June 28, 2019
Your PAC Donations at Work!

PAC dollars are as necessary as ever as your association fights to support legislative issues favorable to member agencies and those who support the Independent Agent. Now is the time to join the fight and to make a financial investment in both AgentPAC (state) and InsurPac (national). 

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NFR: One Question Survey Results 
Earlier this week, MAIA asked agency owners:  If you could ask the Department (of Insurance) one question regarding No-Fault Auto Reform, what would that question be?  Despite giving you less than 24 hours to complete, we received an overwhelming response. The top five issues gleaned from your questions fell into these categories.
  1. Impact of Common Effective Date for PIP Choice Implementation
  2. Concern about Agency Errors & Omissions (exposure/pricing)
  3. Medicare/Medicaid
  4. MCCA
  5. Fee Schedule; Form Requirements for BI and PIP Choice; Qualified Health Coverage
Your top concerns were shared with the Department by the MAIA Officers Thursday afternoon. 
Many of you expressed concern about the complications anticipated by the sheer processing of changes on a common date. Some of you have heard from your carriers that policies would require cancel/rewrite. Others have been told policies could be endorsed.  Here is what we heard from DIFS: the decision of whether to require a cancel/rewrite or the option to endorse the policy rests with the companies. Period. Members are encouraged to engage in conversations with their carriers on how they plan to implement PIP choice options.  
Recap of MAIA Meeting with DIFS to Discuss No-Fault
In search of the perspective of independent agents, DIFS reached out to your association. Your MAIA Staff and Officers met with cross-sections of the Department Thursday afternoon to discuss the upcoming changes and how the new law impacts consumers and agents.

The Officers highlighted several member concerns from the member-only survey.  A lengthy discussion ensued on the common effective date of July 1, 2020 for PIP choice and mandatory rate rollback. The Officers were quick to share concerns about the impracticality of all policyholders having a common July 1 policy date. As mentioned above, DIFS is operating under the belief that each carrier can decide on whether to endorse current policies or to cancel/rewrite policies.

In addition, the MAIA Officers brought up the impact for both policyholders and agencies of the mandatory form requirements for BI Residual Liability and PIP Choice. While the forms provide and reinforce the opportunity to educate policyholders, how will DIFS (per the new law) educate the consumer on the risks and benefits of PIP Choice and BI coverages? MAIA will be providing DIFS with questions our members are fielding from insureds and DIFS will be using those to develop and design Consumer Education articles on its website. Stay tuned for more information on when this section of DIFS website goes live.

The Officers shared concerns on the frequency of signed forms ( every renewal ) and the inconsistencies within the law on which signed forms must be submitted. Rest assured that your MAIA staff and Officers will continue to work to clarify this issue. 
What are you hearing from your insureds?
MAIA is a resource for the Department as its No-Fault Reform Implementation Team works through the no-fault changes. Specifically, we offered to review forms and offer feedback through member surveys.

Watch for a survey from MAIA the week of July 8 in which we will ask you to share the most frequent questions you are hearing from your insureds. Start making your lists now so that these can be shared with DIFS as they work through implications of the new law. These consumer questions will be a tremendous resource for the Department on the Consumer Education section of their website. You will have 48 hours to respond to the question: What questions are you hearing from your insureds on no-fault reform? Thank you in advance for taking the upcoming One Question Survey when it is released.
Q&A based on Survey
In addition to the cancel/rewrite or endorse question, below are two additional questions the Department was able to answer for us in the early stages as the law is being digested by DIFS.

Q:   Is July 1, 2020 realistic for all the filings to be submitted, reviewed, approved, and implemented … and if not, will a delay in implementation be required?
A:   DIFS assured MAIA they will have “all hands on deck” to approve and review filings. They are building a checklist for the companies to know exactly what they need to submit to the Department to get their filings approved timely.  It’s unclear exactly when that checklist will be ready for the companies, but fall was mentioned during our meeting with DIFS.

Regardless, the new law changes the filling system in the state for personal auto insurance from “file and use” to “file and approve.” MCL 500.2108(6) states that the plan has to be on file with the department 90 days prior to being effective. The Director has the ability to waive part of the waiting period. However, companies are required to have their filings submitted no later than early April to meet the 90-day window. We will keep you posted as the filing process begins.

As for delaying the implementation date, that seems unlikely to happen. The Legislature would have to change the effective date and they have given no such indication. DIFS is operating and planning on being ready July 1, 2020.

Q: Will there be a universal form for BI Residual Liability and PIP Choice?
A:   The new law only requires DIFS to provide the BI Residual Liability Form and assigns the task to the Department to approve company designed PIP choice related forms. DIFS shared with MAIA that they agreed to “draft all forms” for uniformity and clarity for the consumer. Carriers are encouraged to adopt the uniform language but not required to do so. Again, we encourage you to have conversations to see if your carriers plan to adopt the DIFS recommended uniform language. 
Questions? Please reach out to Matt Wesolek or Bev Barney at MAIA.