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On January 30, 2023, the California Department of Insurance (“CDI”) issued BULLETIN 2023-1 to remind all private passenger automobile liability insurers of their current obligation to file Prior Approval Rate Applications (“Rate Application”) with the CDI’s Rate Regulation Branch by July 1, 2023 to account for the updates to the financial responsibility laws going into effect on or after January 1, 2025 pursuant to Senate Bill 1107 (Dodd, Chapter 717, Statutes of 2022).

Below we have summarized the key information.

REQUIRED CHANGES

• Increase minimum coverage liability limits to $30,000 for bodily injury to or death of one person in any one accident.
• Increase minimum coverage liability limits to $60,000 for bodily injury to or death of two or more persons in any one accident.
• Increase minimum coverage liability limits to $15,000 for property damage caused by any one accident.

DETAILS FOR RATE APPLICATION FILINGS

• This Rate Application shall be filed with the sole purpose of introducing the new limit options (“FR limits”) for Bodily Injury, Property Damage, and Uninsured Motorist/Underinsured Motorist to comply with the foregoing changes to the financial responsibility laws.
• Submit the Rate Application as filing type “Rule filing without rate impact,” and program name “FR Limits 2023.”  There shall be no changes to rating relativities to existing limit options or any other rating elements in the insurer’s rating plan in this rule filing.
• Provide support for the rating relativities for the newly introduced FR limits in Rate Application Exhibit 19-A, Supplemental Information.
• For insurers that currently offer the new FR limits, submit the Rule filing without rate impact as delineated above, excluding support for relativities. The insurer must attest to the existence of these limit offerings in the Filing Memorandum and identify where those limits can be found in the insurer’s rate and rule manual included in the filing.

NEED HELP WITH YOUR CALIFORNIA FILINGS

Perr&Knight is a leading provider of actuarial and state filing services to insurers in California. Our actuarial consulting team actively follows the California market and is very familiar with all the filing requirements in the state. We prepare and submit more California filings than any other company.

Please contact us for any insurance filings support that is needed with your California insurance products.

In October of this year, California approved a regulation requiring rate filings from every personal and commercial property insurer that uses wildfire risk, explicitly or implicitly, in rating a policyholder or applicant. The California Department of Insurance (“CDI”) recently published FAQs to assist companies in complying with the regulations.

Below we have summarized the key information from the FAQs.

REQUIRED RATE FILINGS

Property insurers are required to submit a rate application by April 12, 2023. The rate application needs to include a complete rate filing that complies with the CDI’s Prior Approval Rating Filing Instructions. If a property insurer has an existing pending rate application, it may be amended to meet the requirements of the regulation. However, the CDI is not requiring this and a second rate application can be submitted with the wildfire mitigation credits, which will result in the property insurer having two pending rate applications at the same time. The CDI anticipates reviewing each rate application in the order that it is received, but it is possible the second rate application could be approved first.

For property insurers that do not use wildfire risk in the rating, no rate filing is required. However, to the extent a property insurer uses territorial rating, this may implicitly include wildfire rating and require a rate filing under the regulation.

LINES OF INSURANCE

The FAQs state the following, “The regulation applies to any line of insurance, personal or commercial, where the insurance company in rating the building being evaluated applies or uses a rate that is developed with, determined by or relies upon, in whole or in part, a rating plan that segments, creates a rate differential, or surcharges the premium based upon a policyholder or applicant’s wildfire risk.” Prior to the FAQs, the CDI indicated via communications with our actuarial consultants that renters (HO4) and condo (HO6) policies were subject to the regulations if there is a rate differential that is caused at least in part by the risk of wildfire.

MANDATORY AND OPTIONAL MITIGATION FACTORS

For each mandatory mitigation factor, property insurers are required to have separate, individual discounts or credits. The same applies to optional factors. Mitigation factors can be combined in the rating provided that the discount or credit is more than the sum of the individual discounts or credit.

Property insurers may need to update their underwriting guidelines depending on whether the new regulations result in a change in their underwriting process. Some of the mitigation factors require verification, which could be obtained through an inspection or through an insurer’s questionnaire or application if an insurer does not perform an inspection. The same applies to renewals.

WILDFIRE RISK MODELS USED BY INSURERS

The CDI will review any wildfire risk model used in the rating. When a property insurer is adopting a new model not previously reviewed by the CDI, the time to approval for the rate filing will likely be longer than a typical rate filing. If a model is being adopted in a filing, the CDI’s Model Checklist should be included in the filing and the Model Disclosure in the CDI’s Prior Approval Rate Application should be completed.

NEED HELP WITH A CALIFORNIA RATE FILING

Perr&Knight is a leading provider of actuarial and state filing services to insurers in California. Our actuarial consulting team actively follows the California market and is very familiar with all the filing requirements in the state. We prepare and submit more California filings than any other company.

Please contact us for any insurance filings support that is needed with your California insurance products.

On December 7, the California Department of Insurance (“CDI”) approved a 14.4% overall rate increase for Allmerica Financial Benefit Insurance Company’s Commercial Auto program. The company, which is part of The Hanover Insurance Group, submitted the filing on August 8, 2020.
Prior to this approval, the last California rate increase for personal or commercial auto was approved in April 2020. There are more than 40 rate increase filings currently pending approval for these lines. Given the backlog of filings at the CDI and the severity trends being experienced for auto claims, companies should work to file any increases needed sooner rather than later. Otherwise, they can expect to see an even longer line of filings in front of them.
Perr&Knight submits more filings in California than any other consulting firm. Our actuaries and state filing experts are available to assist you with navigating the CDI filing process.
Contact us today to learn more.

On November 9, 2021 the New Mexico Superintendent of Insurance, Russell Toal, issued Bulletin 2021-024. The Bulletin was issued in accordance with Crutcher v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., NMSC Docket No. S-1-SC-37478.  The case summary focused on adequate explanation to the policyholder regarding minimum limits for UM/UIM. Only if an insurer provides the proper explanation (Disclosure / Exclusion) may they charge a premium for minimum underinsurance coverage.
This bulletin requires all automobile insurers covering risks located in New Mexico to adopt, on an immediate basis, a UM/UIM Disclosure and a UIM Exclusion for use in every current and future automobile policy. If an insurer provides adequate disclosure, it may lawfully charge a premium for such coverage (e.g., minimum UM/UIM limits).  The requirements vary slightly based on language used:
Unaltered OSI Language – Using the exact Disclosure and Exclusion language provided by the New Mexico Office of Superintendent of Insurance (“OSI”).

• Develop and distribute the new Disclosure and Exclusion to all existing policyholder as soon as practicable, but not later than December 9, 2021.
• File the new Disclosure and Exclusion in SERFF as “use and file” no later than February 7, 2022.

Altered OSI or Proprietary Language – Modifying any of the OSI Disclosure and Exclusion language or drafting complete proprietary language.

• Develop and file the new Disclosure and Exclusion in SERFF in accordance with the normal form review process set forth in NMSA 1978, § 59A-18-12 and OSI rules, and the normal sixty (60) day statutory review period shall apply.
• Distribute the new Disclosure and Exclusion to all existing policyholders as soon as practicable, but not later than thirty (30) days, after the OSI approves the language or after the end of the sixty (60) day statutory period, whichever occurs first.

Contact Us Today
Whether you need help drafting the Disclosure and Exclusion, revising your rules or submitting required filings, the experts at Perr&Knight can provide immediate and efficient assistance.
Contact Perr&Knight

Citizens of Nevada may be seeing a refund come their way this year after the Division of Insurance (DOI) approved regulation R087-20 on December 28, 2020. This measure prohibits personal lines property and casualty insurers from taking adverse action when re-scoring policyholders at renewal and requires that a refund be made for any increase in premium as a result.
Retroactively effective March 1, 2020, an insurer may not increase premium based on information contained in a consumer file, including information that determines an insurance score. The prohibition continues until a date two years after the termination date of the Declaration of Emergency for COVID-19 issued by the Governor on March 12, 2020. The regulation does, however, allow for favorable re-scoring if the information results in a lower premium.
These measures are similar to bulletins issued in other states directing insurers to exempt extraordinary life events related to the COVID-19 pandemic from credit-based insurance scoring. However, all companies writing personal lines property and casualty business in Nevada are required to notify the DOI via email, by February 1, 2021, as to how consumer information is used. If a company does regularly re-score their book of business, the insurer must commit to identifying all policyholders whose premiums were increased on or after March 1, 2020, and issue a refund for the increase. A rule filing is required to be submitted to the DOI by March 3, 2021 to supersede any previous rules that allowed adverse action. Insurers are encouraged to start issuing refunds as soon as the affected policyholders are identified.
To ensure your compliance, we at Perr & Knight are here to assist you in submitting your rule filing to the Nevada Division of Insurance. Please contact us today.
Reference:
Copy of approved regulation – Nevada Regulation No. R087-20
Guidance and FAQs – FAQ on Regulation R087-20

On December 20, 2019 President Donald J. Trump signed into law the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2019. The NAIC Terrorism Insurance Implementation Working Group recently issued bulletins related to this matter.  his Reauthorization Act of 2019 changes the Terrorism risk Insurance Program as follows:

• Extends the Federal Terrorism Risk Insurance Program through December 31, 2027.
• Adjusts the mandatory recoupment timing.
• Fixes the United States Government reimbursement level of covered terrorism losses above the deductible at 80%.

Will Your Rules, Forms and Policyholder Notices be Compliant?
Affected Commercial lines of business may require updates that must be in place prior to the end of 2020 including the following:

• TRIA endorsements and disclosure notices must be revised to properly reflect the federal share percentage of 80% and may need to be filed in some states.
• Various rates and rules need to be reviewed to ensure they are compatible with the revised program terms. If revisions are needed, they may need to be filed.

Whether you need help drafting updated endorsements and notices, revising your rules or submitting required filings, the experts at Perr&Knight can help you prepare to be compliant with required changes. Contact Us Today.

With $86 billion in written premium, California is the largest market for property and casualty insurers in the United States. It is also a prior approval state[1] for rates, rules and forms, which are required to be filed and approved by the California Department of Insurance (CDI) prior to an insurer using them. Depending on the line of business and the filing type, the average time to obtain approval from the CDI for these filings can vary widely. It is important for insurers to understand the current environment for filings in the state. Poor planning by insurers could result in delays in implementing changes to rates, rules and forms and lost premium revenue. Nowadays, insurers must also factor in the impact that COVID-19 is having on filings and be aware that the CDI has put all rate increase filings for the COVID-19 impacted lines on hold.
The Rate Regulation Division at the CDI is responsible for reviewing and approving rate, rule and form filings submitted by insurers. As of the middle of September, the staff in the Rate Regulation Division is still telecommuting and has not returned to their offices. The Rate Regulation Division has offices in both Los Angeles and Oakland, and the filing review is split between these offices. Perr&Knight has submitted a few hundred filings in California since January of 2019 including over 100 filings this year. We are actively communicating with the CDI on a daily basis. Our recent experience is that the CDI has been very responsive to emails and to voicemails while their staff has been working remotely. We have also had several conference calls on filings with upper management at the CDI since the start of COVID-19, so the CDI has done well at adapting to their new work environment.
The CDI received over six thousand filings in 2019 and has received nearly 5,000 filings in 2020 through the middle of September, so the number of filings submissions is on pace to be higher than 2019, which has likely increased the workload for the CDI and may impact the time to approval[2]. In Chart 1 below, we have displayed the average approval time for rate filings in California by line of business for the last four years.

Source: Compiled from filings available through S&P Market Intelligence.

While the time to approval for personal auto rate filings has continued to take approximately 150 days in 2020, the time to approval for the other lines has seen an increase with the largest increase being in homeowners, which is taking on average nearly 250 days to receive approval from the CDI. There has been a steady increase in the homeowners rates in California with the wildfires losses under this line over the last several years. It is our understanding that these filings are receiving a higher level of scrutiny by the CDI in an effort to protect policyholders and must go to the Insurance Commissioner prior to approval. Companies should expect this to continue given the current state of the homeowners market in California.
For the lines that are impacted by COVID-19, insurers should also expect increases in the average time to approval. These filings are going to the Insurance Commissioner and/or Deputy Commissioner of Rate Regulation prior to approval for similar reasons as the homeowners filings mentioned above. On rate increase filings for the COVID-19 lines of business, the CDI has been sending out a letter encouraging insurers to reconsider any rate increase given the changes in the insured’s behavior and the environment during the pandemic. As mentioned above, at this point in time, the CDI has put all rate increase filings for the COVID-19 lines on hold until more data is available on the impact of COVID-19. As more information does become available, the CDI will eventually be requesting updated data for these pending rate filings. Currently, the CDI is willing to consider revenue-neutral filings for the COVID-19 lines of business, i.e. filings with an overall rate impact of 0.0%. However, approval will depend on how this rate impact is distributed by policyholder. The CDI is also not approving new exclusions of loss due to virus or bacteria or revisions clarifying the language without a corresponding rate offset. Even with the rate offset, which has been requested by the CDI in some form filings that have been withdrawn, it is possible that the CDI may still not approve any new or revised exclusions related to the pandemic at this point in time.
For rule and forms filings that do not include any rate impact, the approval time in California is much shorter than for rate filings. In Chart 2, we have displayed the time to approval for these filings. The average time to approval is generally around 75 to 80 days and has some variation by line of business and year. The earliest possible approval of most filings in California is approximately 60 days from the filing date due the mandatory waiting period of 47 days, which starts on the public notice date and allows time for a consumer to possibly intervene in a filing.

Source: Compiled from filings available through S&P Market Intelligence.

With the average time to approval increasing on rate filings, there has been an increase in the number of pending filings. Chart 3 displays the pending filings at year-end for 2017 to 2019 and year-to-date for 2020. The number of pending filings has decreased for personal auto compared to last year and the increases in the number of pending filings are related to filings for commercial lines and homeowners. Given the increase in the number of pending filings, we expect the average time to approval will continue to increase.  Although the CDI has adapted well to working remotely, the telecommuting may be contributing some to the increase in the time to approval and the increases in the number of pending filings. The CDI is also short on staff and has a number of open positions in the Rate Regulation Division due to the normal turnover, including CDI employees retiring. This will likely contribute to an increase in the time to approval over the next year.

Source: Compiled from filings available through S&P Market Intelligence.

For insurers to achieve the shortest time to approval on their filings in California, they need to an understanding of the following:

• California’s filing requirements, which differ from other states;
• The CDI position on various issues;
• Actuarial support required for rate changes (trends, catastrophe loads, etc.); and
• Consumer intervention process and its impact.

When preparing and submitting filings in California, experience working with the CDI and responding to the CDI’s questions on filings is a must-have to reduce the time to approval.  The above combined with actively following up with the CDI is the best approach to reduce the time to approval on filings in California.

Contact Perr&Knight

Perr&Knight is a leading provider of actuarial and state filing services to insurers in California.  Our consultants actively follow the California market and are very familiar with all the filing requirements in the state.  We prepare and submit more California filings than any other company.  Our experience includes expert testimony on rating filings and providing guidance to industry associations.

Please contact us with any assistance that is needed with your California insurance products.    

[1] Excluding workers compensation.
[2] Average number of days from submission to approval.

On May 12, 2020, the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance (“DOBI”) issued Bulletin 20-22 ordering insurers to make an initial premium refund or other adjustment to all New Jersey policyholders adversely impacted due to overstatement or misclassification of  risk resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Insurers are directed to provide each affected policyholder with a notification or the amount of the refund or adjustments by June 15, 2020. Insurers who can demonstrate that its rates are not excessive, inadequate, or unfairly discriminatory, or otherwise contends it should not be subject to the terms of this Bulletin, are to provide information to the DOBI by June 1, 2020.
In addition, Order No: A 20-03 requiring various data reports was issued on the same date and is referenced in the bulletin. For insurer groups with more than $20,000,000 in 2019 written premiums, the order requires bi-weekly data reports, with the first report due by May 19, 2020. All insurer groups must provide to the Department a report containing all actions taken, and contemplated future actions, to reduce premium in response to or consistent with Bulletin No. 20-22 on a monthly basis, with the first report due by June 1, 2020.
Perr&Knight submits more filings to the DOBI than any other consulting firm. We are available to discuss any questions or unique situations with the DOBI on your behalf. We can also provide information on what other companies have done, to the extent this information is publicly available in New Jersey or other states. Finally, we can prepare and submit your required filing and reports to the New Jersey DOBI.
As we stated when the California Department of Insurance (“CDI”) Bulletin was released in April, we expected that other states may issue similar bulletins in the future. Those familiar with the CDI bulletin will see some similarities in the New Jersey bulletin. New Jersey’s Bulletin 20-22 requires the action of all companies who write the following lines of business in New Jersey:

• Private passenger automobile insurance;
• Commercial automobile insurance;
• Workers’ compensation insurance;
• Commercial multiple peril insurance;
• Commercial liability insurance;
• Medical malpractice insurance; and
• Any other line of coverage where the measures of risk have become substantially overstated as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

These are the same seven lines mentioned in the CDI bulletin. The DOBI bulletin is also consistent with the CDI bulletin in that it allows insurers to apply a uniform premium reduction for all policyholders in an individual line of insurance or reclassify risks in accordance with existing rating plans without prior approval. There are some key differences in the DOBI bulletin compared to the CDI bulletin:

• The CDI bulletin does not require any rate, rule or form filings to be submitted, while the DOBI bulletin requires all licensed and admitted insures to submit all components of their refund program via the System for Electronic Rates and Forms Filing (“SERFF”) no more than 15 days after implementation.
• The CDI bulletin specifies that initial premium refunds are to be made for the months of March and April while the DOBI bulletin orders the refunds “for each month that the public health emergency is in effect.”

In summary, based on Bulletin 20-22 as well as Order No: A 20-03, the following are the key dates for information required of insurers writing the lines listed above in New Jersey:
A. By May 19, 2020, insurer groups writing any of the enumerated lines with more than $20,000,000 in 2019 written premium for all property/casualty lines combined, must report the following information to the DOBI:

1. 1. New Jersey Claim data including measures of claim frequency and claim severity, and
   2. Premium collection activity including measures of premium billed or due and actual premiums collected.

This data is needed for the following three time periods:

• • • January 1, 2020 to March 21, 2020;
    • March 22, 2020 to the date of the report; and
    • the same time period as provided in b, however for 2019.

In addition to May 19, these data reports are to be provided bi-weekly on the following dates: June 2, June 16, June 30, July 14, July 28, August 4, August 18, September 1 and September 15; the data provided in each report shall be the most current available through the preceding week’s end.  For the report due May 19, 2020, the data should be through May 15, 2020.
B. By June 1, 2020, all insurer groups writing any of the enumerated lines are to submit a report containing all actions taken, and contemplated future actions, to reduce premium in response to or consistent with the bulletin. The report is to include New Jersey-specific information and an explanation and justification for the amount and duration of any premium reductions based on the company’s claim and premium data.

The report shall also provide monthly and overall totals for the following:

1. 1. 1. Aggregate premium prior to, and subject to, application of refunds or adjustments;
      2. Aggregate premium refunds and adjustments;
      3. The number of in-force policies, and
      4. Number of policyholders receiving refunds or adjustments.

In addition to June 1, the same reports are due on July 1, August 1 and September 1.  The  information provided in each report is to reflect activity through the preceding month’s end.
C. By June 1, 2020 any insurer, writing the enumerated lines, that can demonstrate its rates are not excessive, inadequate, or unfairly discriminatory, or otherwise contends it should not be subject to the terms of the bulletin, it shall submit its basis for such contention and supporting documentation to the DOBI.
D. By June 15, 2020, the following is to be provided to each affected policyholder:

1. 1. 1. A notification of the amount of the refund or adjustment.
      2. An explanation of the basis for the adjustment, including a description of the policy period that was the basis of the premium refund and any changes to the classification or exposure basis of the affected policyholder.
      3. An opportunity to provide their individual actual or estimated experience.

E. No later than 15 days after implementation, licensed and admitted insurers must submit all components of their refund program, including but not limited to, a rate, rule, and/or form filing via the SERFF documenting the refund program.
If there is anything that Perr&Knight can do to assist your company to comply with the requirements in New Jersey or any other state, please complete our contact form.

On April 13, 2020, the California Department of Insurance (“CDI”) issued a Bulletin ordering the refund of premium to drivers and businesses affected by the COVID-19 emergency. Based on our discussions with the CDI, they are expecting a report by June 12 from every company with California policyholders in any of the lines of business listed in the Bulletin.
With millions of dollars being returned to policyholders, it is important to have a thorough understanding of the CDI’s premium refund order. Perr&Knight has had multiple discussions with the CDI to gain a better understanding of the requirements, which will allow us to provide greater insight to companies on how to respond to the Bulletin. Our actuaries are assisting the insurance industry with the following:

• Estimating COVID-19 Impact on Losses:  We can estimate the impact COVID-19 is having on a company’s losses. At this point, there is often limited data available, which makes estimating the impact difficult. Although frequencies may be decreasing, some lines such as personal and commercial auto may be seeing increasing severities due other factors, such as an increase in speeding due to less traffic congestion. It is important to have a clear understanding of all risk factors that are changing.  Our actuaries are actively reviewing the trends in the marketplace for multiple carriers.
• Calculating the Premium Refund: There a number of factors that go into calculating the premium refund including the CDI’s expectations on how the refund should be calculated.  We are helping companies take all these under consideration in determining the amount that will be returned to policyholders.
• Preparing the COVID-19 Report:  Perr&Knight is assisting companies in preparing and submitting a COVID-19 Report to the CDI that meets the requirements in the Bulletin.  This includes determining whether an applicable product line is subject to the Bulletin and requires a response.

If you need assistance with responding to the California premium refund order or have any questions on the Bulletin, please let us know.
Contact:
Scott Knight
Managing Principal
Chief Sales Officer
310.889.0947
sknight@perrknight.com