| FROm ThE COmmISSIOnER |
A Fast Start to 2017
And more to come
T he Kansas Insurance Department began 2017 in a full sprint.
Licensing agents, protecting consumers and educating the public about insurance command much of our business at the department. We move at a fast pace with those items because they are our department’ s priorities.
I’ m pleased to report that our efforts in 2016 and going forward this year show that we are moving quickly toward the goals we set forth as I began my stewardship as insurance commissioner in 2015. Here’ s a short list of recent activities that continue to enhance our goals;
Insurance Education Initiative— launched in 2016 with the assistance of Kansas schools of higher education and insurance companies doing business in our state, the initiative aims to provide college classes across the state that will transfer from one institution to another in completing a core insurance curriculum. Class completion results in obtaining a certificate that shows advanced knowledge to potential insurance industry employers.
We continue to see increasing enrollment in the classes, and our department is doubling down on our efforts to publicize it among students and parents. We could use your support too; these students could come your way as potential agents and office personnel.
Don’ t Text Just Drive campaigns— Our first Kansas college campaign last fall to promote no-texting-whiledriving-awareness netted 33,500 pledges from college students, parents and the general public. Its success has fostered current interest in taking the campaign to Kansas high school students. Watch for more about this in the coming months.
Nerdwallet recognition— The consumer website Nerdwallet recognized the Kansas Insurance Department’ s website as No. 2 in the country for its consumer friendliness and transparency. Armed with some suggestions from the Nerdwallet reviewers, we have enhanced the ease of finding online information on auto and homeowners premiums.
KEN SELZER Kansas Insurance Commissioner
Life insurance locator service— Our department was among the first in the United States to offer consumers a website procedure for assisting consumers in finding lost or unknown life insurance policies that they may be beneficiaries of. We continue to record successes in this initiative.
Website chat feature for both consumers and agents— Launched in 2016, the homepage feature on www. ksinsurance. org provides a live consumer assistance representative for consumers to chat with by typing in questions. In the case of an agent, a licensing and market conduct representative can be available for the typed questions.
Increased anti-fraud activities— The department’ s Anti- Fraud Division, small but mighty, has moved to step up enforcement activities of bad actors relating to insurance fraud. The division’ s caseload continues to grow, and Division Director Ryan Asbridge is constantly working to improve relations with the law enforcement community by finding ways to prosecute those committing fraudulent insurance activities.
Increased legislative activity— The department has introduced seven bills already in the 2017 Kansas Legislature, and we constantly monitor insurance-related legislation introduced by others. As always, we appreciate your input as we move forward during the session.
The work our staff does on behalf of agents and consumers moves rapidly along with our outreach activities. We want to find new and cost-efficient ways to assist Kansans, both policyholders and agents, as they navigate the insurance world. If you have an idea that would help, please contact us.
Here’ s hoping your 2017 is productive and successful.
| January- February 2017 | kAnSAS InSURAnCE AGEnT & BROkER
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