Federal Regulatory Services Circle Pines MN

8/4/2009

Most collision repairers are in favor of keeping state regulation of insurance over federal regulation, primarily due to the enormous resources it would take to lobby at the federal level. This came from Rollie Benjamin, CEO of ABRA Auto Body & Glass and chairman of the legislative committee of the Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS), who participated in a debate on the federal regulation of insurance at the Collision Industry Conference held July 29 in Washington, D.C.

“[Repairers] would be no match for insurers, who are the No. 2 spenders on Capitol Hill,” Benjamin said. He pointed out that while the SCRS and the Alliance of Automotive Service Providers are against federal regulation of insurance, the Automotive Service Association is for it.

The federal regulation of insurance has been a hot topic lately due to the intense scrutiny insurers have been subjected to after the financial meltdown on Wall Street. Those in favor of federal regulation believe it’s necessary due to the “systemic risk” insurance companies pose to the stock market, e.g. insuring risky financial products. But Tom Lichen, lobbyist for the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI), argues that property and casualty insurers are a different animal and shouldn’t be lumped in with, for example, life insurers, which are in an inherently more risky business.

“Our position is that property and casualty isn...