Circular Letter No. 32 (1999)
November 22, 1999
|
TO: |
All licensed life insurers, accredited life reinsurers, property/casualty insurers, co-operative property/casualty insurers, financial guaranty insurers, mortgage guaranty insurers, reciprocal insurers, accident and health insurers, Article 43 Corporations, Public Health Law Article 44 health maintenance organizations, title insurers, the State Insurance Fund, the Medical Malpractice Insurance Association and accredited property/casualty reinsurers, rate service organizations, municipal cooperative health benefit plans, and integrated delivery systems; all hereinafter referred to as "insurers". |
|
RE: |
Post Year 2000 Reporting Requirements and Performing Data Archives |
The purpose of this Circular Letter is to advise insurers of new post Year 2000 reporting requirements and to remind insurers of the need to perform back-ups of critical computer data files.
Post Year 2000 Reporting Requirements
The Department seeks to gain an early assessment of the effects of the Year 2000 date change on insurance companies doing business in this state. Therefore, pursuant to Section 308 of the Insurance Law, every captioned insurer is required to file Year 2000 reports between December 31, 1999, and January 5, 2000, and subsequent periods as indicated by the guidelines below. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners ("NAIC") has been appointed as the Department's agent to facilitate the data collection efforts electronically. Reports are to be filed via the Internet in accordance with the following guidelines.
- A completed version of the enclosed report (Exhibit A) shall be filed at the designated location on the NAIC website address at www.naic.org.
- Completed reports shall be filed on the above NAIC website no later than 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on or before January 5, 2000 (but not before January 1, 2000), with subsequent updates to be filed on or before February 3 and April 5, 2000. The same report form should be used for all three filings; please indicate the applicable date with each filing in the space provided on the report form.
- Insurance companies that are members of a holding company with at least one other insurance company, or an insurance group, shall complete the enclosed survey on a group basis or on an individual entity basis.
- Insurance companies, which are not members of a holding company or an insurance group, shall complete the survey on an individual entity basis.
To the fullest extent permissible under law, confidential treatment based upon trade secret or substantial injury to the competitive position of the insurer, will be accorded to all reports submitted pursuant to this Circular Letter without the need for the submitting insurer to claim such exemption under the Freedom of Information Law. The information provided to the NAIC will be quickly analyzed, summarized and made available to this Department, and other insurance regulators, to aid in post Year 2000 review efforts. The information you submit to the NAIC will be kept confidential to the fullest extent permissible under law. Summary statistics will be developed and shared with federal and international regulators on the general state of the U.S. insurance industry. Similar type statistics will be used to respond to media inquiries and to provide other media communications.
Insurers subject to this Circular Letter do not have to submit the quarterly reports required under Circular Letter No. 6 (1998) due January 15, 2000 and April 15, 2000.
Performing Data Archives
As a matter of prudent management, many insurance companies have taken steps to ensure that data files critical to their on-going operations are archived before and after December 31, 1999. In the event this issue was not fully considered in your company's Year 2000 contingency plan, it is recommended that the company secure data archives of all financial, claims, policy administration, sales and all other critical information beginning immediately and through the first quarter of the year 2000.
All licensed life insurers and accredited life reinsurers may direct any questions relating to this Circular Letter to:
Mr. Michael Maffei, Principal Insurance Examiner
Telephone (212) 480-4762
All licensed property/casualty insurers, co-operative property/casualty insurers, financial guaranty insurers, mortgage guaranty insurers, title insurers, reciprocal insurers, the State Insurance Fund, the Medical Malpractice Insurance Association and accredited property/casualty reinsurers may direct any questions relating to this Circular Letter to:
Mr. Leroy Kaalund, Associate Insurance Examiner
Telephone (212) 480-5198
All licensed accident and health insurers, Article 43 Corporations, and Public Health Law Article 44 health maintenance organizations may direct any questions relating to this Circular Letter to:
Ms. K. Daisy Wong, Senior Insurance Examiner
Telephone (212) 480-5244
All rate service organizations may direct any questions relating to this Circular Letter to:
Mr. Gerald Scattaglia, Supervising Insurance Examiner
Telephone (212) 480-5466
________________________
Jeffrey Angelo
Deputy Chief Examiner
Life Bureau
__________________________
Mark Presser
Assist Deputy Superintendent
and Chief Examiner
Property Bureau
________________________
Charles Henricks
Deputy Chief Examiner
Health Bureau
Exhibit A
Report date:
_______ Jan. 5, 2000
_______ Feb. 3, 2000
_______ Apr. 5, 2000
Year 2000 Century Rollover Survey
For the Insurance Industry
Please complete the following chart with name(s) and NAIC company code(s) for all companies covered by this filing:
| Insurer Name | NAIC Group or Co. Code | State of Domicile | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Group Name | N/A | ||
| Lead Insurance Co.1 | |||
| Affiliate # 1 | |||
| Affiliate # 2 | |||
| Affiliate # 3 | |||
| Affiliate # 4 | |||
| Affiliate # 5 | |||
| Affiliate # 6 | |||
| Affiliate # 7 | |||
| Affiliate # 8 |
Instructions:
Purpose - This survey is intended to gather information about your companies' ability to do business during the first business days and months of the year 2000. In order to reduce the reporting burden on the industry during this critical period, this survey is intended to gather information on your group of companies, including specific companies where problems exist.
Filing Instructions - In accordance with state insurance department administrative directive(s), the response to this survey shall be filed with the NAIC no later than 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Wednesday January 5, 2000. You are encouraged to report earlier than Jan. 5, if feasible. This same survey shall be subsequently filed on February 3 and April 5, 2000. Each response shall be prepared online at a designated Internet website. It is critical that the website be used for all responses to this survey. The Internet website can be located by referring to the NAIC homepage at http://www.naic.org/. Further instructions on locating and completing the survey form will be provided at the NAIC website. In the unexpected event that Internet communications are unavailable, responses to this survey may be sent via facsimile to the NAIC Financial Services Division at 816.460.7803.
General
Regulators with questions regarding this survey response may direct their inquiries to:
Name ____________________ Facsimile ____________________
Title ____________________ E-mail address ____________________
Telephone ____________________
1.
All members of the group (or the company if a single company filing) have resumed normal business operations as of the date of this filing.
True________ False________
2.
The group's (or the company's if a single company filing) century rollover plan has not caused any significant setbacks. For purposes of this question, significant setbacks include any unplanned interruptions to business processes, services to customers or unanticipated personnel resource allocations.
True________ False________
3.
The group's first business day of the year 2000 was:
1/3/2000________ 1/4/2000________ Other________
4.
Regulators with questions regarding this survey response may direct their inquiries to:
Name ____________________ Facsimile ____________________
Title ____________________ E-mail address ____________________
Telephone ____________________
Please use the following codes to designate mission critical systems for completion of the remainder of this survey:
Premiums (Code P)
Claims (Code C)
Investments (Code I)
Reinsurance (Code R)
Policyholder Services (Code S)
Other (Code O)
Mission Critical Systems
5.
True________ False________
If False, please list below NAIC Company Codes and mission critical system codes where significant problems have been identified.
NAIC Co. Code________ System Code(s) ______, ______, ______, ______, ______, ______
NAIC Co. Code________ System Code(s) ______, ______, ______, ______, ______, ______
NAIC Co. Code________ System Code(s) ______, ______, ______, ______, ______, ______
NAIC Co. Code________ System Code(s) ______, ______, ______, ______, ______, ______
Please list below the names of "Other" mission critical systems identified as having significant problems.
1. ______________________________ 2. __________________________________
3. ______________________________ 4. __________________________________
Contingency Plans
6.
It will not be necessary to implement any contingency or business continuity plans with respect to the continued operation of mission critical systems.
True________ False________
If False, contingency plans have been or are planned to be implemented with respect to the following mission critical systems:
NAIC Co. Code________ System Code(s) ______, ______, ______, ______, ______, ______
NAIC Co. Code________ System Code(s) ______, ______, ______, ______, ______, ______
NAIC Co. Code________ System Code(s) ______, ______, ______, ______, ______, ______
NAIC Co. Code________ System Code(s) ______, ______, ______, ______, ______, ______
Please list below the names of "Other" mission critical systems for which related contingency plans will be implemented.
1. ______________________________ 2. __________________________________
3. ______________________________ 4. __________________________________
7.
If the answer to question No. 6 is False, respond to the following. The group has not experienced and does not anticipate experiencing significant problems implementing its contingency plans.
True________ False________ Don't Know________
If False, problems have been encountered or are expected to be encountered with respect to contingency plans relating to the following mission critical systems:
NAIC Co. Code________ System Code(s) ______, ______, ______, ______, ______, ______
NAIC Co. Code________ System Code(s) ______, ______, ______, ______, ______, ______
NAIC Co. Code________ System Code(s) ______, ______, ______, ______, ______, ______
NAIC Co. Code________ System Code(s) ______, ______, ______, ______, ______, ______
Please list below the names of "Other" mission critical systems for which related contingency plans are experiencing or may experience problems.
1. ______________________________ 2. __________________________________
3. ______________________________ 4. __________________________________
Vendors, Service Providers, Etc.
8.
With respect to vendors, service providers or other third parties (e.g. utilities, banks, telecommunications providers, hardware and software vendors, transfer agents, etc.), the group has not experienced and does not anticipate experiencing significant problems.
True________ False________ Don't Know________
If False, problems have been encountered or are expected to be encountered with respect to vendors, service providers, or other third parties that affect the following mission critical systems:
NAIC Co. Code________ System Code(s) ______, ______, ______, ______, ______, ______
NAIC Co. Code________ System Code(s) ______, ______, ______, ______, ______, ______
NAIC Co. Code________ System Code(s) ______, ______, ______, ______, ______, ______
NAIC Co. Code________ System Code(s) ______, ______, ______, ______, ______, ______
Please list below the names of "Other" mission critical systems adversely affected by vendors, service providers or other third parties.
1. ______________________________ 2. __________________________________
3. ______________________________ 4. __________________________________
9.
If the response to question No. 8 is False, respond to the following. Subsequent to 12/31/99, the group has contacted key vendors, service providers or other third parties to determine their readiness for business in 2000.
True________ False________
Business Partners
10.
With respect to business partners that provide policyholder services (e.g., TPAs, MGAs, MGUs, agents, brokers, etc.), the group has not experienced and does not anticipate experiencing significant problems:
True________ False________ Don't Know________
If False, problems have been encountered or are expected to be encountered with respect to business partners that provide policyholder services that affect the following mission critical systems:
NAIC Co. Code________ System Code(s) ______, ______, ______, ______, ______, ______
NAIC Co. Code________ System Code(s) ______, ______, ______, ______, ______, ______
NAIC Co. Code________ System Code(s) ______, ______, ______, ______, ______, ______
NAIC Co. Code________ System Code(s) ______, ______, ______, ______, ______, ______
Please list below the names of "Other" mission critical systems adversely affected by business partners.
1. ______________________________ 2. __________________________________
3. ______________________________ 4. __________________________________
11.
If the response to question No. 10 is False, respond to the following. Subsequent to 12/31/99, the group has contacted key business partners that provide policyholder services to determine their readiness for business in 2000.
True________ False________
1 Lead Insurance Company - Means parent insurance company or, in instances where there is no parent insurance company, the largest insurance subsidiary in the group based on premium writings.