure of Compensation issue. In May PIA National sent to our CCEO insurers an open letter directly addressing the legal and compliance exposure concerns we had on behalf of our members regarding insurer issued producer compensation disclosure notices, offering our services to their legal counsels. On June 2, PIA National sent a copy of this open letter with an update report on this issue to all PIA National and affiliate leadership asking that they share this letter with their insurers, refer these insurers to PIA National for any questions or discussions, and share copies of any insurer notices, directives, agency agreement changes or commentary received by members on this issue.

This article originally appeared in the October 2005 PIA Connection.