South Carolina § 38-73-910 - Application of section and exceptions; notice of hearing as a prerequisite to granting rate increases for certain types of insurance.

§ 38-73-910. Application of section and exceptions; notice of hearing as a prerequisite to granting rate increases for certain types of insurance.

(A) This section applies to all types of property and casualty insurance coverage except as set forth in this section. Overall rate level increases or decreases for all property and casualty insurance coverages except for property insurance filings governed by Sections 38-73-220 and 38-73-260 and automobile insurance filings governed by Section 38-73-905 are subject to prior approval as set forth in this section. All rate, rule, and form filings, including loss-cost filings and other supplementary filings, submitted by a rating organization are subject to the prior approval of the department. Every filing must state the proposed effective date and must indicate the type of coverage to which it applies. The director must approve or disapprove these filings in accordance with the applicable provisions of this chapter.

(B) An increase in the premium rates may not be granted for workers' compensation insurance, nor for any other line or type of insurance with respect to which the director or his designee has, by order, made a finding that (a) legal or other compulsion upon the part of the insured to purchase the insurance interferes with competition, or (b) under prevailing circumstances there does not exist substantial competition, unless notice is given in all newspapers of general, statewide circulation at least thirty days in advance of the insurer's proposed effective date of the increase in premium rates. The notice must state the amount of increase, the type and line of coverage, and the proposed effective date and must allow any insured or affected party to request within fifteen days a public hearing upon the propriety of the rate increase request before the Administrative Law Court. A copy of the notice must be sent to the Consumer Advocate.

(C) However, the requirements of public notices and public hearings in this section do not apply to applications for rate increases when the applicant insurer had earned premiums in this State in the previous calendar year of less than two million dollars for the line or type of insurance for which the rate increase is sought or, if the rate increase is sought by a modeling organization, the earned premiums in this State for all members and subscribers of the organization for whom an increase is sought were less than two million dollars for the previous calendar year for the line or type of insurance for which the rate increase is sought. The two million dollars must be increased by a factor equal to the increase in the consumer price index, all items, every three years.

(D) If the director finds that a filing is not in compliance with this chapter, he shall issue a written notice of disapproval in accordance with the provisions of Section 38-73-990.

(E) The Director of the Department of Insurance or his designee may promulgate regulations to implement the provisions of this section.

(F) This section does not apply to rate or rule filings of insurers who write only exempt commercial policies. Rate or rule filings for exempt commercial policies must comply with the requirements of S.C. Code Ann. Regs. Section 69-64, Section 38-73-920, and other applicable provisions of this title.

HISTORY: Former 1976 Code SECTION 38-43-90 [1960 (51) 1646; 1962 Code SECTION 37-658.1; 1969 (56) 239; 1972 (57) 2750] recodified as SECTION 38-73-910 by 1987 Act No. 155, SECTION 1; 1993 Act No. 181, SECTION 783; 1996 Act No. 300, SECTION 1; 1996 Act No. 360, SECTION 4; 1996 Act No. 378 SECTION 4; 1997 Act No. 154, SECTION 4; 1999 Act No. 4, SECTION 1; 2000 Act No. 235, SECTION 8; 2004 Act No. 290, SECTION 4, eff July 29, 2004; 2021 Act No. 33 (S.623), SECTION 2, eff May 6, 2021; 2022 Act No. 195 (H.4832), SECTION 9, eff May 16, 2022.

Effect of Amendment

2021 Act No. 33, SECTION 2, rewrote the section.

2022 Act No. 195, SECTION 9, in (A), inserted the third sentence, and in the fifth sentence, substituted "must approve" for "shall approve".