Superintendent of Insurance Gregory V. Serio today announced a new product approval initiative aimed at full electronic filing of all New York Property and Casualty rate and form filings. The Department’s ambitious undertaking will include summer educational seminars designed to move the industry towards full electronic filling through the NAIC’s System for Electronic Rate and Form Filing (SERFF) by the fall. SERFF was first made available to insurers in May of 2000.

All Property and Casualty insurers will soon be able to utilize SERFF exclusively. The Department held a highly successful educational seminar earlier this year and encourages insurers that are not currently utilizing SERFF to contact the Department for education assistance.

SERFF allows insurers to obtain state approval by submitting policy forms and rate filings electronically. The evaluation, review and approval process is also completed in this electronic environment. An important component of SERFF is the submissions requirements database, which helps eliminate incomplete filings and improves the quality of the submissions by detailing what insurers must file. These capabilities provide for a more efficient transaction between insurers and the Department and significantly reduce review and process filing time.

Source: State of New York

COLUMBUS - Insurance Director Ann Womer Benjamin announced that the Ohio General Assembly’s Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review (JCARR) accepted an administrative rule sought by the Ohio Department of Insurance regarding an insurance company’s use of a consumer’s credit score for personal automobile and homeowners insurance.

“Credit scores” are numbers or ratings that insurance companies use for the purpose of predicting the future insurance loss exposure based in whole, or in part, on the consumer’s credit history, creditworthiness, credit standing or credit capacity.

The rule prohibits insurance companies from using a consumer’s credit score as the sole criterion for rating or underwriting personal auto and homeowners insurance policies. The rule also will require certain disclosures be made to consumers, including an explanation of what factors in their credit report have contributed to a higher rate or rejection of coverage.

The rule will go into effect in September 2003.

Source: State of Ohio

The change to Chapter 120-3-3-0.1 of the Rules and Regulations of the Office of Safety Fire Commissioner entitled State Minimum Fire Safety Standards is due to recent loss of life in several public assembly occupancies. The failure to specifically address and regulate the use of pyrotechnic devices in places of public assembly has been proven to have catastrophic results, including substantial loss of life. It has been determined that this presents an imminent peril to the public health, safety and welfare of the citizens of Georgia.

In order to remedy this problem, the change to Chapter 120-3-3-0.1 is being promulgated on an emergency basis for a period of 120 days beginning May 14, 2003. During the 120-day period the emergency rule is in effect, it will be promulgated according to the rulemaking process outlined in O.C.G.A. Section 50-13-1 et seq.

Source: State of Georgia

WASHINGTON -- The Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced today that the 2nd set of draft industry-specific ergonomics guidelines -- Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders: Guidelines for Retail Grocery Stores.

The draft guidelines consist of an introduction and two main sections. The introduction provides an overview of musculoskeletal disorders in retail grocery stores and explains the role of ergonomics in reducing these injuries. The first section describes how to develop and implement a strategy for analyzing the workplace, implementing ergonomic solutions, training employees, addressing injury reports, and evaluating progress. The second section gives examples of solutions that may be used by retail grocery stores to control exposure to ergonomic risk factors in their workplaces, including recommendations geared to specific departments like stocking, bakery, produce, meat, and checkout, bagging and carryout. The draft guidelines conclude with a list of helpful references and resources.

The guidelines are intended to provide practical solutions for reducing ergonomic-related injuries and illnesses in retail grocery stores. They do not address warehouses, convenience stores, or business operations that may be located within grocery stores, such as banks, post offices or coffee shops, although they may be useful to employers and workers in those workplaces. They will not be used for enforcement purposes. OSHA is also working on guidelines for the poultry processing and shipyard industries, and will make drafts available for comment.

Interested parties must submit written comments on the draft retail grocery store ergonomics guidelines to the OSHA Docket Office by July 8, 2003. After the conclusion of the comment period, there will be a stakeholder meeting in the Washington, DC metropolitan area to discuss the draft guidelines. Individuals are required to submit their intent to participate in this one-day stakeholder meeting by July 8, 2003. Location and date will be announced at a later date

Source: Occupational Safety and Health Administration

AUSTIN - A State District Court today gave preliminary approval to the $117.5 million settlement between the State of Texas and Farmers Insurance. The record settlement is the result of action taken by the Texas Office of Attorney General and the Texas Department of Insurance to stop unfair and discriminatory pricing practices used by Farmers Insurance in Texas. The $117.5 million will be paid to Farmers policyholders in the form of combined savings and restitution.

The $117.5 million settlement between the State of Texas and Farmers Insurance Group is the largest property & casualty insurance settlement in the history of Texas. The settlement breakout is as follows:
Prospective consumer relief valued at $35 million

• Rate reduction of 6.8% going forward.
  
• Adjusted discounts for Credit Scoring/Age of Home.
  
• Territory relativities adjusted with TDI approval
  
• Credit Scoring disclosures acceptable to AG (homeowner and auto)

Consumer Restitution valued at $82.5 million:

• Refund or premium credit for overcharges for policies written 12/28/01 through 11/10/02 equal to 6.8% retrospective rate relief; payable at end of policy period by premium credit on renewal statement, premium refund due within 45 days if policyholder does not renew with Farmers. [Value: $43.5 million.]
  
• Refund or premium credit for overcharges due to improper Credit Scoring/Age of Home discounts and territory relativities for policies written beginning 11/16/00; payable at end of policy period by premium credit on renewal statement, premium refund due within 45 days if policyholder does not renew with Farmers. [100% restitution value estimated at $34 million with no cap]
  
• Refunds for incorrect credit scores and payment of credit reports, for homeowner and auto customers whose credit scores were incorrect due to errors on credit reports, which they were unable to correct due to inadequate notice by Farmers; funds to be transferred to an escrow account for stated purpose, to be supplemented by Farmers if necessary. Also includes reimbursement for state's investigative and attorneys' fees. [Value: $5 million.]

Source: State of Texas

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration will publish in the May 28, 2003 Federal Register an interim final rule establishing procedures for the handling of whistleblower complaints under the Corporate and Criminal Fraud Accountability Act of 2002, also known as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. OSHA is seeking comments from interested members of the public.

The law was enacted July 30, 2002, to protect employees in publicly traded companies and their contractors, subcontractors, or agents from retaliation for providing information that an employee believes is a violation of a Securities and Exchange Commission rule or other federal law relating to fraud against shareholders.

The rule establishes procedures for the expeditious handling of discrimination complaints made by employees, or by persons acting on their behalf. Included in the interim rule are procedures for submitting complaints under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, investigations, and issuance of findings and preliminary orders. A major part of the rule details litigation procedures and how one can object to the findings and request a hearing. The final section of the rule discusses miscellaneous provisions including withdrawals of complaints and settlements, plus judicial review and judicial enforcement.

Persons wishing to comment on the interim final rule should submit written comments no later than July 28, 2003 to: OSHA Docket Office, Docket C-09, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, Room N-2625, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20210. Comments may also be submitted via fax by calling (202) 693-1861, or electronically to http://ecomments.osha.gov

Source: Occupational Safety and Health Administration

The Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division (Oregon OSHA) has announced changes in the Oregon Administrative Rules, Chapter 437, Division 3/Q, Concrete and Masonry Construction. The changes are effective April 30, 2003.

New rules were adopted following requests from industry professionals to make the criteria mandatory to ensure worker safety during masonry construction projects. Existing rules did not provide specific procedures for ensuring that masonry walls under construction met a standard that requires "adequate bracing to prevent overturn and collapse." Changes provide greater clarity for meeting definitions of "adequate bracing" and provide a higher level of safety to workers constructing, or working near, masonry walls.

Additions include language addressing the use of straight coil loops, specifications for bracing systems and procedures to follow when wind speeds exceed 25 mph on a construction site.The new rules were adopted following concerns from industry professionals requesting clarification to ensure worker safety during masonry construction projects.

The new criteria were developed under a Worksite Redesign Program grant from Oregon OSHA.

Source: Oregon OSHA