Property/Casualty Insurance Industry Ready to Work With Trump

November 9, 2016 by Mark Hollmer

Presidential Election 2016 on tablet and the US flagGroups representing the U.S. property/casualty industry say they expect a soon-to-be President Donald Trump and Republican Congress will be receptive to their agenda in the months ahead.

The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies and the American Insurance Association all issued statements in the wake of Trump’s surprising election upset against Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton on Nov. 8. Their focus: working ahead and addressing major issues delayed by current congressional gridlock.

“With the election of [Trump] as president, Republicans now control both chambers of Congress and the White House. This combination gives us hope that the legislative log jam can be broken,” said Leigh Ann Pusey, AIA’s president and CEO.

Pusey said that reforming and getting long-term reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program, comprehensive tax reform that respects differences between insurers and other financial services industries, and a uniform approach to cybersecurity remain high on the agenda. Also of importance, according to Pusey, is “a more balanced approach to regulation” that will let insurers develop and grow new markets that address advances including telematics, big data and autonomous vehicles.

Jimi Grande, NAMIC’s senior vice president of federal and political affairs, said he expects the industry will work well with the Republican Congress and Republican President Trump.

“It’s obviously early, but President-elect Trump made reducing federal burdens on businesses and industries across the economy a staple of his campaign,” Grande said. “NAMIC will work with lawmakers and those expected to be part of the new administration to find additional areas where we can work to promote a strong, competitive marketplace to the benefit of insurers and their policyholders and bring common sense to federal policies on disaster mitigation and international trade.”

Nat Wienecke, PCI’s senior vice president, federal government relations, noted that Trump ran mostly on an economic platform to reduce regulation and said this will come into play for insurers.

“We expect the new administration to review regulatory issues affecting the industry and that the net outcome will be positive for private competitive markets,” Wienecke said.

Wienecke added that PCI “looks forward to working with the new administration, educating them on the issues facing our members and the overall [P/C] industry.”

Among PCI’s upcoming agenda items: a pushback on regulations seen as harmful to employers. Wienecke said that will include regulations “such as the Department of Labor’s overtime rule and Department of Housing and Urban Development’s encroachment on state insurance regulation with its Disparate Impact Rule.”

PCI also will keep pushing back on the international standard regarding efforts to concoct a global insurance “once-size-fits-all standard on an already sound and robust state-based regulatory environment,” Wienecke said.

David Sampson, PCI’s president and CEO, said in a separate statement that PCI “looks forward to opportunities to work with the Trump administration and the new Congress to strengthen private competitive insurance markets for the benefit of consumers.”