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In a series of letters, the agency asked Assurant to break out revenues in states investigating the industry and assess the effect such probes would have on its bottom line.
August 29 -
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners will hold a hearing on possible abuses in August. Yet a key regulator doubts the industry is seriously troubled.
July 3 -
New York is demanding that force-placed insurers lower their rates after a series of hearings highlighted the high cost of the policies and potential conflicts of interest in how banks purchase insurance on delinquent borrowers' homes.
June 12 -
Force-placed insurance has been taking flak from regulators, plaintiff attorneys and consumer groups. Here's how the head of the American Bankers Association's insurance unit sums up the controversy and explains the business.
April 11 -
The insurance regulator in the nation's largest state says underwriters are paying an insufficient amount in claims, suggests commissions paid to banks are part of the problem.
March 14 -
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will propose mortgage servicing rules this year that would restrict force-placed insurance and impose new disclosure requirements for adjustable-rate mortgages.
March 6
One of the largest providers of force-placed insurance, under pressure from regulators to lower prices for the coverage, has agreed to reduce premiums it charges for the product in California.
Assurant (AIZ), an insurer based in New York, said Monday its American Security unit has reached an agreement with California's Department of Insurance to reduce rates for lender-placed insurance in the state by 30.5%.
"At a time when scores of Californians are facing economic uncertainty and underwater mortgages, we heard complaints from homeowners being forced into lender-placed policies at exorbitant prices," California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones said Monday in a
Jones estimated the agreement will save homeowners $42.7 million, with an average savings of $577 per policyholder annually.
"American Security is to be commended for being the first insurer to lower its rates," he added.
The revised rates in California will take effect in January and will apply to policies issued or renewed following thereafter, according to Assurant, which said in a
The rate rollback comes amid a series of regulatory and legal challenges to force-placed insurance, which protects lenders' interests when homeowners fail to maintain insurance coverage on their properties. When coverage lapses, mortgage servicers are entitled to buy insurance on borrowers' behalf and then bill them for it.
As American Banker has
Regulators in New York and Florida are reviewing the premiums carriers charge for the policies. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners, the standard-setting body for state insurance regulators, held a hearing in August on forced-place policies, a step that marked the first national discussion about the controversial product.
