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Montana to Allow Use of Gender and Marital Status in Underwriting

By on April 26, 2021   /   Westmont Wire Category   /   Leave a comment

On April 19, 2021, Montana Governor Greg Gianforte signed House Bill 379, permitting the use of gender and martial status as part of the insurance underwriting process. Prior to HB 379’s passing, Montana was an outlier in it’s complete prohibition of such practices across all lines of insurance. The Act applies to all policies issued on or after January 1, 2022.
In a survey conducted by the National Association of Insurance Financial Advisors across 19 states, the study found that women aged 55 buying a $500,000, 20-year term life policy in Montana were paying, on average, 31% more than women in other states. Backed by Insurance Commissioner Troy Downing, HB 379 advances Montana’s efforts to lower costs for insureds, particularly focused on life and automobile premiums for women.
For any questions regarding the HB 379, or any other underwriting concerns, please contact Westmont Associates, Inc.
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WA OIC issues Emergency Rule banning credit scoring

By on April 26, 2021   /   Westmont Wire Category   /   Leave a comment

On March 22nd, the Washington Office of Insurance Commissioner (“OIC”) issued an Emergency Rule banning credit scoring on all personal insurance policies related to private passenger automobile coverage, renter’s coverage, and homeowner’s coverage issued in the state of Washington.
All applicable insurers shall not use credit history to determine personal insurance rates, premiums, or eligibility for coverage. Insures subject to this rule may substitute any insurance credit score factor used in a rate filing with a “neutral” rating factor. According to the WA OIC, a “neutral factor” means a single constant factor calculated such that, when applied to all policies in an insurer’s book of business, total premium for an insurer’s book of business will remain unchanged.
The Emergency Rule takes effect immediately and shall remain in effect for three years (until March 2022) following the day the national emergency was declared on March 13, 2020.
For additional details regarding this matter, the Emergency Rule can be found HERE.
For any other information regarding this Rule, or questions regarding our Personal Lines compliance services, please do not hesitate to contact us.
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Oregon DFR issues reminder regarding TRIA extension

By on March 23, 2021   /   Westmont Wire Category   /   Leave a comment

On March 19th, the Oregon Division of Financial Regulation issued a reminder to insurers regarding the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) extension. The TRIA extension of coverage will last until December 31, 2027 and, as of January 1, 2020, the federal reimbursement level of covered terrorism losses exceeding the statutorily established deductible is now fixed at 80%.

The OR DFR urges insurers to review the DFR’s most recent TRIA extension bulletin, INS 2015-1, for more information. Also, the OR DFR suggests insurers to review the following NAIC link found HERE when developing materials to be filed for Oregon policies.

Oregon will now review and approve Terrorism Conditional endorsement forms, and Disclosure forms containing conditional language. Please be sure to place all terrorism contract forms and Disclosure forms under the Form Schedule tab of the SERFF submission.

Questions for the OR DFR regarding this matter can be sent via e-mail to Jan Vitus at jan.vitus@oregon.gov, or Cliff Nolen at cliff.nolen@oregon.gov.

Westmont Associates, Inc. can assist with TRIA form and rate SERFF filings for all applicable commercial lines of business.   Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions.

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