Property Casualty Rate, Rule, and Policy Form Filings FAQ

Bulletin 2008-05-INS, which has been in effect since April 1, 2009, requires the mandatory use of SERFF for submitting all insurance rate, rule and policy form filings.

Paper filings are no longer accepted by DIFS. An insurer must contact the SERFF Team in order to find out more about establishing a SERFF account from which to submit filings.

Every insurance company and rating organization must file each new and revised policy form and endorsement for all commercial and personal lines of insurance, unless they are properly exempted from filing pursuant to MCL 500.2236(8). Commercial types of insurance can be exempted from filing pursuant to MCL 500.2236(8)(e) by placing a prominent disclaimer on the policy form noting that the forms are exempt from filing.

Readability standards apply to all personal lines insurance forms. Pursuant to MCL 500.2236(3) the policy forms with attached endorsements must have a readability score equal to or higher than 45. The SERFF Filing Rules tab, Requirement category "POLICY FORMS / ENDORSEMENTS" explains that you must include the readability score for every personal lines insurance form in the Form Schedule Tab. DIFS has not identified an approved readability testing software or product, therefore each insurer should utilize a readability software product that it understands would measure its policy forms in a manner that is substantially similar to the statute and would produce equivalent scores.

An insurer must file rule and rate manual pages for every type of commercial and personal lines insurance coverage that it writes, unless the type of coverage is properly exempted from filing pursuant to MCL 500.2401(2) and/or MCL 500.2601(3). When an insurer exempts from filing the policy forms for a specific type of commercial insurance coverage pursuant to MCL 500.2236(8)(e), then the rules and rates for that coverage are also exempt from filing pursuant to MCL 500.2401(2)(d) and MCL 500.2601(3(f), except for workers compensation coverage.

The insurer should complete all rule / rate, policy form, and supplemental information tabs contained in SERFF providing generally requested premium and loss data, rate indications, actuarial data, and revised policy form provision comparisons. The SERFF Filing Rules tab contains applicable filing requirements for each type of filing.

The Product Requirements Locator contains Michigan law requirements and other applicable rate, rule, and policy form regulations for particular types of insurance.

On the Selection page you must choose the general type of coverage for which you want to review requirements (Property and Casualty because there are no Health or Life product requirements in the Locator), then you need to pick the Business Line, The Product Name, The Requirement Category (usually best to pick All because some requirements may be in unusual categories), the type of filing button, and the Jurisdiction.

You must select the All (Rates, Rules, Forms) button in order to see rate and rule requirements. This sub-database also contains policy form requirements. There are no entries for Michigan under the Rates and Rules Only button. You must separately select the Forms Only button in order to see requirements for policy forms only. We have tried to put all requirements we are aware of in the locator, however some portions of our law provide the agency with broad non-specific parameters in which to make decision concerning the acceptability of policy forms and rate classifications.

Any questions related to these FAQs should be directed to:
Product Review Section
517-284-8709
877-999-6442