Regulatory Roundup: NAIC in D.C., South Dakota Joins SBS, May Storm Surge

State-by-state variations of laws, compliance protocols, industry transparency, and general regulatory culture can lend one the impression that keeping up with industry changes is a little bit like herding cats. So, what better way to wrangle some of the more localized insurance news than in a Regulatory Roundup?

On an ongoing basis, in no particular order or rank, we’re wrestling the various regulatory changes, compliance actions, and commissioner decisions into our roundup. As a disclaimer: There’s a lot going on at any given time in these here United States, so this isn’t a comprehensive picture of state-level action by any means. Think of it, instead, as a sampler platter of regulation. 

Also important to note: If we’re recapping interpretations of legal decisions, this is some armchair insurance speculation and not at all legal advice. If you need legal advice, get a lawyer. 

NAIC Fly-In takes insurance commissioners to Washington, D.C.

The District of Columbia was hopping as members of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) and other state insurance employees from across the country flew to D.C. to discuss the state of the industry May 14 and 15.

Regulators took the opportunity to brief lawmakers—both from their own states as well as others—on what priorities the NAIC has for consumer protection and resilient insurance markets.

Washington Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer took the opportunity to discuss health insurance and home insurance costs, and Connecticut Insurance Commissioner Andrew Mais discussed senior financial abuse, health care, Medicare Advantage marketing oversight, and property insurance concerns.

Other NAIC priorities included: Consumer privacy protections, eliminating the Federal Insurance Office, reauthorizing the National Flood Insurance Program, and opposing the expansion of risk retention groups.

South Dakota joins SBS

State Based Systems (SBS) is an electronic system that handles certain state processes and integrates with the National Insurance Producer Registry. As the NAIC announced in May, South Dakota has inked a licensing agreement to join SBS in this process exchange.

For AgentSync users, this means things like accessing “paper” licenses for South Dakota agents will get easier. The state will now send more data than ever through NIPR as it uses SBS processes for services like licensing, examination reporting, and fraud reporting.

May weather kicks off storm season

The back half of May was quite stormy, with the turbulent weather causing dozens of deaths.

State departments of insurance were busy, with posting about after-storm cleanup and declaring emergencies to get more adjusters on the ground. It was a fitting time for the National Insurance Fraud Bureau’s Contractor Fraud Awareness Week, with so many property owners looking for contractors to repair their property. 

In the meantime, insurers and state governments alike face an uncertain future in regard to predicting and pricing the cost of weather-related disasters. Thanks to federal budget cuts, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was forced to shutter the 40-year database that tracked the frequency and intensity of billion-dollar disasters. 

Other state regulatory changes

Alabama is tooting it’s own horn. In the aftermath of Hurricane Sally, the state reviewed traditionally constructed homes against homes built with the FORTIFIED standard or retrofitted to FORTIFIED Roof standards. The study found having homes built to this elevated standard could have saved more than $100 million for insurers, as the FORTIFIED home construction saw between 55 and 74 percent fewer losses. When peer-reviewed data says you’re right, it feels good.

California will allow producers who have nonresident California licenses to apply for resident licenses electronically, even before they inactivate their resident license in their current state. This is a big win for producers who usually have a really rubbish time trying to line up all the activations and cancellations for licenses and appointments when they’re moving.

Colorado revised the state’s diligent effort affidavit form in April 2025, which is the form the state requires surplus and nonadmitted lines brokers to submit to show they made an effort to find a consumer insurance on the standard admitted market before selling a nonadmitted policy.

Connecticut is prepping for the state’s second annual Insuring the Future conference coming Sept. 30, 2025.

Florida has updated training requirements for resident and nonresident producers who sell pet insurance products. Beginning Jan. 1, 2026, training must include product specifics and information about preexisting conditions, waiting periods, insurance vs. noninsurance wellness programs, chronic conditions, congenital anomalies, hereditary disorders, exclusions to coverage, rating, underwriting, and renewal exclusions.

Georgia is rolling back requirements for agencies to maintain branch licenses for every outpost in the state. This could make things like remote work far more manageable and make it easier for business entities to maintain their interconnected networks. Woot woot!

Iowa will offer adjuster licenses for individuals and business entities starting July 1, 2025. Right now, the state only licenses public adjusters. So, if you’re an Iowa resident and you’ve been adjusting under a designated home state (DHS) license in another state, get ready! Other states often take a dim view of using a DHS if you could instead get a resident state license in your actual resident state. 👀

Kansas Commissioner Vicki Schmidt has waived all state securities fees for fiscal year 2026.

Kentucky Department of Insurance officials issued a bulletin with a roundup of industry-adjacent laws passed by the state legislature, from colorectal cancer screening coverage to property and casualty fraud definitions.

Louisiana Commissioner Tim Temple announced his office will seek to address auto safety after an NAIC report revealed the state has triple it’s per capita proportion of claims filings compared to other states. We can expect reforms to the state’s auto insurance and general driving safety regulations in the upcoming legislative session. The state also is implementing requirements for those who wish to be licensed as insurance appraisers and insurance umpires. That’s right—insurance umpires. If you’re unfamiliar, here’s what an insurance umpire is: If an insured and insurance carrier can’t agree on the dollar value of an insured loss, they can each hire an appraiser. The two appraisers jointly select an impartial umpire (or, if they can’t agree on one, a judge appoints one). If the appraisers disagree on the value of an asset or loss, they submit their disagreements to the umpire, who makes the final decision. 🤯

Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS) officials are encouraging consumers to prepare for severe weather season, including encouraging them to download the NAIC app to help manage their inventory in case they have to file a property damage claim. The Department of Insurance and Financial Services issued a bulletin for how insurance carriers can file their medical loss ratio reports as required by law. DIFS also issued a bulletin to health insurers that offer medical plans for the individual market about how to file forms (May 28, 2025) and rates (June 16, 2025) given certain changes at the federal level. Some of the enforcement actions coming from Michigan in May are also quite revealing:

• The state sanctioned a producer and agency for failing to verify licensing before paying commissions, failing to keep designated responsible licensed producer (DRLP) information up to date, and other administrative violations. While the fine was $15,000, how much staff time do you think they lost just to compile the information necessary for the investigation? 
• Also under the department’s magnifying glass: a membership-based legal firm, which the state argues is set up to essentially be a legal insurance pool, yet is operating without a state certificate of authority.  
• The state issued another cease-and-desist to someone whose Facebook was rife with statements like “yes I’m doing insurance right now yes you can get a car off any lot with it…” Dear reader, yes they did, and no they didn’t have a license, and yes they did get found out by the state.

Montana structures the Montana Board of Land Commissioners under the Commissioner of Securities & Insurance office. The Land Board approved $12 million in revenue from Land Board programs, which will go to benefit the state’s schools. There’s not much in the way of insurance in that news, but it sure is interesting the way states handle their different jurisdictions. The state has also enacted a law effective in October 2025 that will require producers to get specific training to sell pet insurance.

New Jersey Acting Director of Consumer Affairs Elizabeth Harris issued a warning to insurance licensees and other licensed professionals that a malicious software scam is targeting them. The scam is an email prompting recipients to download a software for “license renewal or application” and it turns out to be malware, of course. 

New Mexico has announced PSI will be the state vendor of choice for all continuing education beginning June 1, 2025.

North Carolina released a bulletin about their catastrophic loss adjuster requirements. Of note: All emergency adjusters, resident or nonresident, should have a badge to identify themselves and their appointed insurer on entry to a disaster scene or emergency responders will not admit them to the area.

Oklahoma is partnering with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to launch a pilot of a program that ultimately gives members of qualified health plans accurate directories of physician offices that work with their plans. Currently, CMS said a review of only two counties’ directories revealed 35 percent of records were inaccurate. By requiring up-to-date, automation-driven and bi-directional data, the Oklahoma and CMS partnership aims to see if modern infrastructure can improve the experience for consumers, healthcare providers, and insurance administrators alike. We love to see it, folks.

Vermont has adopted a regulation requiring pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) in the state to get licensed by Jan. 1, 2026. PBMs must submit their initial applications by July 1, 2025.

Washington Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer issued a news release to acknowledge May as Wildfire Awareness Month. The release included consumer tips for prevention, as well as information about state fire consultants—consumers can schedule an expert to give them an individual workup of how to reduce their home’s particular fire risk. The state’s Climate Education Series is in full swing for the year. Kuderer has also issued more than $500,000 in fines for administrative violations, including a clear answer to the question “Do I need to appoint my managing general agency?” (YES. The answer was “Yes.”)

Wyoming announced they no longer accept paper forms for these services: Letter of Clearance, Voluntary Surrender, Name Change and Address Change.

Stay on top of regulatory changes with AgentSync

While these points of interest aren’t comprehensive, our knowledge of insurance producer and variable lines broker license and compliance maintenance is. See how AgentSync can help make you look smarter today; head over to the Compliance Library and wrastle up some state-by-state regulation and more jurisdictional updates. If you’re looking for a solution that builds regulations like these into your distribution channel management workflows automatically, AgentSync can help. See us in action or talk to one of our experts today.