In this episode of The Consumer Finance Podcast, host Chris Willis is joined by insurance regulatory and transactions partners Brian Casey and John Emmanuel to introduce Troutman Pepper Locke’s insurance regulatory practice and explore where insurance law and consumer finance regulation intersect.
Brian and John walk through the growing world of “embedded insurance,” where insurance or insurance-like products (from credit life and gap waivers to service contracts and fixed indemnity health insurance policies) are bundled into noninsurance transactions like auto financing or credit cards, with creditors who usually lack the same familiarity with insurance laws that they have with consumer financial protection laws. Brian and John discuss the key compliance issues that arise in these arrangements, including unfair trade practices and anti-rebating and inducements restrictions, commission-sharing limits for unlicensed entities, proper attribution of insurance sales to state insurance department licensed parties, Gramm-Leach-Bliley privacy obligations, and the disclosure requirements tied to insurance transactions. Brian and John also share real-world examples from their practice, including structuring compliant sales incentives for embedded auto-related products and navigating the multistate complexities of group property and casualty and fixed indemnity insurance products in credit transactions.
The episode underscores how the 2025 merger of Locke Lord and Troutman Pepper expanded the firm’s consumer financial services capabilities to include comprehensive, 50-state insurance regulatory experience.
Transcript: When Insurance Law Meets Consumer Finance: Navigating Embedded Insurance Products (PDF)