N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 11 § 160.0

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 45, November 2, 2024

Section 160.0 - Preamble

(a) The purpose of this regulation is to interpret and implement the purposes and provisions of article 23 of the Insurance Law, and set forth the responsibilities of insurer managements in the construction and application of rates. The regulation provides rules for the establishment and maintenance of property and casualty insurance rates.

(b) Insurer managements are responsible to policyholders; to those dependent upon the insurance enterprise for their livelihood; to shareholders in the case of stock companies; and to the public generally. Ordinarily, the legitimate interests and reasonable expectations of these groups are consistent. Sometimes they conflict. It is the duty of insurer managements to take cognizance of the interests and expectations of all and to make decisions which fairly and rationally balance the interests of all.

(c) In constructing and applying rates, it is the responsibility of insurer managements:

(1) to exercise competency in the evaluation of technical factors;

(2) to foster a competitive insurance market, to respond to competition, and to enhance the ability of insurance consumers to give meaning to competition by the exercise of free and informed choices;

(3) to seek reasonable levels of profits in the case of stock companies or surplus in the case of mutual companies;

(4) to provide equitable rate treatment among insureds and classes of insureds and to avoid unfair discrimination;

(5) to consider the need to create an adequate fund from which to pay losses and expenses and to foster an adequate supply of insurance;

(6) to consider the need of insurance consumers for rates which are reasonable and not excessive;

(7) to avoid predatory trade practices and anticompetitive behavior;

(8) to promote efficiencies and economies in operations and to share the benefits of such with insurance consumers;

(9) to recognize the public necessity that each insurer do its part in attaining the objective of making needed insurance coverages readily available to all eligible risks, and to this end to construct its rate structure and to pursue underwriting practices which maximize its ability to assist in meeting this need.

N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Tit. 11 § 160.0