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A 3696

Establishes a temporary state commission to study and make recommendations on violence in state correctional facilities

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Billy Jones and 2 co-sponsors

Enacts New Jersey's Travel Insurance Act to regulate sale, licensing, administration, and taxation of travel insurance, strengthening consumer protections and state oversight.

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Bill Summary · A 3696

Summary — A-3696 (Reprint AFI 5/20/24; reprint Assembly 5/22/25 2R)

Title: Travel Insurance Act
Introduced: February 12, 2024
Status highlights: Reported out of committee with amendments (5/20/24); Assembly floor amendment passed (5/22/25); substituted by S2783 (2R) (6/30/25). (Note: the bill text provided concerns travel insurance. The separate header reference to a commission on violence in correctional facilities appears to be inconsistent with the document contents.)

Purpose

A-3696 creates a comprehensive, specific statutory framework for the sale, licensing, administration, classification, and taxation of travel insurance and related products in New Jersey. The bill is intended to clarify consumer protections, producer and administrator licensing, and regulator authority specific to travel insurance transactions.

Key provisions

  • Establishes the "Travel Insurance Act" and states that its provisions specifically apply to travel insurance policies covering New Jersey residents and sold, solicited, negotiated, or delivered in New Jersey. It supersedes general insurance law only to the extent it conflicts; other insurance laws remain applicable.
  • Detailed definitions for terms such as travel insurance, aggregator site, blanket/group travel insurance, cancellation fee waiver (expressly not insurance), fulfillment materials, primary policyholder/certificate holder, travel administrator, limited lines travel insurance producer, offer and disseminate, and eligible group.
  • Licensing/registration framework:
    • Defines and regulates limited lines travel insurance producers (including managing general agents, licensed insurance producers, and travel administrators).
    • Clarifies that persons licensed with property or casualty (P&C) authority may sell, solicit, and negotiate travel insurance.
    • Requires registration of travel retailers operating under a limited-lines producer license when offering and disseminating travel insurance.
  • Marketing and consumer disclosure:
    • Allows direct marketing of travel insurance via an insurer’s website provided there is an accurate short description or summary of coverage that includes policy limits and exclusions or provides a clear opt-out option.
    • Defines acceptable selling conduits such as aggregator sites and outlines required fulfillment materials.
  • Taxation:
    • Applies New Jersey’s existing insurance premium tax requirements to certain travel insurance premiums.
  • Administrative and regulatory practice:
    • Codifies established practices for classification, rate and form regulation, sale and administration of travel insurance and related products.
    • Defines the scope and exceptions for travel administrators (who underwrite, collect premiums, or adjust/settle claims), with carve-outs for persons performing limited activities.

Notable amendments

  • Committee amendments (5/20/24) removed references to third-party administrators, clarified P&C-licensed producers’ authority to sell travel insurance, allowed direct insurer website marketing with required summaries/opt-outs, extended the bill’s effective date from 90 to 180 days after enactment, and made technical edits.
  • Assembly floor amendment (5/22/25) clarifies that "travel insurance" does not include repatriation-of-remains arrangements made solely as part of preneed funeral arrangements through a State-registered mortuary when no other coverages are included.

Who is affected

  • Consumers purchasing travel insurance or travel-protection plans (more explicit disclosures and opt-out protections).
  • Insurers offering travel insurance and travel-assistance products.
  • Insurance producers and managing general agents (licensing and limited-lines rules), travel administrators, and travel retailers and aggregator sites (registration, distribution rules).
  • Entities issuing group/blanket travel insurance (employers, schools, carriers, rental companies, etc.).
  • State Department of Banking and Insurance (enhanced rulemaking and enforcement responsibilities).
  • Mortuaries (limited exclusion for preneed repatriation arrangements).

Timeline & procedural notes

  • Upon enactment, the act would take effect 180 days later (per committee amendment).
  • Legislative history: introduced 2/12/24; committee report with amendments 5/20/24; Assembly floor amendment passed 5/22/25; substituted by companion bill S2783 on 6/30/25.
  • The bill’s provisions would apply to policies sold to New Jersey residents or delivered in New Jersey and would coexist with other applicable insurance statutes except where the Travel Insurance Act specifically supersedes general provisions.

Potential impacts

  • Clarifies regulatory landscape for travel insurance, reducing legal uncertainty and standardizing disclosure and marketing practices.
  • May impose compliance and registration costs on travel administrators, insurers, and distributors (including aggregator sites and travel retailers).
  • Strengthens consumer protections (disclosure, opt-out rights, clear definitions), and aligns tax treatment of travel insurance premiums with existing state practice.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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