Author: Nancy Germond 

What is TAC?

This is TAC's mission statement.

“The Technical Affairs Committee is the resource and unrelenting advocate for IIIABA members and consumers with respect to the property and casualty insurance products that members sell and service. The TAC advocates on behalf of members and consumers within industry advisory organizations, primarily ISO, NCCI, and ACORD, with interaction with AAIS and Surety Association of America as needed. The TAC also acts as a resource to state associations to promote and support an agents grassroots network in order to work effectively with state insurance regulators."

TAC refers to policy coverage, rating issues and other issues. We advocate for you and your customers, usually with ISO, and other advisory organizations. We're there to try to resolve standards, policy and other issues that arise as you service your customers.

The committee consists of several agent members and one state association member, along with a liaison from national staff and a liaison from the Big “I"s executive committee. Members generally serve three-year terms.

We meet several times a year as a committee, and annually in the spring at ISO headquarters and as needed with other advisory groups.

We also work closely with the Mid-America Insurance Conference, which meets every November with representatives from Verisk/ISO.

How TAC Works

TAC develops an agenda that is typically 180-to-250 pages long that covers all lines of coverage, from homeowners to the general liability forms. Whenever you see a state filing that broadens or restricts coverage, this change invariably arises from the work of either the TAC or the Mid-America Conference working in tandem.

Our committee members work for months before we meet with ISO to develop and refine the agenda from the previous year's meeting with ISO, then add new coverage item concerns as our working agents see them arise in their agencies.

In short, TAC works year-round to identify coverage concerns, whether that is adding new coverages to manage emerging risks, or revisions to increase clarity of policy language and prevent coverage issues. And folks, some of these changes remained on the TAC/ISO agenda for years before we achieved language revisions.

TAC is a valuable resource for all committees in that we are coverage “geeks" and can assist with ongoing issues of coverage language and other coverage concerns.

To learn more about TAC, listen to Bill Wilson's overview of this committee at this link.

Over the years we have had some spectacular results improving and refining policy language at our last meeting with Verisk/ISO.

We Seek Agent Input

Each fall, the TAC develops its agenda to present to ISO/Verisk. In our agenda, we itemize problematic coverage provisions, suggest improvements to coverage where indicated, as well as suggest developing new coverage forms that may arise.

We seek agent input on problems you may have encountered with coverage language. We all see problems with adjuster misinterpreting language in their claims declinations. This is the type of input the our Ask an Expert service can address.

We seek input from agents about policy language that can be improved, or designed, that can make your lives as agents easier, and benefit your clients. One way to think about this TAC request is to consider claims denied by carriers that you believe should have been covered. This includes claims where amending policy language would be more conducive to the consumer and often, in keeping with a consumer's "reasonable expectations" of coverage. 

If you have encountered issues with problematic policy language, or have other suggestions, reach out to me at this link so we can discuss its possible inclusion in our upcoming agenda for our Spring meeting with Verisk.

In Conclusion

The TAC committee has contributed to many positive changes for both agents and consumers. Many of these changes take a decade or more to achieve, so persistence and yearly updates to Verisk/ISO are imperative to achieve TAC's goals.

We look forward to your input. If you're interested in serving on the TAC in the future, please reach out to me and we'll keep you apprised of any committee openings.

Published: October 27, 2023

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