Arkansas Insurance Commissioner resigning at end of March

Arkansas Insurance Commissioner Allen Kerr is resigning from his post effective March 27, 2020, Talk Business & Politics has confirmed.

Kerr said he is leaving his post to pursue opportunities in the private sector.

“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as State Insurance Commissioner under Governor Hutchinson these last five years. Today, Arkansas is the destination for the insurance industry known as a place where a company can come and do honest business without being overregulated,” he said.

Kerr was appointed by Hutchinson as commissioner in 2015. Before becoming the agency leader, he served three terms in the Arkansas House of Representatives representing a west Little Rock seat as a Republican.

The Arkansas Insurance Department was folded into the Arkansas Department of Commerce as part of Hutchinson’s state government transformation.

“I am grateful for Allen Kerr’s service in my administration and for his work as Insurance Commissioner over the last five years,” Hutchinson said. “He made the Insurance Department more efficient and helped open the state to numerous new companies by showing that Arkansas is a great place to do business. I appreciate his leadership and support throughout our transformation efforts and I wish him well in his future endeavors.”

During his tenure as commissioner, Kerr said he recruited and welcomed 110 new insurance companies to do business in Arkansas, increased annual revenue to the state by $84.25 million, increased licensures by 67.6%, and tripled the amount of captive insurers in the state.

Under Kerr, the Arkansas Insurance Department also took responsibility for the Arkansas Health Insurance Marketplace. In its first year of operation under AID, marketplace enrollment increased year-over-year for the first time since 2016. More than $13 million in combined savings to taxpayers and policyholders were realized due to the elimination of user fees charged to insurance carriers, Kerr said.