{ "version": "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1.1", "title": "The Insurance Record — Updates", "home_page_url": "https://theinsurancerecord.org/updates/", "feed_url": "https://theinsurancerecord.org/updates/feed.json", "description": "What changed on The Insurance Record: new Library pages, Register assessments, and public corrections.", "items": [ { "id": "2026-09-16-4 more Library pages: agency licensing, Medicare Advantage certification, and two military-specific producer rules", "url": "https://theinsurancerecord.org/library/", "title": "4 more Library pages: agency licensing, Medicare Advantage certification, and two military-specific producer rules", "content_text": "An insurance agency is usually its own separately licensed business entity, distinct from any individual producer's license; a Medicare Advantage or Part D agent has to clear a federal annual training-and-testing certification (not just a state license) before selling a plan; a December 2024 federal law lets a military spouse's state license follow them across a PCS move; and a 2006 federal law layers specific disclosure and reporting rules onto any life insurance sale made on a US military installation.", "date_published": "2026-09-16T12:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "library" ] }, { "id": "2026-09-16-Seventh Register round: 1 more agent/broker assessed, 0 listed", "url": "https://theinsurancerecord.org/register/", "title": "Seventh Register round: 1 more agent/broker assessed, 0 listed", "content_text": "Fourteen agents/brokers checked against the standard so far; none has passed yet, so the passing directory stays empty — not by omission, but because nobody has cleared it.", "date_published": "2026-09-16T12:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "register" ] }, { "id": "2026-09-16-3 more Library pages: pet insurance training, travel insurance's entity-level license, and how producers actually get licensed", "url": "https://theinsurancerecord.org/library/", "title": "3 more Library pages: pet insurance training, travel insurance's entity-level license, and how producers actually get licensed", "content_text": "Pet insurance is almost always sold under an ordinary P&C license, but a 2022 NAIC model act layers a pet-specific producer training requirement on top of it in a growing list of states; travel insurance runs through its own \"limited lines\" license usually held by a business entity, not the counter clerk or checkout page that sold it to you; and the front-end pipeline our other licensing guides don't cover — state-specific pre-licensing education, the exam, the fingerprint background check, and the NIPR application behind every new producer license.", "date_published": "2026-09-16T12:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "library" ] }, { "id": "2026-09-16-3 more Library pages: title insurance licensing, crop insurance certification, and the LTC Partnership program", "url": "https://theinsurancerecord.org/library/", "title": "3 more Library pages: title insurance licensing, crop insurance certification, and the LTC Partnership program", "content_text": "Title insurance agents hold their own NAIC-modeled license and answer to a federal anti-kickback law (RESPA) that runs alongside ordinary state anti-rebating rules; selling federal Multi-Peril Crop Insurance requires clearing a separate USDA competency exam on top of the state limited-lines license; and a Long-Term Care Partnership policy's real Medicaid asset-protection benefit depends on a producer completing a specific federal training requirement, with portability across states limited to actual reciprocity agreements.", "date_published": "2026-09-16T12:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "library" ] }, { "id": "2026-09-16-Sixth Register round: 1 more agent/broker assessed, 0 listed", "url": "https://theinsurancerecord.org/register/", "title": "Sixth Register round: 1 more agent/broker assessed, 0 listed", "content_text": "One more producer checked against our published standard, bringing the total to 13 assessed — didn't clear it, so the passing directory stays empty. We don't name a failing agent or broker publicly; see the Register for why.", "date_published": "2026-09-16T12:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "register" ] }, { "id": "2026-09-16-3 more Library pages: New York's Regulation 187, variable products' FINRA layer, and lines of authority", "url": "https://theinsurancerecord.org/library/", "title": "3 more Library pages: New York's Regulation 187, variable products' FINRA layer, and lines of authority", "content_text": "New York's own, stricter best-interest rule for life insurance and annuity recommendations, including the constitutional fight it survived at the state's highest court in 2022; why a variable annuity or variable life policy needs both a state insurance license and a separate FINRA securities registration, plus the public BrokerCheck tool that checks the second one; and what a producer license's \"line of authority\" actually is, since an active license for the wrong line is a real, checkable gap.", "date_published": "2026-09-16T12:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "library" ] }, { "id": "2026-09-16-7 more Library pages: LTC suitability, credit-based scoring, flood insurance training, emergency suspension, renewal-commission vesting, and two new Quebec/Canada explainers", "url": "https://theinsurancerecord.org/library/", "title": "7 more Library pages: LTC suitability, credit-based scoring, flood insurance training, emergency suspension, renewal-commission vesting, and two new Quebec/Canada explainers", "content_text": "Long-term care insurance's own NAIC suitability and replacement framework, separate from the life/annuity rules covered elsewhere; the real consumer protections behind credit-based insurance scoring, including a re-underwriting right after specific life events; the federal training requirement most producers selling NFIP flood coverage never mention; the narrower emergency-suspension track some states use to act before a hearing; a real, decided case on how ambiguous renewal-commission vesting language gets litigated when a captive agent's contract ends; and two new Canada-only explainers on Quebec's two-body AMF/Chambre disciplinary process and provincial E&O insurance requirements, which mostly run the reverse of the US default.", "date_published": "2026-09-16T12:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "library" ] }, { "id": "2026-09-16-Fifth Register round: 2 more agents/brokers assessed, 0 listed", "url": "https://theinsurancerecord.org/register/", "title": "Fifth Register round: 2 more agents/brokers assessed, 0 listed", "content_text": "Two more producers checked against our published standard, bringing the total to 12 assessed — neither cleared it, so the passing directory stays empty. We don't name a failing agent or broker publicly; see the Register for why.", "date_published": "2026-09-16T12:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "register" ] }, { "id": "2026-09-16-3 more Library pages: the federal felony bar, managing general agents, and premium trust accounts", "url": "https://theinsurancerecord.org/library/", "title": "3 more Library pages: the federal felony bar, managing general agents, and premium trust accounts", "content_text": "A federal law, separate from state licensing, bars anyone convicted of a dishonesty or breach-of-trust felony from working in insurance without a regulator's written consent; a managing general agent (MGA) is a distinct, separately regulated role holding real delegated underwriting and sometimes claims authority from an insurer; and most states hold a producer responsible for premium funds in a trust or fiduciary capacity, with a dedicated trust account required in a large share of them.", "date_published": "2026-09-16T12:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "library" ] }, { "id": "2026-09-16-3 more Library pages: viatical vs. life settlements, producer termination for cause, and the ACA Marketplace's Navigator/CAC/agent framework", "url": "https://theinsurancerecord.org/library/", "title": "3 more Library pages: viatical vs. life settlements, producer termination for cause, and the ACA Marketplace's Navigator/CAC/agent framework", "content_text": "The one distinction that actually separates a viatical settlement from an ordinary life settlement — and why it changes whether the payout is tax-free; the mirror image of a producer's duty to self-report, covering what an insurer has to tell the state when it fires a producer \"for cause\"; and a Library-only explainer of the real federal rules distinguishing a Navigator, a Certified Application Counselor, and a Marketplace-certified agent or broker.", "date_published": "2026-09-16T12:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "library" ] }, { "id": "2026-09-16-Correction: a model act's name, on the life settlement broker page", "url": "https://theinsurancerecord.org/library/insurance-life-settlement-broker-license-explained/", "title": "Correction: a model act's name, on the life settlement broker page", "content_text": "Our life settlement broker licensing page cited \"the NAIC Life Settlements Model Act.\" That framework's actual title, per the NAIC's own model law list, is the Viatical Settlements Model Act (#697) — a separate industry group, NCOIL, publishes its own similarly-named Life Settlements Model Act. The model number and every substantive point on the page were accurate; only the name has been corrected, with a dated note left on the page itself.", "date_published": "2026-09-16T12:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "correction" ] }, { "id": "2026-09-16-Fourth Register round: 2 more agents/brokers assessed, 0 listed", "url": "https://theinsurancerecord.org/register/", "title": "Fourth Register round: 2 more agents/brokers assessed, 0 listed", "content_text": "Two more producers checked against our published standard, bringing the total to 10 assessed — neither cleared it, so the passing directory stays empty. We don't name a failing agent or broker publicly; see the Register for why.", "date_published": "2026-09-16T12:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "register" ] }, { "id": "2026-09-16-Third Register round: 3 more agents/brokers assessed, 0 listed", "url": "https://theinsurancerecord.org/register/", "title": "Third Register round: 3 more agents/brokers assessed, 0 listed", "content_text": "Three more producers checked against our published standard, bringing the total to 8 assessed — none cleared it, so the passing directory stays empty. We don't name a failing agent or broker publicly; see the Register for why.", "date_published": "2026-09-16T12:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "register" ] }, { "id": "2026-09-16-Second Register round: 3 more agents/brokers assessed, 0 listed", "url": "https://theinsurancerecord.org/register/", "title": "Second Register round: 3 more agents/brokers assessed, 0 listed", "content_text": "Three more producers checked against our published standard, bringing the total to 5 assessed — none cleared it, so the passing directory stays empty. We don't name a failing agent or broker publicly; see the Register for why.", "date_published": "2026-09-16T12:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "register" ] }, { "id": "2026-09-15-4 more Library pages: life settlement brokers, self-reporting, E&O claim triggers, and bad-faith claims", "url": "https://theinsurancerecord.org/library/", "title": "4 more Library pages: life settlement brokers, self-reporting, E&O claim triggers, and bad-faith claims", "content_text": "Selling an existing life policy for cash runs through its own separately-licensed role with a state-specific rescission window; a producer has an affirmative duty to self-report an administrative action or criminal prosecution to every state where they're licensed, on their own; industry claim data shows what actually triggers a real errors-and-omissions claim against an agent; and a plain explainer of what \"bad faith\" claims handling means legally, and why it's usually a separate claim from a regulatory violation.", "date_published": "2026-09-15T12:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "library" ] }, { "id": "2026-09-15-First Register round: 2 agents/brokers assessed, 0 listed", "url": "https://theinsurancerecord.org/register/", "title": "First Register round: 2 agents/brokers assessed, 0 listed", "content_text": "The first two producers checked against our published standard didn't clear it, so the passing directory stays empty — not because vetting hasn't started, but because neither passed. We don't name a failing agent or broker publicly; see the Register for why.", "date_published": "2026-09-15T12:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "register" ] }, { "id": "2026-09-15-3 more Library pages: surplus lines licensing, renewal/CE, and non-resident licensing", "url": "https://theinsurancerecord.org/library/", "title": "3 more Library pages: surplus lines licensing, renewal/CE, and non-resident licensing", "content_text": "Surplus lines coverage requires a genuinely separate producer license and carries no state guaranty-fund backstop if the carrier fails; a license renewal cycle and continuing-education requirement keep an \"active\" result true over time, and inactive, lapsed, and revoked are three different, non-interchangeable statuses; and a producer needs a specific, checkable non-resident license in your state before selling to you there, not just a clean license at home.", "date_published": "2026-09-15T12:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "library" ] }, { "id": "2026-09-15-5 more Library pages: disciplinary-record searches, insurer insolvency, adjuster types, annuity training/oversight, and appointment verification", "url": "https://theinsurancerecord.org/library/", "title": "5 more Library pages: disciplinary-record searches, insurer insolvency, adjuster types, annuity training/oversight, and appointment verification", "content_text": "How to search a state DOI's own disciplinary record and read a consent order; what actually happens if your insurer becomes insolvent, including the real state guaranty-association dollar caps and the surplus-lines gap; the three genuinely different kinds of claims adjuster and who each one represents; the training and insurer-supervision mechanics behind the annuity best-interest standard; and how to actually verify a producer's carrier appointment rather than just taking their word for it.", "date_published": "2026-09-15T12:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "library" ] }, { "id": "2026-09-15-3 Canada Library pages: a Phase 1 pilot, Library-only", "url": "https://theinsurancerecord.org/library/canada/how-canadian-insurance-regulation-works/", "title": "3 Canada Library pages: a Phase 1 pilot, Library-only", "content_text": "How Canada's provincial insurance regulators actually work (no NIPR equivalent, a split regulator in Ontario, a license/discipline split in Quebec), a province-by-province guide to checking a license plus the shared CIRDA disciplinary database, and what license reciprocity between provinces does and doesn't mean. Comparative and educational only — our published standard and Register remain United States-only, and no specific Canadian agent, broker, or agency is named or vetted.", "date_published": "2026-09-15T12:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "library" ] }, { "id": "2026-09-15-Does selling GAP insurance require an insurance license?", "url": "https://theinsurancerecord.org/library/gap-insurance-license-explained/", "title": "Does selling GAP insurance require an insurance license?", "content_text": "GAP is legally two different products through two different channels: a dealer-sold debt-cancellation waiver, exempt from producer licensing in most states under an industry-drafted GAP Alliance model act (not an NAIC model act), and a true insurance-policy endorsement that does require a licensed producer. New York applies a narrower, statute-based three-part test to the waiver channel.", "date_published": "2026-09-15T12:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "library" ] }, { "id": "2026-09-15-8 more Library pages: data security, annuity best interest, replacement paperwork, Medicare marketing, public adjusters, commission disclosure, policy types, and California licensing", "url": "https://theinsurancerecord.org/library/", "title": "8 more Library pages: data security, annuity best interest, replacement paperwork, Medicare marketing, public adjusters, commission disclosure, policy types, and California licensing", "content_text": "What the NAIC's data security model law requires of an agency handling your information; the four obligations behind the 2020 annuity best-interest standard; the actual replacement-notice paperwork behind a policy swap; how Medicare Advantage and Medigap marketing rules genuinely differ; public adjusters as a distinct, separately-licensed profession; what an agent actually has to disclose about their own commission; the regulatory differences between term, whole, and universal life; and what's genuinely distinct about California's own licensing regime.", "date_published": "2026-09-15T12:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "library" ] }, { "id": "2026-09-15-6 more Library pages: appointment, rebating, E&O, free-look, captive vs. independent, and how to complain", "url": "https://theinsurancerecord.org/library/", "title": "6 more Library pages: appointment, rebating, E&O, free-look, captive vs. independent, and how to complain", "content_text": "Why a carrier appointment is a separate, filed fact from a license; why anti-rebating law limits what an agent can offer you; which states actually mandate E&O insurance; how long a free-look period really runs; the legal difference between a captive agent and an independent broker; and how to file a complaint with your state's Department of Insurance.", "date_published": "2026-09-15T12:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "library" ] }, { "id": "2026-09-15-The Register is open — zero agents/brokers assessed so far", "url": "https://theinsurancerecord.org/register/", "title": "The Register is open — zero agents/brokers assessed so far", "content_text": "The standard is published and vetting is starting. We're showing the honest current count (zero) rather than filling this page with placeholder claims; the first real assessments will appear here as they're completed.", "date_published": "2026-09-15T12:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "register" ] }, { "id": "2026-09-15-3 Library pages: the foundation", "url": "https://theinsurancerecord.org/library/", "title": "3 Library pages: the foundation", "content_text": "How to check whether your insurance agent is actually licensed (NIPR and your state's own DOI lookup), what the NAIC Complaint Index measures and its carrier-vs-agent attribution limits, and what churning and twisting actually mean under NAIC's life/annuity replacement rules.", "date_published": "2026-09-15T12:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "library" ] }, { "id": "2026-09-15-The Insurance Record launches", "url": "https://theinsurancerecord.org/standard/", "title": "The Insurance Record launches", "content_text": "A published standard for individual insurance agents and brokers, tied to state producer licensing verified through NIPR, NAIC model regulations on appointment, anti-rebating, deceptive marketing, and life/annuity replacement — plus a public Register that will report findings honestly, with no paid placements and no pay-to-list badge.", "date_published": "2026-09-15T12:00:00.000Z", "tags": [ "meta" ] } ] }