Jefferson City, Mo. - On April 6, the Missouri Department of Insurance, Financial Institutions and Professional Registration (DIFP) will join other states in implementing State-Based Systems (SBS), an Internet-based data management system. The DIFP will convert its current databases to SBS in two phases: Producer licensing and company admissions will move to SBS on April 6, followed by the consumer complaint and enforcement databases in fall of this year.

With SBS:

• Producers can apply for and renew all types of insurance licenses online, including specialty lines such as crop, title and pre-paid legal. They will also be able to pay fees with a credit or debit card, track continuing education credits and change their company name or address;
• Continuing education providers can report course rosters directly through the SBS Web site. That course credit, if entered online, will be immediately banked to a producer licensing record. In the past, course credit would not be banked right away, causing a producer to wait a day or two for license renewal;
• The DIFP will be able to connect directly and immediately update the NIPR (National Insurance Producer Registry); and
• The DIFP will phase out its aging regulatory database, avoiding software and programming upgrades to the current database that could have cost up to $1 million.

"After evaluating several options to modernize our database, we decided to join the other states that have adopted SBS," said DIFP Director John M. Huff. "With real-time access to NIPR and an enormous cost savings, SBS will benefit insurance consumers, industry professionals and department personnel."

SBS will require a slight change in the producer license numbering system. For most producers, the only change will be the deletion of the letters at the front of their license number. The remaining numerical part of the license number will be unchanged.

During the DIFP's transition to SBS, users will be unable to access the NIPR's online license application and renewal system until April 13. Applications and renewals that are mailed or hand-delivered to the DIFP in Jefferson City will be unaffected.

SBS was developed by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) and is based in Kansas City. It was developed several years ago to serve a handful of states that had no other regulatory database. 15 states have now signed on, and the NAIC continues to negotiate with others.

For more information, visit the NAIC's State-Based Systems Web site.