Oregon Property & Casualty Filing Tips

• ACORD: ACORD is an advisory organization that has filing authority on behalf of its members. ACORD will file its Personal Lines (auto, RV, motorcycle) and Commercial Lines (auto, truckers, garage) motor vehicle application forms and supplements for approval pursuant to ORS 742.013, ORS 742.458, and ORS 742.003, same as any company independent motor vehicle application forms and supplements must be filed.
• APPLICATIONS FOR INSURANCE: Any application or supplemental application that will be used to deny a claim must be filed for prior approval pursuant to ORS 742.013 and ORS 742.003(1). Motor vehicle applications and supplemental applications are also subject to prior approval filing pursuant to ORS 742.458, whether attached to the policy or not. Checklist 440-3615a is to be included with all motor vehicle application only form submissions.
• ARBITRATION: Pursuant to ORS 36.600 through ORS 36.740; when the policy contains an Arbitration provision if claim settlement cannot be reached, and the parties agree to arbitration at the time of the dispute, then arbitration takes place under the laws of Oregon, and is held in the insured's county (or other location if agreed upon by both parties). Oregon law does not support mandatory binding arbitration for insurance contracts.
• Automobile Coverage: Although there are a variety of Oregon laws in the Insurance Code related to the subject of concealment, fraud, and material misrepresentation (e.g., ORS 742.013, ORS 742.208, ORS 742.456, ORS 742.562, ORS 742.702), it is important to note the Oregon Motor Vehicle laws have specific requirements regarding appropriate notice for cancellation and the denial of claims. See Motor Vehicle Product Standards checklists #440-3615 and #440-3615a for specific statutory references related to auto policy forms, and guidelines regarding the use of "void" or "rescind" in motor vehicle products.
• Changes to Business Operations - Withdrawal from Property/Casualty lines of business, products, or programs: These filings should be made using TOI 33.0 and Transmittal form 440-3637. This process is used to facilitate advising the Director regarding proposed marketing plan changes and should be sent prior to implementing the withdrawal plan. A list of forms, rules, and rates being withdrawn or discontinued will accompany the transmittal and explanatory material. These filings may be sent via SERFF or paper. For SERFF filings the list of withdrawn forms, rules, and rates is to be attached as a schedule item under Supporting Documentation.

  Pursuant to ORS 731.482 withdrawal from commercial liability requires prior approval of the director of DCBS. Submission of the 440-3637 should not be considered as approval of the withdrawal.

• Consent to Rate Filings on SERFF: The SERFF Project Name and Filing Description should only state "Consent to Rate". All documents should be marked confidential and there is no need to include product standards checklists or transmittal documents when making a SERFF consent to rate submission.
• Property & Casualty Form Numbering: There is no specific statute regarding form numbering for P/C forms; however, pursuant to ORS 742.005(2) it is expected the form number (including edition date) shall be adequate to distinguish the form from all others used by the insurance company. We would usually expect to find the form number in the lower left hand corner of the document.

  Only one form number (including edition date) should be assigned to a given document. Use of any other numbers, other than page numbers, should be explained in the filing description or supporting documentation.

  Anytime changes are made to a previously approved form, the revised form should either be given a new number or have a revision/edition date that will distinguish the new version from the prior version of that form.

• GAP: AKA: Guaranteed Auto (or Asset) Protection. These filings must be compliant with product standards, especially rate justification (e.g. commission). Use product standards checklist #440-3616 to assure compliance. Contact Jan Vitus if you have any questions. If making a new program submission, you need to file the forms, rules, and rates in one combined submission.
• PROPERTY and CASUALTY "group" FORM FILINGS: When submitting a form filing that affects more than one company, all forms listed on the Form Schedule in SERFF (or the PC FFS-1 transmittal if making a paper filing submission), must apply to every one of the companies named on the filing header in SERFF (or the PC TD-1 transmittal if a paper filing), and cover letter. If ANY of the forms will not be used by every company named in the "group" filing, then a separate form filing must be made for the individual company(s) adopting different forms. For example:
  • #1. There are two companies under the same ownership. They have insurer specific policy forms. The filer wants to make one filing submission and explain in the cover letter or other explanatory material, which company uses which forms. The Form Schedule lists all forms.

    In this case, the filer must make two separate filing submissions, one for each insurer. The Form Schedule would only list the form(s) that apply to the insurer listed on the filing header.

  • #2. There are five companies under the same ownership. The filer wants to make one program submission for forms, rules and rates that will be used by all of the companies offering that program. There are forms identified in the cover letter or other explanatory materials, as only applying to certain companies within the "group". The Form Schedule lists all forms being filed.

    In this case, the filer could make the "group" submission for the common use forms, and make a separate individual filing submission for those forms specific to the named company.

• Homeowners - SB 118 (2005) Changes: There were several changes in the 2005 legislative session to provide greater protection of Homeowners. Insurance Division Bulletin 2005-4 outlines the specific statutory changes. See ORS 746.600 and ORS 746.686 through .688 for Code details.
• HB 2190 (2009): Protections for owners of totaled vehicles: This bill protects consumers whose motor vehicles are declared "totaled." An insurer will typically offer a cash settlement when a vehicle is totaled, but consumers often do not understand how their insurer valued the vehicle. The bill requires insurers to provide vehicle owners with a written explanation of how the vehicle value was determined and other information about the total loss process, allows owners of totaled motor vehicles, after certain conditions are met, to obtain the undisputed amount of the vehicle's value while negotiations continue to settle the claim, and requires insurers who include an appraisal provision in the policy to reimburse their insureds' reasonable appraisal costs when the final appraisal results in a greater valuation than the insurer's final offer. This bill applies to motor vehicle liability insurance policies issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2010.
• HB 2326 (2009): Motor vehicle liability coverage: This bill increases the maximum monthly income replacement benefits available if an injury prevents a person from returning to work from $1,250 to $3,000. The bill also increases the amount of motor vehicle liability insurance coverage required for property damage to others from $10,000 to $20,000. NOTE: Under the Insurance Code, the passage of HB 2326 also increases the minimum amount of optional uninsured motorist coverage for property damage that must be offered on private passenger motor vehicles not more than 12 years old from $10,000 to $20,000. This bill applies to motor vehicle insurance policies issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2010.
• HB 2369 (2009): Motor vehicle liability settlements: This bill continues the rights of the motor vehicle liability insurer who provides personal injury protection benefits to recover those payments from the responsible person's insurer if there is a settlement within 60 days after the accident. The bill requires insurers to state these rights in the release signed by the injured person and provide other disclosures to the injured person. The bill also allows the injured person to rescind the release within five days of signing the release. The bill applies to motor vehicle accidents that occur on or after the effective date and applies to releases obtained on or after the effective date.
• HB 2370 (2009): Motorcycle insurance discount: In accordance with Oregon law, the Oregon Department of Transportation, in a cooperative venture with TEAM OREGON and Oregon State University, established a motorcycle rider education program. HB 2370 requires insurers offering liability, personal injury protection, or collision coverage to offer a premium discount to the principal operator of a motorcycle who has completed this motorcycle rider education program. Only one motorcycle per principal operator is eligible for the discount and the motorcycle must not be used for business. If an insurance policy covers motorcycles and other vehicles, the premium discount is limited to the motorcycle portions of the policy. This bill applies to motor vehicle insurance policies issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2010.
• HB 3086 (2007) - No Automobile Step-Down Limits: Effective January 1, 2008 House Bill 3086 amends the Insurance Code (i.e., ORS 742.450, ORS 742.502, ORS 742.504) to provide family members residing in the same household as the named insured with the same motor vehicle liability limits as those purchased by the named insured. This affects Uninsured Motorists and Underinsured Motorists coverage as well.
• SB 377 (2009) - Consumer rerating requests based on new credit information: If an insurer uses a consumer's credit history for rating purposes, current law allows a consumer to request a rerating no more than once a year for any given policy. However, the rerating may result in an increase or decrease in the rate and may not be implemented by the insurer until the policy is renewed. This bill prohibits insurers from increasing a consumer's premium after rerating. It requires insurers to decrease the premium for certain specified policies if credit was used for rating and the consumer is entitled to a reduced premium. It also requires the insurer to rerate the consumer within 30 days after receiving the request, effective as of the date the consumer requested the rerating. This bill applies to personal insurance policies issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2010.
• Large Deductible Workers Compensation: Compliance with OAR 836-042-0070 through OAR 836-042-0090 and OAR 836-054-0201 through OAR 836-054-0210 is required. Refer to the OARs for guidance. Large deductible forms and rates cannot be used prior to approval by the Insurance Division.
• Personal Lines Rules and Rates: Underwriting guidelines should be included with any initial Personal Lines rate submission. Changes should be sent with any subsequent rate and rule filings.
  • Tier rating must provide underwriting criteria showing that each tier is mutually exclusive and not unfairly discriminatory.
  • Must provide support for any change in rate relativity (e.g. homeowner insurance to value).
  • Trade Secrets: All rule/rate filing material, including rate relativities developed from a proprietary model, must be filed as a public record pursuant to ORS 737.205. However, a rating model using credit history and the model's supporting information are considered a trade secret under ORS 746.662 and may be marked as "confidential".

    Other information may be confidential under Oregon's trade secret statutes ORS 192.410 to 192.505. Please request the items you wish to remain confidential and file these in a separate schedule item for SERFF filing submissions. The reviewer will notify the filer if there are concerns about whether an item can be held confidential.

  • When a company is filing rates or rating plan values based upon competitor information: The filing must provide either the name of the competitor, or a comparison of the filed values to those of the applicable competitors named in the filing materials, to enable verification of compliance with ORS 737.310. If the rates vary from those of the competitor(s), provide an explanation for the differences.
  • Must file "service fees" in the rule/rate manual: e.g., installment billing, NSF, cancellation, reinstatement, SR22 (motor vehicle financial responsibility), or other fees related to administrative functions are premium; and provide a cost accounting analysis used to develop each fee.
• When P/C Product Standards Checklists are not required: If the submission is rules and/or rates only, you may send only the rule/rate pages from the applicable checklist. If the forms being submitted are declarations, schedules, simple endorsements, policy jackets, signature pages, or revised underwriting guidelines, then we do not require the checklist(s) be sent. The content must still comply with Oregon laws.
• Schedule Modification/Rating: Insurance bulletin INS 82-4 is now obsolete. Pursuant to ORS 737.205 you must still file your schedule modification criteria table as part of the rating plan under the Rate/Rule tab in SERFF. Supporting justification for the factors to be used is to be provided under the Supporting Documentation tab in SERFF.
• Statistical or Other Rate Filing Support (other than for Schedule Rating): Subject to ORS 737.310
• Terrorism: Refer to bulletin INS 2008-1. Terrorism exclusions are not allowed on personal lines of insurance or workers compensation insurance. Travel terrorism exclusion or limitation language must meet the exception guideline for traveling to foreign destinations on the US State Department's "do not travel" or "travel advisory" list.
• Workers Compensation (WC): The approved loss costs are effective every January 1st for all authorized insurers. It is only necessary to file when the insurer changes WC rating values such as loss cost multipliers.

  Schedule rating is not permitted for Workers Compensation in Oregon.