Adjustments to Washington Owners and Auto Premium Rule to Be Thought of

Washington Insurance coverage Commissioner Mike Kreidler has proposed modifying the state’s just lately adopted premium change transparency rule.

The proposal is particular to Section 2 of the rule (the automated inclusion of causes for premium will increase in coverage renewals). It strikes the timing of that motion from June 2027 to June 2029.

Section 1, which went into impact in June, requires insurance coverage corporations to speak in confidence to policyholders why their premiums had gone up when requested by the patron.

The present premium change transparency rule covers auto and home-owner insurance coverage insurance policies. The Workplace of the Insurance coverage Commissioner held conferences to collect enter from customers and the insurance coverage business previous to finalizing the rule.

Section 1 (efficient now) mandates embrace:

• Insurance coverage corporations should embrace a disclaimer on the primary web page or view of renewal notices or billing statements that lets the policyholder know they will request extra particulars about their premium enhance.
• The notices should be in 12-point daring font and should embrace contact info.
• The insurance coverage firm then has 20 days from receiving a written request to ship a transparent, concise assertion in writing offering an affordable rationalization for the premium enhance.

Section 2:

• Beginning June 1, 2029, insurers should ship a discover at the very least 20 days earlier than renewing a coverage with a ten% or extra enhance.
• The necessities for explanations get extra particular in Section 2: Insurance coverage corporations should present a transparent rationalization and embrace the first components that induced the rise.
• These components can embrace claims historical past, reductions, charges and surcharges, premium capping, base charge modifications, and demographic components — just like the policyholder’s age, credit score historical past, schooling, gender, marital standing and occupation.
• For auto insurance coverage, components can even embrace the automobile’s garaging location, driving report, miles pushed, the variety of drivers and the variety of automobiles on the coverage.
• For householders insurance coverage, components can even embrace the property’s age, location, and worth.

Subjects
Auto
Washington
Owners