General

General A. The Mississippi Insurance Commission meets regularly on the 3rd Friday of each month for the purpose of carrying out their duties in the regulation of rates, rules, and forms for fire, casualty and inland marine insurance. Filings to be considered should contain all information as outlined below, and should be received in the offices of the Commission at least 14 days prior to the Commission Meeting and should be addressed as follows: Robert G. Gibson, Director Mississippi Insurance Commission P O Box 2306 Jackson, Mississippi 39205 B. In submitting fire, casualty, and/or inland marine forms and rate filings, all insurers and rating organizations shall use the following procedure and all filings must be accompanied by a letter of transmittal, said letter in duplicate and containing the following: 1. The company name and complete mailing address to which correspondence shall be sent. 2. Complete the Mississippi Worksheet for all rate filings. 3. A “Re” or “Caption” briefly describing the context of the material filed. 4. A complete description and explanation of the changes made by the filing. (The mere fact that a similar filing may have been previously approved for another insurer or rating organization will not suffice as an adequate explanation of a filing.) 5. A statement to identify the form or manual page to be replaced by the filing including previous approval and effective date. 6. A detailed discussion of the basis upon which the filing is supported. Filingswhich propose a change in a presently filed rate level should be supplemented by an exhibit or exhibits, where available, showing the company’s experience on a basis which supports the proposed change. 7. If statistical information is not available to fully support a filing, the company must give a complete explanation of the factors considered to justify the filing. 8. The proposed “rule of application” or “effective date” which would be used by the company if the filing were approved. 9. If a filing is identical with a filing made by a rating organization or independent filing company, it should be so indicated in the transmittal letter. 10. A statement signed by an authorized representative of the insurer who is familiar with the applicable laws and rules and regulations wherein it is certified that to the best of his knowledge, information and belief, the filings submitted are in compliance in all respects with the provisions of the insurance laws and rules and regulation of this state. C. Forms Filings. 1. The filings of policy forms and endorsements made by a rating organization whose constitution, articles of association, by-laws or regulations grant control over the forms to be used by its member and subscriber companies will be the filings of such companies; Provided, that each individual company shall also submit all basis policy forms or jackets to the Insurance Commission for approval. 2. Such filings of forms when made, and if not disapproved by The Mississippi Insurance Commission, will be adhered to by all members and subscribers of the rating organization making the filings, and any deviation by them from such accepted filings will be a violation. 3. Except as provided in (a) above, it will be the responsibility of each company so control its filings of forms as to promptly discontinue individual filings of those forms filed in their behalf by a rating organization, and to individually comply with the filing requirements for those forms not filed in their behalf by a rating organization. 4. A company newly taking membership or subscribership in a rating organization will be presumed to be issuing the forms of the rating organization from the effective date of membership or subscribership. 5. A company retiring from membership or subscribership in a rating organization will immediately on retirement meet filing requirements. 6. In order that forms and endorsements which follow the standard provisions filed by rating organizations can be readily recognized as a standard form, all such forms printed for use in Mississippi will bear a recognition designation corresponding to the designation given the standard form by the rating organization. D. Rates – Classification, Fictitious Grouping. 1. No rate, rating plan or form for fire, inland marine, casualty or surety insurance covering risks in the state shall be unfairly discriminatory. 2. Insurers writing Mississippi risks shall not write fire, casualty, inland marine or surety coverages upon any firm corporation, individual or association of individuals at any preferred rate, coverage, or premium based on any fictitious grouping or classification of risks, and no insurer shall pay dividends or distribute profits to insureds belonging to any fictitious group or classification of risk, and no insureds belonging to any fictitious group or classification on a basis more favorable than would be the case if they were insured individually. 3. Any grouping of risks which is not in accord with the classification or grouping of risks recognized by an insurer’s approved rate and policy form filings for individual risks and which does not possess the necessary homogeneous characteristics for group rating and classification, and has not been found to be in compliance with the provisions of the Mississippi insurance code by the commissioner of insurance, shall be deemed to be a fictitious grouping. E. Dividends, Participations. All fire and casualty insurance contracts issued in Mississippi by a mutual insurer or reciprocal inter-insurance exchange and all participating fire and casualty insurance contracts issued in Mississippi by a capital stock insurer must contain a provision setting forth the fact that dividends may be paid on the policy: Provided; however, that no capital stock insurer shall issue participating policies in Mississippi unless: 1. It has authority in its charter or articles of incorporation to issue participating policies, or 2. The supreme court of its state of domicile has held that a domestic capital stock insurer has inherent authority to issue participating policies, or 3. The attorney general or chief legal official of its state of domicile has ruled that a domestic capital stock insurer has inherent authority to issue participating policies. F. Individual Risk Rating Plans. 1. Each such plan must be filed with the commission for approval and must specify the kind of insurance, or subdivision or combination thereof, to which the plan applies. 2. Each such plan must establish standards which bear a relationship to the variation in hazard and/or expense to be measured. 3. Any such plan must be applied to all eligible risks, and must be applied by company representatives responsible for underwriting the risk(s) involved. 4. Each company utilizing such plans must obtain all information necessary to determine the proper application of such plans to any particular risk. Such supporting information shall be retained by the company and made available to the commissioner upon his request. G. For the purpose of this regulation “individual risk rating plans” means those plans embodying one or more of the following types of premium modification: 1. Risk Modification- the application of judgment debits and credits to the individual rates otherwise applicable, based on the individual’s risk’s variations in hazard; 2. Expense Modification- the variation of the premium for an individual risk that corresponds to the variation in the expenses of such risk from the provision for expenses applicable to the entire class of risk; 3. Experience Modification (Excluding Retrospective Rating Plans)- a variation in the premium for an individual risk that corresponds to that risk’s variation in past loss experience from the provision for losses applicable to that entire class of risk.