Insurance Regulatory Reform Act.
§ 58‑41‑1. Short title.
This Article is known and may be cited as the Insurance Regulatory Reform Act. (1985 (Reg. Sess., 1986), c. 1027, s. 14.)
§ 58‑41‑5. Legislative findings and intent.
(a) Due to conditions in national and international property and liability insurance markets, insureds in the United States have experienced unprecedented in‑term cancellations of existing policies for entire books of business, have been afforded little or no notice that existing policies would not be renewed at their expiration dates, or would be renewed only at substantially higher rates or on less favorable terms. The General Assembly finds that such conditions pose an imminent peril to the public welfare for the following reasons:
(1) In‑term cancellations of insurance coverages erode insureds' confidence and breach insureds' trust; unfairly and prematurely terminate the promised coverage; force persons to go without needed insurance protection or force the procurement of substitute insurance at greater cost; and create marketplace confusion resulting in product unavailability.
(2) Failures to provide timely notices of nonrenewals or of renewals with altered terms deprive persons of adequate opportunities to secure affordable replacement coverages or require persons to go without needed insurance protection.
(b) The General Assembly finds that there is no uniform requirement for the notice of cancellation, renewal, or nonrenewal for commercial property and liability insurance and that it should adopt reasonable requirements for such notices and should regulate in‑term cancellations of entire books of business by companies. (1985 (Reg. Sess., 1986), c. 1027, s. 14.)
(a) Except as otherwise provided, this Article applies to all kinds of insurance authorized by G.S. 58‑7‑15(4) through (14) and G.S. 58‑7‑15(18) through (22), and to all insurance companies licensed by the Commissioner to write those kinds of insurance. This Article does not apply to insurance written under Articles 21, 26, 36, 37, 45 or 46 of this Chapter; insurance written for residential risks in conjunction with insurance written under Article 36 of this Chapter; to marine insurance as defined in G.S. 58‑40‑15(3); to personal inland marine insurance; to commercial aircraft insurance; to policies issued in this State covering risks with multistate locations, except with respect to coverages applicable to locations within this State; to any town or county farmers mutual fire insurance association restricting its operations to not more than six adjacent counties in this State; nor to domestic insurance companies, associations, orders, or fraternal benefit societies doing business in this State on the assessment plan.
(b) This Article is not exclusive, and the Commissioner may also consider other provisions of Articles 1 through 64 of this Chapter to be applicable to the circumstances or situations addressed in this Article. Policies may provide terms more favorable to insureds than are required by this Article. The rights provided by this Article are in addition to and do not prejudice any other rights the insured may have at common law, under statutes, or under administrative rules. (1985 (Reg. Sess., 1986), c. 1027, s. 14; 1987, c. 441, ss. 1, 2; 1989 c. 485, s. 53; 1993, c. 409, s. 21; 1993 (Reg. Sess., 1994), c. 678, s. 22; 1999‑219, s. 5.2; 1999‑294, s. 1.)
§ 58‑41‑15. Certain policy cancellations prohibited.
(a) No insurance policy or renewal thereof may be cancelled by the insurer prior to the expiration of the term or anniversary date stated in the policy and without the prior written consent of the insured, except for any one of the following reasons:
(1) Nonpayment of premium in accordance with the policy terms;
(2) An act or omission by the insured or his representative that constitutes material misrepresentation or nondisclosure of a material fact in obtaining the policy, continuing the policy, or presenting a claim under the policy;
(3) Increased hazard or material change in the risk assumed that could not have been reasonably contemplated by the parties at the time of assumption of the risk;
(4) Substantial breach of contractual duties, conditions, or warranties that materially affects the insurability of the risk;
(5) A fraudulent act against the company by the insured or his representative that materially affects the insurability of the risk;
(6) Willful failure by the insured or his representative to institute reasonable loss control measures that materially affect the insurability of the risk after written notice by the insurer;
(7) Loss of facultative reinsurance, or loss of or substantial changes in applicable reinsurance as provided in G.S. 58‑41‑30;
(8) Conviction of the insured of a crime arising out of acts that materially affect the insurability of the risk; or
(9) A determination by the Commissioner that the continuation of the policy would place the insurer in violation of the laws of this State;
(10) The named insured fails to meet the requirements contained in the corporate charter, articles of incorporation, or bylaws of the insurer, when the insurer is a company organized for the sole purpose of providing members of an organization with insurance coverage in this State.
(b) Any cancellation permitted by subsection (a) of this section is not effective unless written notice of cancellation has been delivered or mailed to the insured, not less than 15 days before the proposed effective date of cancellation. The notice must be given or mailed to the insured, and any designated mortgagee or loss payee at their addresses shown in the policy or, if not indicated in the policy, at their last known addresses. The notice must state the precise reason for cancellation. Failure to send this notice to any designated mortgagee or loss payee invalidates the cancellation only as to the mortgagee's or loss payee's interest.
(c) This section does not apply to any insurance policy that has been in effect for less than 60 days and is not a renewal of a policy. That policy may be cancelled for any reason by furnishing to the insured at least 15 days prior written notice of and reasons for cancellation.
(d) Cancellation for nonpayment of premium is not effective if the amount due is paid before the effective date set forth in the notice of cancellation.
(e) Copies of the notice required by this section shall also be sent to the insurance producer of record; however, failure to send copies of the notice to such persons shall not invalidate the cancellation.
(f) For purposes of this section, proof of mailing is sufficient proof of notice. (1985 (Reg. Sess., 1986), c. 1027, s. 14; 2021‑117, s. 8(a); 2022‑46, s. 14(zz).)
§ 58‑41‑20. Notice of nonrenewal, premium rate increase, or change in coverage required.
(a) No insurer may refuse to renew an insurance policy except in accordance with the provisions of this section, and any nonrenewal attempted or made that is not in compliance with this section is not effective. This section does not apply if the policyholder has insured elsewhere, has accepted replacement coverage, or has requested or agreed to nonrenewal.
(b) An insurer may refuse to renew a policy that has been written for a term of one year or less at the policy's expiration date by giving or mailing written notice of nonrenewal to the insured not less than 45 days prior to the expiration date of the policy.
(c) An insurer may refuse to renew a policy that has been written for a term of more than one year or for an indefinite term at the policy anniversary date by giving or mailing written notice of nonrenewal to the insured not less than 45 days prior to the anniversary date of the policy.
(d) Except as provided in G.S. 58‑41‑25, whenever an insurer lowers coverage limits or raises deductibles or premium rates other than at the request of the policyholder, the insurer shall give the policyholder written notice of such change at least 30 days in advance of the effective date of the change.
(e) The notice required by this section must be given or mailed to the insured and any designated mortgagee or loss payee at their addresses shown in the policy or, if not indicated in the policy, at their last known addresses. Proof of mailing is sufficient proof of notice. The notice of nonrenewal must state the precise reason for nonrenewal. Failure to send this notice to any designated mortgagee or loss payee invalidates the nonrenewal only as to the mortgagee's or loss payee's interest.
(f) Copies of the notice required by this section shall also be sent [to] the insurance producer of record; however, failure to send copies of the notice to such persons shall not invalidate the nonrenewal.
(g) Delivery by an insurer of a policy superseding a policy previously issued by the insurer at the end of the previously issued policy period is not a refusal to renew when it is delivered by:
(1) The same insurer; or
(2) An affiliate or subsidiary, as those terms are defined in G.S. 58‑19‑5, that has a financial strength rating, issued by an industry‑recognized independent insurance rating company, which financial strength rating is at least as good as the insurer issuing the superseded policy. The provisions of G.S. 58‑41‑25 apply to the affiliate or subsidiary as if it were the same insurer issuing the policy. (1985 (Reg. Sess., 1986), c. 1027, s. 14; 1987, c. 441, ss. 3, 4; 2015‑281, s. 11; 2022‑46, s. 14(aaa).)
§ 58‑41‑25. Notice of renewal of policies with premium rate or coverage changes.
(a) If an insurer intends to renew a policy, the insurer must furnish to the insured the renewal terms and a statement of the amount of premium due for the renewal policy period. This section applies only if the insurer intends to decrease coverage, increase deductibles, impose any kind of surcharge, or increase the premium rate in the renewal policy.
(b) If the policy being renewed was written for a term of one year or less, the renewal terms and statement of premium due must be given or mailed not less than 45 days before the expiration date of that policy. If the policy being renewed was written for a term of more than one year or for an indefinite term, the renewal terms and statement of premium due must be given or mailed not less than 45 days before the anniversary date of that policy. The renewal terms and statement of premium due must be given or mailed to the insured and any designated mortgagee or loss payee at their addresses shown in the policy, or, if not indicated in the policy, at their last known addresses.
(c) If the insurer fails to furnish the renewal terms and statement of premium due in the manner required by this section, the insured may cancel the renewal policy within the 30‑day period following receipt of the renewal terms and statement of premium due. For refund purposes, earned premium for any period of coverage shall be calculated pro rata upon the premium applicable to the policy being renewed instead of the renewal policy. If an insurer fails to comply with the 45‑day notice requirement of this section, the insured is entitled to the option of coverage under the policy being renewed and at the same cost of that policy until 45 days have elapsed after the insurer has provided the insured with the notice.
(d) If a policy has been issued for a term longer than one year, and for additional consideration a premium has been guaranteed for the entire term, it is unlawful for the insurer to increase that premium or require policy deductibles or other policy or coverage provisions less favorable to the insured during the term of the policy.
(e) Copies of the notice required by this section shall also be given or mailed to any designated mortgagee or loss payee and may also be given or mailed to the insurance producer of record. (1985 (Reg. Sess., 1986), c. 1027, s. 14; 1987, c. 441, ss. 5, 6; 1989, c. 485, ss. 5, 6; 2022‑46, s. 14(bbb).)
§ 58‑41‑30. Loss of reinsurance.
An insurer may cancel or refuse to renew a kind of insurance when the cancellation or nonrenewal is necessary because of a loss of or substantial reduction in applicable reinsurance, by filing a plan with the Commissioner pursuant to the requirements of this section. The insurer's plan must be filed with the Commissioner at least 15 business days prior to the issuance of any notice of cancellation or nonrenewal. The insurer may implement its plan upon the approval of the Commissioner, which shall be granted or denied in writing, with the reasons for his actions, within 15 business days of the Commissioner's receipt of the plan. Any plan submitted for approval shall contain a certification by an elected officer of the company:
(1) That the loss or substantial change in applicable reinsurance necessitates the cancellation or nonrenewal action;
(2) That the insurer has made a good faith effort to obtain replacement reinsurance but was unable to do so because of the unavailability or unaffordability of replacement reinsurance;
(3) Identifying the category of risks, the total number of risks written by the company in that category, and the number of risks intended to be cancelled or not renewed;
(4) Identifying the total amount of the insurer's net retention for the risks intended to be cancelled or not renewed;
(5) Identifying the total amount of risk ceded to each reinsurer and the portion of that total that is no longer available;
(6) Explaining how the loss of or reduction in reinsurance affects the insurer's risks throughout the kind of insurance proposed for cancellation or nonrenewal;
(7) Explaining why cancellation or nonrenewal is necessary to cure the loss of or reduction in reinsurance; and
(8) Explaining how the cancellations or nonrenewals, if approved, will be implemented and the steps that will be taken to ensure that the cancellation or nonrenewal decisions will not be applied in an arbitrary, capricious, or unfairly discriminatory manner. (1985 (Reg. Sess., 1986), c. 1027, s. 14.)
§ 58‑41‑35. Repealed by Session Laws 1999‑219, s. 9.
§ 58‑41‑40. No liability for statements or communications made in good faith; prior notice to insurance producers.
(a) There is no liability on the part of and no cause of action for defamation or invasion of privacy arises against any insurer or its authorized representatives, agents, or employees, or any licensed insurance producer, for any communication or statement made, unless shown to have been made in bad faith with malice, in any of the following:
(1) A written notice of cancellation under G.S. 58‑41‑15 or of nonrenewal under G.S. 58‑41‑20, specifying the reasons for cancellation.
(2) Communications providing information pertaining to the cancellation or nonrenewal.
(3) Evidence submitted at any court proceeding, administrative hearing, or informal inquiry in which the cancellation or nonrenewal is an issue.
(b) With respect to the notices that must be given or mailed to insurance producers under G.S. 58‑41‑15, 58‑41‑20, and 58‑41‑25, the insurer may give or mail that notice at the same time or prior to giving or mailing the notice to the insured. (1985 (Reg. Sess., 1986), c. 1027, s. 14; 1987 (Reg. Sess., 1988), c. 975, s. 31; 1999‑219, s. 9.1; 2022‑46, s. 14(ccc).)
§ 58‑41‑45. Termination of writing kind of insurance.
(a) Except as provided in G.S. 58‑41‑30, no insurer may terminate, by nonrenewals, an entire book of business of any kind of insurance without 60 days prior written notice to the Commissioner; unless the Commissioner determines that continuation of the line of business would impair the solvency of the insurer or unless the Commissioner determines that such termination is effected under a plan that minimizes disruption in the marketplace or that makes provisions for alternative coverage at comparable rates and terms.
(b) Except as provided in G.S. 58‑41‑30, in‑term cancellation by an insurer of an entire book of business of any kind of insurance is presumed to be unfair, inequitable, and contrary to the public interest, unless the Commissioner determines that continuation of the line of business would impair the solvency of the insurer or unless the Commissioner determines that such termination is effected under a plan that minimizes disruption in the marketplace or that makes provisions for alternative coverage at comparable rates and terms. (1985 (Reg. Sess., 1986), c. 1027, s. 14.)
§ 58‑41‑50. Policy form and rate filings; punitive damages; data required to support filings.
(a) With the exception of inland marine insurance that is not written according to manual rates and rating plans, all policy forms must be filed with and either approved by the Commissioner or 90 days have elapsed and he has not disapproved the form before they may be used in this State. With respect to liability insurance policy forms, an insurer may exclude or limit coverage for punitive damages awarded against its insured.
(b) With the exception of inland marine insurance that is not written according to manual rates and rating plans, all rates or prospective loss cost multipliers by licensed fire and casualty companies or their designated statistical organizations must be filed with the Commissioner at least 60 days before they may be used in this State. Any filing may become effective on a date earlier than that specified in this subsection upon agreement between the Commissioner and the filer.
(c) A filing that does not include the statistical and rating information required by subsections (d) and (e) of this section is not a proper filing, and will be returned to the filing insurer or organization. The filer may then remedy the defects in the filing. An otherwise defective filing thus remedied shall be deemed to be a proper filing, except that all periods of time specified in this Article will run from the date the Commissioner receives additional or amended documents necessary to remedy all material defects in the filing.
(d) The following information must be included in each policy form, rule, and rate filing:
(1) A detailed list of the rates, rules, and policy forms filed, accompanied by a list of those superseded; and
(2) A detailed description, properly referenced, of all changes in policy forms, rules, and rates, including the effect of each change.
(e) Each policy form, rule, and rate filing that is based on statistical data must be accompanied by the following properly identified information:
(1) North Carolina earned premiums at the actual and current rate level; losses and loss adjustment expenses, each on paid and incurred bases without trending or other modification for the experience period, including the loss ratio anticipated at the time the rates were promulgated for the experience period;
(2) Credibility factor development and application;
(3) Loss development factor derivation and application on both paid and incurred bases and in both numbers and dollars of claims;
(4) Trending factor development and application;
(5) Changes in premium base resulting from rating exposure trends;
(6) Limiting factor development and application;
(7) Overhead expense development and application of commission and brokerage, other acquisition expenses, general expenses, taxes, licenses, and fees;
(8) Percent rate change;
(9) Final proposed rates;
(10) Investment earnings, consisting of investment income and realized plus unrealized capital gains, from loss, loss expense, and unearned premium reserves;
(11) Identification of applicable statistical plans and programs and a certification of compliance with them;
(12) Investment earnings on capital and surplus;
(13) Level of capital and surplus needed to support premium writings without endangering the solvency of the company or companies involved; and
(14) Such other information that may be required by any rule adopted by the Commissioner.
Provided, however, that no filing may be returned or disapproved on the grounds that such information has not been furnished if the filer has not been required to collect such information pursuant to statistical plans or programs or to report such information to statistical agents, except where the Commissioner has given reasonable prior notice to the filer to begin collecting and reporting such information or except when the information is readily available to the filer.
(f) It is unlawful for an insurer to charge or collect, or attempt to charge or collect, any premium for insurance except in accordance with filings made with the Commissioner under this section and Article 40 of this Chapter.
(g) An insurer subject to this Article may develop and use an individual form or rate as a result of the uniqueness of a particular risk. The form or rate shall be developed, filed, and used in accordance with rules adopted by the Commissioner. (1985 (Reg. Sess., 1986), c. 1027, s. 14; 1987, c. 441, ss. 7, 9, 10; 1991, c. 644, s. 4; 1995, c. 193, s. 37; 2005‑210, s. 20.)
§ 58‑41‑55. Penalties; restitution.
In addition to criminal penalties for acts declared unlawful by this Article, any violation of this Article subjects an insurer to revocation or suspension of its license, or monetary penalties or payment of restitution as provided in G.S. 58‑2‑70. (1985 (Reg. Sess., 1986), c. 1027, s. 14; 1999‑132, s. 9.1.)