NAMIC Welcomes State Lawmakers’ Call for Revision on ALI Insurance Law Restatement

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, Jan. 10 -- The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies issued the following news release:

Jimi Grande, senior vice president for government affairs for the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, offered the following comment on a resolution adopted by the National Council of Insurance Legislators on Jan. 5 urging states not to recognize the current Restatement of the Law of Liability Insurance proposed by the American Law Institute unless it is revised to accurately reflect current law on insurance issues.

"The adoption of this resolution by the National Council of Insurance Legislators is a welcome development, as it recognizes the proper roles of legislators, courts, and commentators in the development of insurance law.

"Key to the resolution is that it emphasizes that the role of legislators is to make law. If an organization like the ALI - one that positions itself as a reliable authority on legal issues - is going to produce a document that purportedly states what the law is, then it has a duty to represent the status of the law accurately.

"The NCOIL resolution highlights that the ALI Restatement of the Law of Liability Insurance fails to do that in material ways, despite repeated calls for change by many interested parties including state legislators. Consequently, as the resolution states, the Restatement should not be recognized as an accurate authority for insurance law."