An insurance agents’ group in Virginia is asking its members to press the Virginia Senate’s General Laws Committee to vote against an increase in the surety bond rates for state projects that it says “doesn’t make sense.”

A deputy commissioner at the Virginia State Corporation Commission Bureau of Insurance was selected to replace Alfred W. Gross, who retires Dec. 31.

Selling insurance products across state lines, seen by many as an efficient way to improve health care across the nation, hit a roadblock in Virginia this legislative session as four bills approving such a measure failed to gain approval.

The Independent Insurance Agents of Virginia is applauding the appointment of a state panel to address health and safety issues surrounding Chinese drywall as opposed to a series of stalled bills it says were “flawed.”

After another year of watching another set of bills mandating that insurers cover children with autism fail to become law, a Virginia agents’ group is considering a summit on the matter to try and find a solution.

The 2010 Insurance Day on the Hill will be held in Richmond Feb. 10 and 11. The annual event is a joint legislative program hosted by the Independent Insurance Agents of Virginia, the Virginia Council of the National Association of Insurance Women, the Virginia Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA-Virginia) and the Greater Richmond CPCU Society.

When the Virginia General Assembly reconvenes in Richmond Jan. 13, it could consider forcing agents to pay restitution to victims whose funds they misappropriated, as well as a number of other insurance bills.

An insurance trade group in Virginia has added a feature on its website, giving its member agents a new way to find markets for unusual or difficult-to-place insurance risks.

Facing an estimated $1.5 billion budget shortfall for the current fiscal year, Virginia legislators are seeking solutions to get the state out of the red, but don’t appear to be going the same route as their peers in Connecticut.

Virginia insurance regulators issued their first fine for a violation of a 2003 law regarding the protection by agents and agencies of policyholder information, just three weeks after issuing a reminder on the requirements.