News

We frequently are asked about countersignatures and whether an authorized signature on a policy dec page can be blank. We did a little investigating and spoke to some knowledgable folks at the IA&B and feel we can pass this information along to you. 

Several years ago, South Dakota repealed their countersignature law. With that, all 50 states have taken action to eliminate the countersignature requirement. 

State regulations only require a company officer’s signature on a policy. As an example, in Pennsylvania, Section 317 of the Insurance Company Law (40 P.S. §440) requires insurance policies to be signed by 2 officers of the company. Carriers have found a variety of ways to comply with this requirement: signatures on the last page of the policy form, on the declarations page, or on forms that exclusively contain an in witness provision.

The old Fire Policy Statute does reference a producer signature, but it is antiquated. The PA Department of Insurance has advised their focus is mainly on verifying the required officer’s signatures are contained in the policy forms.  In other states there may be a retaliatory provision for countersignatures (we only require it if you require it) but, this is rarely exercised.

So, the next time you receive a policy from Tuscano Agency and it is not stamped with Rob's signature please don’t fret, in fact, ‘signature in blank’ is a permitted status.