2009 Iowa Code
Title 13 - Commerce
Subtitle 1 - Insurance and Related Regulation
CHAPTER 515F - CASUALTY INSURANCE
515F.5 - RATE FILINGS.

        515F.5  RATE FILINGS.
         1.  An insurer shall file with the commissioner, except as to
      inland marine risks which are not written according to manual rates
      or rating plans, every manual, minimum premium, class rate, rating
      schedule, rating plan, and every other rating rule, and every
      modification of any of the foregoing which it proposes to use.  A
      filing shall state its proposed effective date, and shall indicate
      the character and extent of the coverage contemplated.
         An insurer shall file or incorporate by reference to material
      which has been approved by the commissioner, at the same time as the
      filing of the rate, all supplementary rating and supporting
      information to be used in support of or in conjunction with a rate.
      The information furnished in support of a filing may include or
      consist of a reference to any of the following:
         a.  The experience or judgment of the insurer or rating
      information filed by the advisory organization on behalf of the
      insurer as permitted by section 515F.11.
         b.  An interpretation of any statistical data the insurer
      relies upon.
         c.  The experience of other insurers or rating advisory
      organizations.
         d.  Any other relevant factors.  A filing and any supporting
      information shall be open to public inspection after the filing
      becomes effective.
         When a filing is not accompanied by the information upon which the
      insurer supports the filing, the commissioner may require the insurer
      to furnish the supporting information and the waiting period
      commences on the date the information is furnished.  Until the
      required information is furnished, the filing shall not be deemed
      complete or filed or available for use by the insurer.  If the
      requested information is not furnished within a reasonable time
      period, the filing may be returned to the insurer as not filed and
      not available for use.
         After reviewing an insurer's filing, the commissioner may require
      that the insurer's rates be based upon the insurer's own loss and
      expense information.  If an insurer's loss or allocated loss
      adjustment expense information is not actuarially credible, as
      determined by the commissioner, the insurer may supplement its
      experience with information filed with the commissioner by an
      advisory organization.
         Insurers using the services of an advisory organization shall, at
      the request of the commissioner, provide with a rate filing, a
      description of the rationale for that use, including its own
      information and method of using the advisory organization's
      information.
         2.  The commissioner shall review filings as soon as reasonably
      possible after they have been made in order to determine whether they
      meet the requirements of this chapter.
         3.  Subject to the exception in subsection 4, a filing shall be on
      file for a waiting period of thirty days before it becomes effective,
      which period may be extended by the commissioner for an additional
      period not to exceed fifteen days if written notice is given within
      the waiting period to the insurer or advisory organization which made
      the filing that additional time is needed for the consideration of
      the filing.  Upon written application by the insurer, the
      commissioner may authorize a filing which has been reviewed to become
      effective before the expiration of the waiting period or an extension
      of the waiting period.  A filing is deemed to meet the requirements
      of this chapter unless disapproved by the commissioner within the
      waiting period or an extension of the waiting period.
         4.  Under rules adopted under chapter 17A, the commissioner may,
      by written order, suspend or modify the requirement of filing as to
      any kind of insurance, or subdivision or combination of insurance, or
      as to classes of risks, which are unnecessary to achieve the purposes
      of this chapter and the rates for which cannot practicably be filed
      before they are used.  The commissioner may make an examination as
      the commissioner deems advisable to ascertain whether rates affected
      by the order meet the standards set forth in section 515F.4.
         5.  Upon the written application of the insured stating the
      insured's reasons, filed with and approved by the commissioner, a
      rate in excess of that provided by a filing otherwise applicable may
      be used on a specific risk.
         6.  An insurer shall not make or issue a contract or policy except
      in accordance with the filings which have been approved and are in
      effect for the insurer as provided in this chapter.  This subsection
      does not apply to contracts or policies for inland marine risks as to
      which filings are not required.  

         90 Acts, ch 1234, § 49; 92 Acts, ch 1162, § 45; 95 Acts, ch 185,
      §25
         Referred to in § 515F.6, 515F.12, 515F.23, 515F.24, 515F.25