It's no surprise that the top legislative issue for the Property and Casualty (P&C) insurance industry in 2015 is ride-sharing or transportation network company (TNC) bills. The issue of the new and innovative activity raising insurance coverage concerns emerged during 2014 but legislative calendars allowed for only 10 states to consider bills and just four states—Colorado, California, the District of Columbia, and Illinois—to enact laws. Consequently, as industry representatives prepared for the 2015 session it was expected that many states would be taking up legislation. As of press time, Georgia's House and the Oklahoma Senate both passed ridesharing bills and no fewer than 25 states began debating the issue.

The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC) and other industry organizations are highly engaged in the effort—not to block innovation, but to ensure proper insurance requirements are part of the laws creating a framework for TNC operations. Any bill that is enacted should recognize that TNC services start when a driver logs on to the smartphone app and ends only when the ride has been completed and the driver has logged off the system. Additionally, bills should make clear that personal auto insurers have the ability to exclude commercial activity including TNC services and that specific coverage is necessary to protect drivers and riders.

Insurance advocates could have their hands full just dealing with TNC bills this year, but this issue only tops the list of what is proving to be a very active year for insurance. Other areas that NAMIC and partner advocates will focus on in 2015 include civil justice reform, e-commerce and financial regulation, as well as a smattering of property- and auto-related issues.