§ 17:29A-4 — Rates; establishment; considerations

Every rating organization, and every insurer which makes its own rates, shall make rates that are not unreasonably high or inadequate for the safety and soundness of the insurer, and which do not unfairly discriminate between risks in this State involving essentially the same hazards and expense elements, and shall, in rate-making, and in making rating systems: (a) Adopt basic classifications, which shall be used as the basis of all manual, minimum, class, schedule, experience or merit rates; (b) Adopt reasonable standards for construction, for protective facilities, and for other conditions that materially affect the hazard or peril, which shall be applied in the determination or fixing of rates; (c) Give consideration to past and prospective loss experience, including where pertinent, the conflagration and catastrophe hazards, if any, both within and without the State; to all factors reasonably related to the kind of insurance involved; to a reasonable profit for the insurer; and, in the case of participating insurers, to policyholders' dividends. In the case of fire insurance, consideration shall be given to the latest available experience of the fire insurance business during a period of not less than 5 years preceding the year in which rates are made or revised; (d) Give a rate reduction, to be approved by the commissioner, for fire insurance on structures equipped with operative smoke detection devices of a design approved by the Commissioner of Insurance. L.1944, c. 27, p. 72, s. 4. Amended by L.1979, c. 149, s. 1.