PURPOSE: In the event of a natural or other disaster which would require an extraordinary response by the department, Missouri has adopted the following plan in advance to respond quickly and effectively to meet the needs of its insured citizens. Activation of the plan should be implemented at the call of the director or his/her designee. This rule regulates the internal affairs of and prescribes procedures to be followed in proceedings before the department.

1. (1) The four (4) members of the Command Post Task Group are—director of the department or his/her designee, Missouri Insurance Information Service; director of the Consumer Affairs Division, and the department public information officer.
2. (2) The following are procedures for establishing a command post with field office, or series of offices, to efficiently and effectively handle any disaster response. Uppermost in the design of the network will be the attempt to integrate communication among consumers in the affected area, department personnel and the insurance industry. To this end, the network established will serve solely as a conduit for the transfer of necessary 20 CSR 10-4

information and not function to supervise claim handling or other disaster-related activities.

1. (A) Command Post.

   1. 1. Purpose—to quickly establish a com-

mand post and necessary numbers and locations of field offices following the occurrence of a disaster. The command post should immediately function to transfer useful information to consumers in the affected area, while assisting the insurance industry in promptly assessing the size and extent of the damage.

1. 2. Location. The command post will be

located at the Consumer Affairs Division, 301 West High Street, Room 530, Jefferson City, MO 65101, telephone (573) 751-2640.

1. 3. Composition. The command post and

all field offices will have the same composition to insure consistency in the information and services provided. The difference between the command post and the field offices in this regard is that the individuals in the command post will have greater responsibility in managing the flow of information. Thus, those in the command post will be, in most instances, from the highest levels of the department and from the top of the industry’s coordinating team. Where possible, the department’s representative will either be the director or his/her designee. Every effort will be made to assure that the appointed staff person will have some media experience.

1. 4. Duties. One of the principal responsi-

bilities of the command post will be to operate as the main communication conduit between the governor’s office, the state emergency agencies, federal disaster groups such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), etc., the general public and the insurance industry. To perform in this capacity, those responsible for establishing the command post will need to develop several functions well before a disaster ever occurs. A contact list of the state agency people, members of the media and insurance industry personnel should be put together so those in charge can quickly begin assessing the problems and respond to them. Additionally, establishment of a speaker’s bureau to address the need to quickly get insurance claims information to those in the affected area will need to be undertaken. To facilitate these items and the other matters that need to be considered, such as the procedures for handling different types of catastrophic events, a command post group should be appointed immediately for a predetermined period of time in that way the substantive pieces can be put together. Following just a FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS AND PROFESSIONAL REGISTRATION

few meetings, the participants will know that their commitment is not forever.

1. (B) Communications Network.

   1. 1. Purpose—to establish a communica-

tions network that will link consumers with insurance companies and the department whenever a catastrophic event occurs. An action plan for accomplishing this objective will be developed to coordinate the communication between all of these points. The plan will take into account the need to integrate with the insurance department’s consumer hotline and all existing insurance industry eight hundred (800) numbers.

1. 2. The Command Post Task Group will

be charged with the responsibility for creating a contact list for quickly contacting people within the insurance industry, preferably individuals with the national trades and the state domestic trade so a large audience can be reached with just a few calls. Additionally, a contact person with two (2) or three (3) of the major property writers within the state should be part of the list as well. The list should also have a contact person with both the Media Relations Task Group and the Consumer Information Hotline Task Group. Individuals with key state agencies should also be added. Another responsibility of the Command Post Task Group will be to develop a speaker’s bureau to quickly operate in the affected areas to answer questions at town meetings and other informational gatherings. The speaker’s bureau would act to supplement information provided through the media and other sources on how to quickly and effectively prepare insurance claims information. In order to facilitate the communication net, the command post will need to prepare an action plan for installation of phones at both the command post as well as all of the field offices. This should probably be undertaken in concert with the people from the State Emergency Response Agency so not only a coordinated approach is taken, but an opportunity is created for using that agency’s phones in the early hours of any disaster.

1. (C) Field Office(s).

   1. 1. Purpose—the local field office(s) will

be charged with addressing problems, solving them where possible and overseeing the areas (for example, county or other designated locale) which the field office has responsibility for. While the composition and the basic duties will be the same as those of the command post, the field office(s) will get down to the local problems and handle them from a closer advantage point. Where serious disputes or problems arise, the field office will forward these back to the command post; otherwise, the field office will manage its own operation and report only.

1. 2. Location. Field offices will be estab-

lished in conjunction with the creation by the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) of its field office operations. Initially, there will likely be a sharing of phone lines until an independent network can be created. Just as soon as the phones are operational, that fact and the corresponding number will be provided to the Media Task Group for distribution to the public and other interested parties.

1. 3. Duties. The field office(s) will be

charged with channeling information within the zone the office(s) has responsibility for. All requests for speakers, press contacts and general insurance information will come through this point. Additionally, all written material explaining how to prepare claims will be available through these outlets as well. The field office(s) will routinely report to the command post on daily activities. All problems that cannot be worked out locally will be sent up for review. Department brochures on disaster response should be made widely available throughout the field office(s).

AUTHORITY: section 374.045, RSMo 2000.* Original rule filed Jan. 15, 1992, effective Sept. 6, 1992. Amended: Filed Oct. 15, 2007, effective May 30, 2008.

*Original authority: 374.045, RSMo 1967, amended 1993, 1995.