Credit Union News

Jefferson City, Mo. - The Missouri Department of Insurance, Financial Institutions and Professional Registration today released its 2015 Annual Report highlighting insurance industry data and department accomplishments.

"This report illustrates the hard work and accomplishments of the department since 2009 to grow these industries and protect Missouri consumers," said John M. Huff, Director of Missouri DIFP. "This report was developed and designed to be data rich and interactive in a user friendly format, and I encourage all of our industry partners to take a look at many of the successes we've achieved together on behalf of Missouri families and our economy."

Some of the department's accomplishments in 2015 include:

• The Missouri Department of Insurance concluded 2015 by recovering more than $15.8 million for Missourians either through consumer complaints or regulatory settlements. An additional $6.2 million in fines went to the Missouri School Fund in 2015.

• The release of the 2015 Earthquake Report prompted the department to launch an awareness campaign about the earthquake coverage crisis facing the state. According to the data, 562,734 residences not covered for earthquake losses are located in Missouri counties with significant earthquake exposure.

• Ten regulatory health boards from the Division of Professional Registration hosted their second, Joint Regulatory Patient Safety Conference. More than 300 health professionals attended the conference where they discussed innovations in patient safety. The Division of Professional Registration hosted the conference to promote patient safety and public protection.

• At the beginning of 2009, Missouri's captive law had been in effect for a little more than one year and had issued three licenses. By the end of 2015, that number has grown to 53 licensed captives to support Missouri businesses.

• Missouri remains a national leader in financial services with a more than $36 billion annual insurance premium market, the fourth largest community banking market in the nation with 261 state-chartered banks and the eighth largest credit union market in the U.S. with 112 state-chartered credit unions.

Director Huff supports modernizing regulation by leveraging technology to improve efficiency and to increase transparency for consumers and the marketplace. In 2014, Missouri became the fifth state to use the System for Electronic Rate and Form Filing (SERFF) Access to make insurance company filing records transparent and accessible to the public.

The department now requires insurers to submit all insurance product filings electronically through SERFF and use Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) for fee payments. By moving to a technology-driven format, process time is improved, creating efficiencies for both industry and state government.

The report offers data on trends from the past seven years in banking, insurance and other divisions through links, charts and illustrations.

The department has produced the report since 1870. The report became fully interactive and produced exclusively for online use in 2011. This year's report resembles a magazine feel that intertwines articles, statistics and photos to reflect the department's work in 2015.  The 2015 Annual Report can be found on the department's website, difp.mo.gov.