(a)A rating organization is an individual,
partnership, corporation, limited liability company, or unincorporated
association other than an insurer located within or without this state,
who or which has as its primary object and purpose the making and
filing of rates, rating plans, rating systems, or rules relating thereto, and
who or which may also examine policies, daily reports, binders,
renewal certificates, endorsements, and other evidences of insurance
or the cancellation thereof for any member or subscriber requesting
such auditing service.
(b)Such a rating organization shall make application to the
commissioner for license as a rating organization for such kinds of
insurance, or subdivisions, or classes of risk, or parts or combination
of any of the foregoing as are specified in
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(a) A rating organization is an individual,
partnership, corporation, limited liability company, or unincorporated
association other than an insurer located within or without this state,
who or which has as its primary object and purpose the making and
filing of rates, rating plans, rating systems, or rules relating thereto, and
who or which may also examine policies, daily reports, binders,
renewal certificates, endorsements, and other evidences of insurance
or the cancellation thereof for any member or subscriber requesting
such auditing service.
(b) Such a rating organization shall make application to the
commissioner for license as a rating organization for such kinds of
insurance, or subdivisions, or classes of risk, or parts or combination
of any of the foregoing as are specified in its application and shall file
therewith:
(1) a copy of its constitution, its articles of agreement or
association or its certificate of incorporation, and of its bylaws,
rules, and regulations governing the conduct of its business;
(2) a list of its members and subscribers;
(3) the name and address of a resident of this state upon whom
notices or orders of the commissioner or process affecting such
rating organization may be served; and
(4) a statement of its qualifications as a rating organization.
(c) If the commissioner finds that the applicant is competent,
trustworthy, and otherwise qualified to act as a rating organization, and
that its constitution, its articles of agreement or association, or its
certificate of incorporation, and its bylaws, rules, and regulations
governing the conduct of its business conform to the requirements of
law, he shall issue a license specifying the kinds of insurance, or
subdivisions, or classes of risk, or parts or combinations of any of the
foregoing for which the applicant is authorized to act as a rating
organization. Every such application shall be granted or denied in
whole or in part by the commissioner within sixty (60) days of the date
of its filing with him. Licenses issued pursuant to this section shall
remain in effect for three (3) years unless sooner suspended or revoked
by the commissioner. The fee for the license is seventy-five dollars
($75). Licenses issued pursuant to this section may be suspended or
revoked by the commissioner, after hearing upon notice, in the event
the rating organization ceases to meet the requirements of this
subsection. Every rating organization shall notify the commissioner
promptly of every change in:
(1) its constitution, its articles of agreement or association, or its
certificate of incorporation, and its bylaws, rules, and regulations
governing the conduct of its business;
(2) its list of members and subscribers; and
(3) the name and address of the resident of this state designated
by it upon whom notices or orders of the commissioner or process
affecting such rating organization may be served.
(d) Subject to rules and regulations which have been approved by
the commissioner as reasonable, each rating organization shall permit
any insurer, not a member, to be a subscriber to its services for any one
(1) or more of the kinds of insurance, subdivisions, or classes of risk or
parts or combinations of any of the foregoing for which it is authorized
to act as an organization. Notice of proposed changes in such rules and
regulations shall be given to subscribers. Each rating organization shall
furnish its services without discrimination to its members and
subscribers. The reasonableness of any rule or regulation in its
application to subscribers, or the refusal of any rating organization to
admit an insurer as a subscriber, shall, at the request of any subscriber
or any such insurer, be reviewed by the commissioner at a hearing held
upon at least ten (10) days written notice to such rating organization
and to such subscriber or insurer. If the commissioner finds that such
rule or regulation is unreasonable in its application to subscribers, he
shall order that such rule or regulation shall not be applicable to
subscribers. If the rating organization fails to grant or reject an insurer's
application for subscribership within thirty (30) days after it was made,
the insurer may request a review by the commissioner as if the
application had been rejected. If the commissioner finds that the insurer
has been refused admittance to the rating organization as a subscriber
without justification, he shall order the rating organization to admit the
insurer as a subscriber. If he finds that the action of the rating
organization was justified, he shall make an order affirming its action.
(e) No rating organization shall adopt any rule the effect of which
would be to prohibit or regulate the payment of dividends or savings
allowed or returned by insurers to their policyholders or members.
(f) Cooperation among rating organizations or among rating
organizations and insurers in ratemaking or in other matters within the
scope of this chapter is hereby authorized, provided the filings resulting
from such cooperation are subject to all the provisions of this chapter
which are applicable to filing generally. The commissioner may review
such cooperative activities and practices and if, after a hearing, he finds
that any such activity or practice is unfair or unreasonable, or otherwise
inconsistent with the provisions of this chapter, he may issue a written
order specifying in what respects such activity or practice is unfair or
unreasonable or otherwise inconsistent with the provisions of this
chapter and requiring the discontinuance of such activity or practice.
(g) Any rating organization may subscribe for or purchase actuarial,
technical, or other services, and such services shall be available to all
members and subscribers without discrimination.
(h) A member of a rating organization means an insurer entitled to
participate in its management and electing to exercise its right to so
participate.
Formerly: Acts 1967, c.133, s.8. As amended by P.L.252-1985,
SEC.111; P.L.31-1988, SEC.14; P.L.8-1993, SEC.415.