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New CCH Guide Focuses On E-business And Insurance
(RIVERWOODS, ILL., May 30, 2001) As insurance companies and their
customers become more and more used to doing business over the Internet, they encounter
new legal questions, and old questions reappear in a novel context, according to CCH
INCORPORATED (CCH), a leading provider of business law information and software. To help
insurance companies, agents, brokers and producers and the ISPs, dot-coms and other
e-commerce entities that work with them in cyberspace sort out what they can and
cannot do, CCH is offering eBusiness and Insurance: A Legal Guide to Transacting
Insurance and Other Business on the Internet, a loose-leaf resource on dozens of key
issues relating to e-business in general and insurance in particular. (To order, or for
more information, call 1-800-449-6435 or visit http://business.cch.com/onlinestore.)
According to CCH Business and Finance Group marketing manager Peggy Hayner, the
regulatory structure of the insurance business presents some special challenges to anyone
wishing to market, sell or administer policies over the Internet.
"Insurance is unique among financial services due to the fact that the individual
states are its primary regulators. This can raise a number of impediments and issues that
must be resolved on a state-by-state basis by anyone wanting to conduct the business of
insurance in cyberspace, in addition to dealing with legal concerns shared by other
e-businesses," Hayner said.
The first section of eBusiness and Insurance examines insurance-specific issues
as they relate to electronic commerce. In a treatise style, the authors discuss questions
such as situs, online advertising, contract formation, privacy and regulatory compliance.
A hypothetical insurance company doing business only over the Internet is used as a way to
illuminate the concepts presented.
The second section looks at e-business generally the legal issues that concern
all commercial enterprises operating in cyberspace. Questions of personal jurisdiction,
security, e-signatures, copyright, trademark, trade dress, electronic mail, indirect
liability, business method and software patents and domain name disputes are all
thoroughly laid out.
Subscribers can research issues on a state-by-state basis in a "law locator"
division. For each state, the law locator answers thirteen questions relating to
licensing, sales, commissions, policy issuance, contract administration, privacy and
claims:
- When does an e-business need a license to solicit or transact insurance?
- Can an entity (a dot-com or a website) be licensed as an insurance producer?
- Are there any countersignature law requirements?
- Are there state-specific requirements regarding advertising insurance on the Internet?
- Are there restrictions on providing advice regarding insurance?
- Are there restrictions on compensating licensed nonresidents?
- Are there any statutes or regulations addressing payment of referral fees to unlicensed
persons?
- Are there state-specific electronic and/or manual signature law requirements?
- Are there state-specific requirements that insurance notices be in paper format?
- Can premiums be collected by electronic funds transfer (EFT) and/or credit card payment?
- Are there state-specific privacy laws?
- What are the fair claims practices requirements for claims adjustment and settlement?
- What are the licensing requirements to adjust online claims?
To further aid practitioners, a number of e-business and insurance forms are included:
- Terms of Use
- Privacy Statement
- Sponsorship Agreement
- Participation Agreement
- Subscriber Service Agreement
- Claims Service Agreement
- Brokerage Agreement
About the Editorial Team
eBusiness and Insurance is a joint effort of CCH INCORPORATED and Sonnenschein Nath
& Rosenthal, a recognized pioneer in international electronic commerce, and is
overseen by the accomplished team of Gary A. Hernandez, Kara S. Navarro, Marshall S. Shapo
and Paula M. Yost. Mr. Hernandez is a partner and head of the insurance regulatory
practice group at Sonnenschein and a former Chief of Enforcement in the California
Department of Insurance. Ms. Navarro is a partner at Sonnenschein specializing in
insurance, regulatory, transactional and e-business law. Mr. Shapo is the Frederic P. Vose
Professor at Northwestern University School of Law and has also been of Counsel to
Sonnenschein since 1991. Ms. Yost is a partner at Sonnenschein specializing in business
litigation, with an emphasis in insurance, contract and tort law.
Pricing and Availability
For more information or to subscribe to eBusiness and Insurance: A Legal Guide to
Transacting Insurance and Other Business on the Internet, call CCH at 1-800-449-6435
or visit the CCH Business and Finance Group web site at http://business.cch.com/onlinestore.
A one-year subscription is $225, plus shipping, handling and tax.
About CCH INCORPORATED
CCH INCORPORATED, headquartered in Riverwoods, Ill., was founded in 1913 and has served
four generations of business professionals and their clients. The company produces more
than 700 electronic and print products for the tax, legal, securities, human resources,
health care and small business markets. CCH is a wholly owned subsidiary of Wolters Kluwer
North America. The CCH web site can be accessed at www.cch.com. The CCH Business and Finance Group web site can be accessed
at http://business.cch.com.
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