Jim Ridling, who has served as commissioner of the Alabama Department of Insurance for 14 years, will retire at the end of this month, Gov. Kay Ivey announced.
“As Alabama’s longest serving insurance commissioner, Jim has kept stability in the agency, all while bringing fresh ideas to ensure our state was offering our people the best, whether that be in times of natural disaster or simply in our day to day lives,” Ivey said in a press release.
“I am truly grateful Jim dedicated so many years to the state of Alabama and wish him the best in his well-deserved retirement.”
Ridling is the longest serving appointed commissioner in the country, Ivey said. He has kept Alabama active in the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and served as chairman of the Southeast Zone for 10 years. The Alabama Department of Insurance was reaccredited by the NAIC three times during Ridling’s tenure, most recently in April.
Ridling established the Strengthen Alabama Homes program to provide grants of up to $10,000 to Alabama residents to fortify their homes to help protect against severe weather. Five thousand Alabama homes should be fortified by the end of this year, the most of any state for residential homes fortified to Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety standards, the governor’s office said.
Ridling thanked Ivey and praised his staff.
“I also appreciate, so much, the work of the dedicated and professional state employees who staff the Department of Insurance,” Ridling said in a press release. “They are amazing! We have done some great things together, and I know we will all be able to look back on these years with pride.”
Ridling created the Insurance Fraud Bureau within the Department of Insurance and a cyber-security center, the governor’s office said. He also effectively recruited more than a dozen new property insurance companies to serve Alabama’s coastal communities.
Ivey named Deputy Commissioner Mark Fowler as acting commissioner effective July 1. Fowler’s experience in the agency, as well as additional experience on the state and federal sides will serve the state well, the governor said.
