Under the new system, NAMIC said, member company representatives from each state will visit their congressional delegation in Washington every other year. States will be divided by participation size and political power within the Congress.

In the alternate years, NAMIC will ask member companies to engage their U.S. senators and representatives back home.

NAMIC said its Congressional Contact Program, created 18 years ago, is conducted in partnership with property-casualty insurance company state associations.

The annual visits see NAMIC members personally travel to Washington to meet with their congressional representatives to discuss national legislation.

NAMIC said the system has "successfully and consistently put NAMIC members in front of lawmakers who have been involved in vital legislation, such as the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, class-action reform, insurance regulation, and terrorism insurance."

Monte Ward, NAMIC's federal affairs vice president, said, "there is simply no substitute for face-to-face conversations between NAMIC members and their elected officials."

Without help from member visits to Washington, Mr. Ward said, "vital legislation such as Gramm-Leach-Bliley would not have passed. Now, we believe that the time has come that we can attract more member company involvement in this program and have a greater impact on the members of Congress by shifting the program to this new status."

Coordinating with the lobbying effort, the new Benjamin Franklin Public Policy Award Program would recognize those members of Congress who have supported NAMIC on issues that affect member companies, the group said.

NAMIC said the award is named after Benjamin Franklin to celebrate the fact that 250 years ago he created America's mutual insurance industry by founding The Philadelphia Contributionship for the Insurance of Houses from Loss by Fire.

Eligibility for the award, NAMIC said, will be based on roll call votes taken during the previous Congress, and NAMIC members will deliver the award during their Congressional Contact Program visits in Washington.

The trade association claims more than 1,300 member companies that underwrite 40 percent, or some $123 billion, of the property-casualty insurance premium in the United States.