WSR 16-18-047 PERMANENT RULES OFFICE OF INSURANCE COMMISSIONER [Insurance Commissioner Matter No. R 2015-15—Filed August 31, 2016, 8:38 a.m., effective October 1, 2016] Effective Date of Rule: Thirty-one days after filing.
Purpose: This proposed rule will add a new section to chapter 284-24 WAC, requiring each insurer that uses credit history for rating personal lines of property/casualty insurance to update the credit history and resulting insurance score no less often than once every three years. This section applies to insurers using insurance scores for rating of personal insurance under the provisions of RCW 48.19.035.
Adopted under notice filed as WSR 16-13-127 on June 21, 2016.
A final cost-benefit analysis is available by contacting Stacy Middleton, P.O. Box 40258, Olympia, WA 98504, phone (360) 725-9651, fax (360) 586-3109, e-mail rulescoordinator@oic.wa.gov.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 1, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 1, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 1, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Date Adopted: August 31, 2016.
Mike Kreidler
Insurance Commissioner
NEW SECTION
WAC 284-24-140 Updating insurance scores.
(1) This section applies to insurers using insurance scores for rating of personal insurance under the provisions of RCW 48.19.035.
(2) If an insurer uses insurance scores to calculate renewal premiums, the insurer must:
(a) Update each policyholder's insurance score no less often than once every three years; and
(b) Calculate premiums for each policy using the insurer's most recently determined insurance score for the policy.
(3) For the purposes of this section, if an insurance score is used to assign a policy to a particular rating class or rating tier, then it is considered using an insurance score to calculate renewal premiums if the insurer:
(a) Leaves that policy in the same rating class or rating tier upon renewal; or
(b) Assigns the policy to a rating class or rating tier that depends on the prior insurance-score-based rating class or rating tier.
(4) When an insurer updates an insurance score, it must update all information necessary to determine the insurance score, rather than partially update the score. This process must include updating credit information on policyholders who were previously classified as "no hit" or "no score," as defined in WAC 284-24A-055(2).
(5) An insurer's filed manual of rates and rules should specify the conditions under which insurance scores will be updated and how updated insurance scores will be used in the calculation of renewal premiums. If, however, an insurer uses insurance scores to calculate renewal premiums and its filed manual of rates and rules does not specify the conditions under which insurance scores will be updated, the insurer must update each policyholder's insurance score at each renewal.
(6) In the rate filing process, rates and rating rules that do not satisfy the requirements of this section will be considered to be unfairly discriminatory and in violation of RCW 48.19.020.
(7) Nothing in this section prohibits an insurer from:
(a) Updating insurance scores more frequently than once every three years, including updating insurance score upon policyholder request; or
(b) Using a rating system that includes insurance scores in the rating of new business but not in the rating of renewal business.
(8) This section applies to rates and rating rules in effect on and after January 1, 2017.
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