Sign New Jersey Banking Living Will Now

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hurricane recovery has prompted some guidance and warnings from New Jersey's department of insurance and banking and joining us now as the Commissioner kenka Velasquez good of you to come on and go to talk to you once again first with all the news that we're hearing about the sandy relief package and the money that's supposed to be here I one wonders what kind of impact that has on the ability of insurance to be actually administered properly in this state both from I guess from the the end of the consumer and the insurance companies and from the regulator standpoint give me a sense of where we stand well right now the insurance industry I think by and large is performing well in response to the storm this was by far the largest event insurance wise that we've ever had in the state of New Jersey they they've been more than 450,000 insurance claims filed after the storm the companies so far have paid out more than two billion dollars in settlement funds most of them doing a good job most I'm doing a good job I think when they have something that then but the scale and the size of this there are going to be some hiccups along the way but I think by and large the industry is doing very well this relief package does its lack of being passed impact insurance in this state at all no not the private insurance market not at all that is separate and apart from any funds that would come from Washington would it help in any way from an insurance or banking standpoint when if and when it is passed to the extent that that gets to consumers into business owners to help them rebuild yes that will be a supplement to any private insurance coverage that the consumers or the businesses have weaved we've talked a couple of times since the storm hit what's the biggest surprise as far as you're concerned I think it's how well the industry has responded both the insurance industry and the banking industry in the in the immediate aftermath of the storm you know you and I I was without power for some time perhaps you we all were businesses and the companies were as well we've had stories that that banks didn't have power in their branches they were literally set up on folding tables in their parking lot cashing checks for folks that didn't even know if they were their customers or not so I think just the way that the industry both the banking industry in the insurance industry has responded says a lot about them and about their commitment to New Jersey has it opened any opportunities for us to say perhaps we can we should make any changes in the way we do business I think it perhaps a little bit early to tell at this point but certainly in an after-action report type scenario we will be looking at whether or not we need to make modifications the one important thing I think we need to realize though is when we do consider modifications we really need to be thoughtful and deliberate and not only look at the short term impact but the long-term impact for both insurance and the business market when you put out some warnings recently as well one in particular had to do with I guess adjusters out there who were in some cases charging people up to fifty percent of their settlement right that's with public adjusters which are hired by policyholders to help them settle their claims with the companies and we we heard some some instances out there where they were charging exorbitant rates and under is it legal no under our guidelines and our regulations in New Jersey the amount that they charge must be reasonably related to the services that they perform so the Bolton that we issued on December twentieth was just a reminder to those adjusters that we are watching you and your fees do need to be reasonable and if they're not you can hear from us a reasonable is not the fix there's a number of the words or percentage it's not fixed it's not know if you got many complaints on that no no I wouldn't say many we feared we've heard some some but not many none what's what's your biggest challenge feeling about 20 seconds biggest challenge going forward here going phone is to make sure that our homeowners market in New Jersey remains stable and competitive it's a great market right now we need to make sure that that stays that way no indications of any company is pulling out in the not wake of the storm nope not at all my art commissioner on that note we'll leave it there thanks for coming sir thank you happy you