On February 16, the South Dakota Division of Insurance (South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation) published SDDOI Bulletin 26-01, which replaces all previous crop hail insurance bulletins issued by the South Dakota Division of Insurance (those being bulletins 04-01 and 95-01).
It sets a new annual filing deadline of February 15 for all new or revised crop hail and supplemental crop product rate and form filings, and revisions to existing filings intended for use in a calendar year, to be submitted to the South Dakota Division of Insurance via SERFF. For insurers’ filing and actuarial teams, the outlines new documentation expectations for rate filings that are based on NCIS Final Average Loss Cost (FALC), including adoption materials, five-year pure loss experience and expenses, loss cost multipliers and support, an actuarial memorandum, and proposed rates. For non-FALC rate filings, filings now similarly require five-year experience and expenses, an actuarial memorandum, and proposed rates. For underwriting and distribution, the South Dakota Division of Insurance states that companion hail products (including a Production Plan) are optional, supplemental to the underlying MPCI policy, and cannot be marketed as “stand-alone” policies.
The bulletin applies in South Dakota to insurance companies seeking to market crop hail insurance, defined to include crop hail coverage, companion hail, and supplemental crop products not subsidized or reinsured by the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation.
The bulletin also addresses discounts: it recognizes cash discounts tied to premium payment timing (subject to a five percent cap) and requires that any cash discount be filed as part of the insurer’s rate filing. Failure to comply with an approved filing may be a violation and could subject an insurer or producer to an administrative penalty; the bulletin lists several discount types it says are not permitted in South Dakota.
When the new February 15 filing deadline falls on a weekend or legal holiday, filings are due the next business day. The South Dakota Division of Insurance says it will review crop form and rate filings under the criteria in the bulletin, and companies may file forms and rates together or separately. It describes separate approaches for filing by reference to National Crop Insurance Services (NCIS) forms, filing independent policy forms, or filing deviated/modified NCIS forms with an explanatory memorandum.
