No. SB 30
Filed under Insurance.
Rate Filings for Property Insurers; Revising the powers of the consumer advocate; specifying that failure to obey certain court orders may be punished as contempt; authorizing a circuit court to order a person to pay certain expenses; prohibiting the Office of Insurance Regulation from approving certain rate filings, etc.
Plain English Summary
AI-GENERATEDRegulators can no longer approve a property insurance rate filing that jumps more than 10 percent above the highest rate they approved in the past 12 months, and cumulative increases from repeated filings are capped at 15 percent in that same window.
The state's insurance consumer advocate gains new power to formally challenge rate decisions, including a decision to approve a rate increase, not just decisions to reject one.
That office also gains subpoena power over insurers and others, backed by contempt of court and fee-shifting against anyone who refuses to comply.
Consumer advocate challenges now qualify for the same expedited hearing and appeal timeline previously reserved for insurers contesting their own rate filings.
AIThe Office of Insurance Regulation may not approve a property insurance rate filing submitted on or after July 1, 2026 if the proposed rate is more than 10 percent above the highest rate the office approved in the prior 12 months.
AIThe consumer advocate may now request a formal administrative hearing to fight either a notice that the office intends to approve a rate filing or one where it intends to reject it, giving the office a route to contest increases before they take effect.
AIThe consumer advocate can administer oaths, subpoena witnesses and records, and its investigators must be given access to premises and documents at reasonable times during any investigation or hearing under this section.
AIWhen the consumer advocate, not just an insurer, requests a hearing on a rate filing, the case now qualifies for the same expedited administrative-hearing and appellate-review timeline previously available only to insurers.