§431:10B-108  Filing, approval, andwithdrawal of forms and premium rates.  (a)  All policies, certificates ofinsurance, notices of proposed insurance, applications for insurance,endorsements, and riders delivered or issued for delivery in this State and theschedules of premium rates pertaining thereto shall be filed with thecommissioner for approval.  Each filing shall be accompanied by a $20 feepayable to the commissioner, which fee shall be deposited in the commissioner'seducation and training fund.  Forms and rates so filed shall be approved at theexpiration of forty-five days after filing, unless earlier approved ordisapproved by the commissioner.  The commissioner by written notice to theinsurer, within the forty-five-day period, may extend the period for anadditional thirty days.

(b)  The commissioner, within the waitingperiod or any extension thereof after the filing of the policies, certificatesof insurance, notices of proposed insurance, applications for insurance,endorsements, and riders and premium rates, shall disapprove any form or anypremium rates if:

(1)  The benefits provided are not reasonable inrelation to the premium charge; or

(2)  The form contains provisions that are:

(A)  Unjust, unfair, inequitable, misleading,or deceptive;

(B)  Encourage misrepresentation of thecoverage; or

(C)  Are contrary to any provision of this codeor of any rule adopted thereunder.

(c)  The benefits provided by the policy formshall not be deemed reasonable in relation to the premium charged or to becharged if the ratio of losses incurred to premiums earned is not at leastsixty per cent.  The commissioner may adopt by rules prima facie acceptablepremium rates that shall reasonably be expected to produce a sixty per centloss ratio.  The prima facie rates shall be usable without actuarial orstatistical justification when filed together with an otherwise acceptablepolicy form; provided that the ratio of losses for the most recent three yearsis at least sixty per cent.  The rules shall specify the plans of benefits towhich the premium rates shall apply.

(d)  The commissioner shall approve deviationsto rates higher than the prima facie acceptable rates upon filing of reasonableevidence that loss experience for a creditor or a class of creditors exceedsthe average loss experience used to determine the prima facie rates if thecommissioner determines the use of the higher rates will result in a ratio ofclaims incurred to premiums earned that is not less than sixty per cent. Except where the deviated rate exceeds the prima facie rate for reducing termcredit life insurance and its actuarial equivalent for other forms of creditlife insurance, a reasonable variance from the sixty per cent loss ratiostandard may be required.  The deviation may be limited to the debtors orcreditors whose experience was the statistical basis for the filing.

(e)  Whenever the commissioner determines it tobe prudent, the commissioner may require insurers to file information as thecommissioner deems necessary to determine whether the approved deviation fromprima facie rates is still justified.  If the commissioner determines theinsurer's loss experience no longer justifies a deviation from the prima facierates, then, upon giving notice as required in subsection (g), the commissionershall disapprove the deviation and any form including the rate set forththerein.

(f)  Credit life insurance policies for whichpremium rates vary by individual ages or by age brackets shall be filed asprovided in this section.  The commissioner shall approve or disapprove thefilings in accordance with the sixty per cent loss ratio standard and the otherapplicable provisions of law.

(g)  If the commissioner notifies the insurerthat the form or premium rate is disapproved, it shall be unlawful thereafterfor the insurer to issue or use the form or premium rate.  In the notice, thecommissioner shall specify the reason for the commissioner's disapproval andstate that a hearing will be granted within twenty days after request inwriting by the insurer.  No policy, certificate of insurance, or notice ofproposed insurance, nor any application, endorsement, or rider, or premiumrate, shall be issued or used until the expiration of forty-five days after ithas been so filed, unless the commissioner gives the commissioner's priorwritten approval.

(h)  The commissioner at any time after hearingheld not less than twenty days after written notice to the insurer, maywithdraw the commissioner's approval of a form or premium rate on any groundset forth in subsection (b).  The written notice of the hearing shall state thereason for the proposed withdrawal.

(i)  It shall be unlawful for the insurer toissue or use forms or premium rates after the effective date of theirwithdrawal.

(j)  If a group policy of credit life insuranceor credit disability insurance:

(1)  Has been delivered in this State before July 1,1969, or

(2)  Has been or is delivered in another state beforeor after July 1, 1969, the insurer shall be required to file only the groupcertificate and notice of proposed insurance delivered or issued for deliveryin this State as specified in subsections (b) and (e) of section 431:10B-107. The forms shall be approved by the commissioner if:

(i)  They conform with the requirementsspecified in those subsections;

(ii)  They are accompanied by a certification ina form satisfactory to the commissioner that the substance of the forms are insubstantial conformity with the master policy; and

(iii)  The schedules of premium rates applicableto the insurance evidenced by the certificate or notice are not in excess ofthe insurer's schedules of premium rates filed with and approved by thecommissioner;

provided the premium rate in effect on existinggroup policies may be continued until the first policy anniversary datefollowing July 1, 1969.

(k)  Any order or final determination of thecommissioner under this section shall be subject to chapter 91. [L 1987, c 347,pt of §2 as superseded by c 348, §16; am L 1988, c 363, §3; am L 1989, c 207,§12; am L 2000, c 182, §10; am L 2004, c 122, §38]