It is likely that in 2010 North Carolina residents will have to be fingerprinted in order to get an insurance license
Friday, August 21st, 2009 | posted by: Julie Magee
North Carolina Deputy Commissioner Etta Maynard thinks legislation filed there will pass in 2010 mandating that in addition to completing 40 hours of pre-licensing courses, passing an exam, completing an application and paying a fee, anyone wanting to get an insurance license will also have to pass a background criminal check, which includes submitting their fingerprints.
Seventeen states nationwide currently collect fingerprints and use them to electronically obtain background reports from state or federal databases, or both, depending on their authorization prior to issuing insurance licenses. These crime reports are more thorough than what regulators can obtain using just social security numbers, dates of birth or other information. For instance, fingerprints are required for an FBI search.
In states where this is currently in place, officials say that not only does it allow them to verify that the information supplied by the applicant is accurate, the process also detours those with a criminal past from applying for an insurance license at all. In Texas, for example, 19% of the applicants for an insurance license have some form of criminal history, either state or federal, which is identified by the fingerprinting process.
I guess this is one way to clean up the insurance industry! What do you think?
