for insurance policyholders. He got enacted into law several dozen new standards to provide fair processing of insurance claims for policyholders. These provisions are collectively called the Unfair Claims Practices Act. He also got enacted legislation to provide that an insurance agent and company must not sell a policy that is not suitable for the policyholder. To limit the arbitrary cancellation of automobile policies, Hatch established a point system to determine when an automobile policy may be cancelled by an insurer. He also implemented a set of regulations to stop misleading statements in insurance solicitations. Hatch adopted rules that made agents holding themselves out as "financial planners" owe their clients a fiduciary duty. President Barack Obama proposed a similar provision over 30 years later at the federal level. Hatch also proposed that commercial insurers must give 30 days' notice of any change in the terms of a commercial policy or increase in rates. Farm crisis Hatch was commerce commissioner during the farm crisis of the mid-1980s. In 1983 Minnesota had over 430 banks and savings and loan associations. Most were in rural areas and depended on the success of the rural economy. Interest rates were at record levels, with a few banks paying up to 15% annual interest on some deposits. The combination of volatile interest rates and the failure of rural farms affected the banking industry. Farmers couldn't pay back the loans, falling grain and land prices shrank the value of collateral, and double-digit interest rates on deposits put banks in an impossible squeeze. Bank examiners forced banks to write down the value of the loan collateral, which resulted in more banks being labeled insolvent and subject to liquidation. This accelerated foreclosures. The depth of the rural recession resulted in few buyers willing to buy used equipment or land at auction, causing further depreciation of farm assets. Hatch helped enact several laws to help farmers. One was the mandatory Farmer-Lender Mediation Act of 1986, which required a lender to offer mediation with the farmer before instituting a foreclosure proceeding. Hatch also created an "Interest Buydown Program" in 1985 to pay a portion of the farmer's interest on farm loans. To lessen the regulatory pressure from bank examiners, Hatch directed them to allow banks to value collateral at the appraisal made at the time of the loan. Minnesota also established a rural farm advocate program to assist farmers through the