2019 Wyoming Statutes
Title 26 - Insurance Code
Chapter 14 - Rates and Rating Organizations
Section 26-14-106 - Rate Regulation.

26-14-106. Rate regulation.

(a) Rates in a noncompetitive market, when regulated, shall be regulated in accordance with W.S. 26-14-105 through 26-14-108 applicable to noncompetitive markets.

(b) The commissioner may regulate rates in an unregulated market if he determines that:

(i) The unregulated market is a noncompetitive market; and

(ii) Regulation will likely reduce rates for consumers in a total amount greater than the cost of regulation without substantially curtailing the availability of insurance in that market.

(c) The commissioner may declare a noncompetitive market competitive if he determines the noncompetitive market no longer meets the conditions of a noncompetitive market as defined in W.S. 26-14-103(a)(vii).

(d) To carry out the purpose of subsections (b) and (c) of this section, the commissioner, upon his own motion, may conduct a rate or other investigation. The commissioner shall conduct a rate or other investigation upon request of:

(i) Not less than ten percent (10%) of the insureds in any market;

(ii) Any organization representing not less than ten percent (10%) of the insureds in any market; or

(iii) Insurers selling at least thirty percent (30%) of the insurance in any market.

(e) The commissioner shall not be compelled to conduct an investigation of any line of insurance pursuant to subsection (d) of this section more than once in any three (3) year period for any line of insurance but may do so.

(f) As a part of any investigation under subsection (d) of this section the commissioner:

(i) May require any insurer to submit actuarial and expense data relating to any line of insurance;

(ii) May contract the services of an actuarial consultant and assess the cost thereof against the parties requesting the investigation or against the insurers affected if the investigation is conducted upon the commissioner's motion;

(iii) Shall conduct a hearing upon not less than twenty (20) days written notice to affected parties, provided this requirement may be waived upon written agreement of the affected parties;

(iv) Depending upon the availability of data and the existence of sufficient experience to allow for an actuarially sound determination, may base any regulation of rates for any line of insurance under this section on experience or loss data for that line of insurance in:

(A) Wyoming alone;

(B) Wyoming and selected other states with reasonably similar characteristics; or

(C) The United States as a whole excluding states whose experience is atypical.

(g) For rates regulated pursuant to subsections (a) and (b) of this section, there shall be a public hearing if within any twelve (12) month period an insurer requests approval of a base premium rate which when added to any other base premium rates pending or approved within that twelve (12) month period is twenty percent (20%) or more above the rate approved for the previous rating period. For health care professional malpractice insurance, a rate increase of more than twenty-five percent (25%) in any specialty shall cause a consolidated hearing on the rate increase. The informational hearing shall be held within sixty (60) days of the request for approval unless the commissioner delays the hearing for good cause. If the hearing is delayed the commissioner shall notify the insurer and any other person requesting notification of the reasons for the delay.

(h) The following shall apply to any market found to be noncompetitive pursuant to subsections (a) and (b) of this section and to any professional liability insurance for any health care provider licensed under title 33 of the Wyoming statutes:

(i) The rate charged any individual insured shall not exceed the base rate approved by the commissioner for the insured's risk class by more than one hundred percent (100%), unless the commissioner has established for the applicable risk class a percentage limit of less than one hundred percent (100%);

(ii) The rate charged an insured for extended reporting coverage following expiration, termination or nonrenewal of the insured's claims-made policy shall be subject to the following:

(A) The rate shall be calculated according to a formula set forth in the insured's policy, which formula shall be subject to approval by the commissioner;

(B) The formula shall be expressed as a percentage of the base rate for the insured's risk class or that insured's underwritten rate;

(C) The percentage may be varied on a uniform basis for each risk class by the length of time during which the events covered by the extended reporting coverage may have arisen; and

(D) If an individual elects to purchase the extended reporting coverage before the renewal date of his policy, the rates charged for the extended reporting coverage shall be computed based on the relevant rates for that insured before the renewal, not the rates that would be in effect upon renewal.