Date: December 15, 2008
For more information contact: Jim Guidry, (608) 264-6239 or jim.guidry@wisconsin.gov

Consumer Advocates Give Dilweg Consumer Advocacy Award

Madison, WI—Consumer representatives to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) presented Wisconsin Insurance Commissioner Sean Dilweg with their Excellence in Consumer Advocacy Award at the NAIC Winter Meeting in Dallas, Texas, on December 5, 2008.

The NAIC Consumer Participation Program assists the NAIC in its efforts to support state insurance regulation by providing consumer views on insurance regulatory issues. The program consists of funded and unfunded representatives chosen by the Consumer Participation Board of Trustees to represent consumers to the NAIC.

For the past year Dilweg, the current chair of the Board of Trustees, has been working to enhance and expand the role of consumer representatives in the NAIC's deliberation process.

"Commissioner Dilweg understands that it is vital that the consumer point of view be heard as the NAIC debates important insurance regulation issues," said University of Georgia professor Brenda Cude, one of the NAIC's funded consumer representatives and also a member of the Consumer Board of Trustees. "Not only has Sean worked tirelessly on behalf of the NAIC's consumer representatives, but his thoughtful, considered votes at the NAIC clearly show that consumers and policyholders across the country are a priority for him. We chose to honor him because he very effectively represents and advances the interests of consumers."

Over the past year, Dilweg has been working to increase consumer participation in NAIC committee meetings; to refine conflict of interest standards for consumer representatives; and to create more opportunities for collaboration between state insurance departments and consumer representatives.

"I am honored to have been recognized by those who represent the insurance consumer," said Dilweg. "The consumer perspective is critical to regulatory decision making."

Created by the Legislature in 1871, Wisconsin's Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI) was vested with broad powers to ensure that the insurance industry responsibly and adequately met the insurance needs of Wisconsin citizens. Today, OCI's mission is to lead the way in informing and protecting the public and responding to its insurance needs.