A regulatory bill is now headed to Gov. John Hickenlooper after meeting no resistance in the Senate.
A bill designed to provide the travel insurance industry in Colorado with regulation for the first time is now on its way to the desk of Governor John Hickenlooper in order to obtain his signature so that it can be passed into law.
This bill was moved along to the Governor without experiencing any votes against it in the state Senate.
Rep Tracy Kraft-Tharp (D-Arvada) sponsored House Bill 1185, which saw great favor by legislators. What it would require, when it passes, is that the Division of Insurance will issue limited-lines travel insurance licenses. These policies are usually purchased by travelers who are looking to protect themselves against the costs associated with having to cancel their trips at the last moment. Tourists will also purchase this coverage to protect themselves against the risk of financially devastating expenses that could occur if they should ever need emergency evacuation from their vacation destination as a result of medical issues.
This travel insurance bill is a response to a growing number of complaints from policyholders.
Throughout the process of the creation and debate of this bill, a number of people testified that they had purchased this type of policy from unregulated insurers. Later, when they needed to make claims on their policies after having to make changes to their trips for reasons that they believed to be covered, they were not nearly as protected as they had expected.
Although Republicans and business groups traditionally stand in opposition of applying new regulations, both of them gave their backing to HB 1185. This was especially true when travel insurance agents stated that this would give them the ability to be able to sell policies in which they could be confident that the minimum standards would be met, without having to be concerned about what is contained within their fine print.
Actually there have been regulations in place. this new law removes licensing requirements for travel agents and degrades travel insurance to the level of service contracts. it has very little to do with consumer safe guards.
Last night I added a comment concerning the inaccuracy of this article.
The bill that is being referred to is not the first regulation concerning travel insurance in Colorado. Current regulations require licensing with the Colorado Insurance Department. This regulation requires that anyone selling travel insurance be licensed for Travel Ticket insurance including any travel agent who wants to sell to their clients. The new law would eliminate this license and instead require that the MGA or Program Manager or Insurance company that offers travel insurance maintain a list of selling travel agents.
This is not the first regulation concerning travel insurance in Colorado. If anything it is a relaxation of current regulations.