Pennsylvania Life Insurance Policyowners to Benefit
FORT WASHINGTON, Pa., April 6 /PRNewswire/ -- In a victory for life
insurance consumers of Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Insurance Department
issued a notice (Notice 2005-04) that all licensed life insurance agents can
advise and assist policyowners with these secondary market transactions
without the requirement of a separate settlement broker examination. The
Pennsylvania Insurance Department should be applauded as Pennsylvania joins
all but one other state in the nation in recognizing the competence of life
agents to assist policyowners with life settlements.
Life settlements enable policyowners to realize the fair market value of
their underperforming or unneeded life insurance policies. A life settlement
yields significantly more than the cash surrender value offered by a life
insurance company - on average four to five times more.
Coventry First, the leader in the secondary market for life insurance and
a Pennsylvania-based company, applauded the Department of Insurance action.
"Life insurance consumers are best served by their professional insurance
advisor, who has access to all of the options that meet the best interest of
the policyowner. This action is pro-consumer," said Michael Freedman, Senior
Vice President at Coventry First.
The NAIC agrees. At the time the NAIC Model Regulation passed, the NAIC
President explained that the nation's insurance commissioners had
overwhelmingly rejected the extra licensing concept as duplicative,
unnecessary and protectionist. "We do not make life producers get a separate
license for cash surrenders, and should not for settlements, either," he
continued. Since then, two of the three non-compliant states (Kentucky and
Pennsylvania) have reversed their requirements; fittingly, the Pennsylvania
bulletin explicitly recognized the NAIC Model as necessitating the change.
Nationally, state insurance commissioners and state legislatures have been
clear that they do not want to create unnecessary licensing requirements for
life insurance agents. State insurance regulators have been under increasing
pressure from Congress and the insurance industry to adopt uniform insurance
producer licensing standards.
"This is an important step in the right direction," said Mr. Freedman.
"The Department's actions will ensure that certified, trained professionals
are participating in secondary market transactions, while freeing up
regulatory resources for the enforcement of the important consumer protections
found in the Pennsylvania settlement laws."
About Coventry First
Coventry First (http://www.coventryfirst.com) bridges insurance and
capital markets to create groundbreaking products for the financial services
industry. The company is the leader in the secondary market for life insurance
and pioneered the resulting life settlement industry. Fueled by bold ideas, a
deep understanding of life insurance, and impeccable standards, Coventry First
continues to lead the market by opening new opportunities for consumers and
the financial professionals who serve them. Based in Fort Washington, PA,
Coventry First has received Standard & Poor's highest Servicer ranking, the
only firm in the secondary market for life insurance to be ranked, and was
named the nation's 10th fastest-growing privately held company in the annual
INC. 500 listing.
CONTACT: Kirstin Crouthamel, Coventry First, +1-877-836-8300,
info@coventryfirst.com.
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