Costs of Arbitration

Costs of Arbitration A. Administrative Fee Within five (5) days of the insurer's receipt of the request for arbitration, the insurer shall pay a non-refundable administrative fee in the amount of $250.00 to the Administrator, which shall be used to defer the expenses of the Administrator. B. Fee to Arbitrator Arbitrators shall receive $600.00 for a three (3) hour arbitration conference, which shall be paid by the insurer. Arbitrators shall not receive costs or expenses. The insurer shall pay $600.00 to the Administrator for the arbitrator's fee not later than five (5) days prior to the date of the arbitration conference. If the arbitration is cancelled for any reason more than 120 hours prior to the scheduled arbitration time and date, the insurer shall pay $50.00 to the Administrator for the arbitrator's fee instead of $200.00 per hour. If the conference is cancelled within 120 hours of the scheduled time, the insurer shall pay $600.00 to the Administrator for the arbitrator's fee. C. Length of Arbitration Each arbitration shall be scheduled for three (3) hours. The parties and the arbitrator may agree to extend the arbitration conference time. If an arbitration conference is extended beyond three (3) hours, the Arbitrator shall receive $200.00 an hour for any time over the three (3) hour conference. The insurer shall pay the additional costs to the Administrator within five (5) days after the arbitration conference. D. Failure to Appear If the insured fails to appear without good cause as determined by the Administrator, the insured may have the conference rescheduled only upon the insured's payment of the arbitration fees for the rescheduled conference. If the insurer fails to appear at the conference, without good cause as determined by the Administrator, the insurer shall pay the insured's actual expenses incurred in attending the conference and shall pay the arbitrator's fee whether or not good cause exists. Failure of a party to arrive at the arbitration conference within 30 minutes of the conference's starting time shall be considered a failure to appear. Good cause shall consist of severe illness, injury, or other emergency which could not be controlled by the insured or the insurer and, with respect to an insurer, could not reasonably be remedied prior to the conference by providing a replacement representative. If an insurer fails to appear at conferences with such frequency as to evidence a general business practice of failure to appear, the insurer shall be subject to penalties under Miss. Code Ann. § 83-5-29 et seq. and other applicable law.