September 29, 2008-North Dakota Professional Insurance Agents (Profax)
INSURANCE DEPARTMENTS ON TOP OF ISSUE: Both the North Dakota Insurance Commissioner Adam Hamm and South Dakota Commissioner Merle Scheiber have issued informative statements on their respective websites addressing AIG financial issues. “Forty AIG insurance companies do business in North Dakota,” Hamm said. “These subsidiary companies are operating as usual and are regulated differently than the holding company that has been in the news.” The company’s problems making national headlines deal with AIG’s holding company, not the individual company subsidiaries with which consumers do business. AIG’s holding company is a separate, federally-regulated legal entity that is distinct and apart from its subsidiary insurers. The subsidiary insurers are governed by state laws designed to protect the interest of policyholders. “Insurance Department staff are closely monitoring these companies and we are involved at a national level to make sure consumers are protected,” Hamm said. Last year in North Dakota, 20 AIG P&C companies collected premiums of $18.4 million and 11 AIG life and health companies collected $48.4 million.