An insurance industry trade group, representing about 300 insurers, says it supports the National Transportation Safety Board’s call for a ban on texting and using cellphones while driving.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would extend the National Flood Insurance Program for five years.

The National Flood Insurance Program moved one step closer to an overhaul that one insurance industry official called a “meaningful long-term extension.”

Michael McRaith, insurance director at the Illinois Department of Insurance, was named the first leader of the Federal Insurance Office (FIO).

A U.S. Senate and House conference committee on financial services regulatory reform agreed early today (June 25) on a bill that would avoid duplication between state and federal insurance regulation.

The U.S. Senate’s passage of financial services reform May 20 has drawn the praise of two insurance industry trade groups, both pleased to see that senators deemed property-casualty insurance different than other financial service sectors.

An organization representing about 75,000 financial planning professionals “strongly urged” the U.S. Senate Banking Committee to include financial planner consumer protections that include increase regulation, oversight and competency and ethics standards for anyone calling himself a “financial planner.”

Despite the lingering effects of the financial crisis and other challenges, the property-casualty industry has remained focused on its core business, said CEOs of a handful of property-casualty insurers.

Regulatory reform is the top issue in the 2010 Congressional session for the property-casualty industry, according to one trade group.

Senate Democrats have unveiled a comprehensive financial reform bill, calling for “responsibility and accountability” in the financial sector through several provisions, including those affecting the insurance industry.