Insurance Included in Virginia E-Commerce Draft

The National Association of Independent Insurers (NAII) says it was successful in getting the insurance industry included in the current draft of Virginia's Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA).

"NAII's membership is committed to advancing electronic commerce," said Robyn Rowen, counsel for NAII. "Preventing the insurance industry from conducting electronic commerce in Virginia would be a significant setback and a step backwards for a Commonwealth committed to advancing technology."

The Virginia legislature's Joint Committee on Technology and Science is currently reviewing UETA, which is model legislation developed by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL). The model bill makes electronic records and signatures the legal equivalent of manually signed signatures.

NAII submitted testimony to the committee expressing its concern that the last draft of the proposal left out the insurance industry and contained a number of other variations. These changes would have resulted in electronic commerce being conducted differently in Virginia than in other states.

Currently, the Bureau of Insurance permits the on-line sale and service of insurance and all the evidence points to a variety of consumer benefits from conducting insurance transactions on-line.

The UETA model will promote the insurance industry's ability to establish a stronger presence on the Internet. It does not override consumer protections already established in law. In addition, it takes into account consumer preferences by requiring that both parties agree to deal electronically so that no one is forced to transact business electronically.

NAII also urged that the committee not recommend the Uniform Computer Information Transaction Act (UCITA) for adoption by the General Assembly in 2000. "There is considerable controversy surrounding UCITA. NAII is a strong proponent of the free market and we have faith in the marketplace's ability to adapt to new products and methods of conducting business. We are skeptical of the need for such extensive government intervention," said Rowen.