Title 38, Insurance

(A) The director or his designee shall issue a report by February 1, 2005, regarding cause of and potential solutions to coastal insurance issues. (B) The report must be provided to the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate.

(A) This article applies only to property insurance on risks located in this State. (B) This article does not apply to automobile insurance nor to insurance against liability arising out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of motor vehicles. The director or his designee may exe…

(A) In recognition of the use of natural hazard catastrophe computer models and other recently developed or improved actuarial methodologies for projecting natural hazard losses, the director or his designee may make or cause to be made an evaluation of any natural hazard catastr…

An insurer shall provide a separate premium for fire coverage and for allied lines coverage on a policy that includes fire and allied lines coverages. This includes a homeowner's and a businessowner's policy.

(A)(1) Except for a cancellation pursuant to Section 38-75-730, a cancellation or refusal to renew by an insurer of a policy of insurance covered in this article is not effective unless the insurer delivers or mails to the named insured at the address shown in the policy a writte…

(A) If an individual, after proper identification, submits a written request to an insurance-support organization for access to recorded personal information about the individual that reasonably is described by the individual and reasonably able to be located and retrieved by the…

(A) If there is a cancellation or nonrenewal of an insurance policy covered pursuant to the provisions of this article, the insurer or agent responsible for the cancellation or nonrenewal shall give a written notice in a form approved by the director that: (1) either provides the…

There is no liability on the part of and no cause of action of any nature may arise against the director or his designees, any insurer, or the authorized representatives, agents, and employees of any firm, person, or corporation furnishing to the insurer information as to reasons…

(A) An application for the original issuance of a policy of insurance covered in the article must have the following statement printed on or attached to the first page of the application form, in boldface type: "THE INSURER CAN CANCEL THIS POLICY FOR WHICH YOU ARE APPLYING WITHOU…

(A)(1) An insurer or agent may not refuse to issue an insurance policy as defined in this article because of any one or more of the following factors: (a) age; (b) sex; (c) race; (d) color; (e) creed; (f) national origin; (g) ancestry; (h) marital status; or (i) income level. (2)…

(A)(1) An insurer may not refuse to renew an insurance policy covered in this article because of any one or more of the following factors: (a) age; (b) sex; (c) race; (d) color; (e) creed; (f) national origin; (g) ancestry; (h) marital status; or (i) income level. (2) An insurer …

An insurer may not exclude wind and hail on a fire, allied lines, or homeowner's policy unless the property is in the area served by the South Carolina Wind and Hail Underwriting Association or the exclusion has been approved by the director or his designee.

An insurer shall provide upon the request of the director a listing of underwriting restrictions. These restrictions do not require approval of the director or his designee and are not public information.

No insurer doing business in this State may issue a fire insurance policy for more than the value stated in the policy or the value of the property to be insured. The amount of insurance must be fixed by the insurer and insured at or before the time of issuing the policy. In case…

Notwithstanding any other provision of law: (1) No policy of hazard insurance issued or delivered to cover a mobile home risk situate in South Carolina may be written to provide for a policy period in excess of three years. (2) Every such policy, and the manual of rules and rates…

No insurer transacting a mobile home insurance business in this State and writing hazard insurance covering loss from physical damage to the mobile homes may issue a policy for more than the value stated in the policy or the value of the property to be insured. The amount of insu…

Any contract to purchase a mobile home shall on its face: (1) clearly include the provisions of Section 38-75-210; and (2) clearly inform the purchaser that it is a violation of the law of this State for the seller of a mobile home or for any person lending money upon the securit…

Notwithstanding Section 38-75-20, insurers may, at the request of owners of property used principally for manufacturing purposes, including places of residence for occupancy by employees, issue policies wholly exempt from Section 38-75-20. Riders or endorsements may, in considera…

In this article, unless the context otherwise requires: (1) "Essential property insurance" means insurance against direct loss to property as defined and limited in the wind and hail insurance policy and forms approved by the director or his designee; and after January 1, 1995, a…

The purpose of this article is to assure an adequate market for wind and hail insurance in the coastal areas of this State.

(A) There is created the South Carolina Wind and Hail Underwriting Association, an unincorporated association whose responsibilities, liability, and regulations are governed and defined by this article. The association shall function as a residual market mechanism to provide wind…

(A) The association shall operate pursuant to a plan of operation which provides for the following: (1) the number, qualifications, terms of office, and manner of election of the members of the board of directors, provided that four members of the board of directors must be consu…

(A) A person having an insurable interest in insurable property is entitled to apply to the association for coverage and for an inspection of the property. The application must be made on behalf of the applicant by a licensed broker or agent authorized by him. An application must…

(A) The association, pursuant to the provisions of this article and the plan of operation, and with respect to essential property insurance on insurable property, has the power on behalf of its members to: (1) cause to be issued policies of insurance to applicants; (2) assume rei…

(A) All members of the association shall participate in its writings, expenses, profits, and losses in the proportion that the net direct premium of the member written in this State during the calendar year two years before the current year bears to the aggregate net direct premi…

(A) If a member company perceives an assessment or interest levied by the association to be unjust or illegal, the company shall pay the assessment or interest under protest in writing within thirty days of the assessment or interest charge. Upon receiving this payment, the assoc…

There may be no liability on the part of and no cause of action of any nature may arise against the department or any of its staff or the association or its agents, employees, or any participating insurer for any inspections made hereunder or any statements made in good faith by …

There is no liability on the part of, and no cause of action of any nature may arise against, any member insurer, the association's agents or employees, the board of directors, or the director, his designees, or his representatives for any act or omission in the performance of th…

No liability on the part of, and no cause of action of any nature may arise against, the director, the Department of Insurance or its staff, the association, any member insurer, the association's agents or employees, its board of directors, or the legal representatives of any of …

A member of the association who is designated to receive and write essential property insurance from or through the association shall cede one hundred percent to the association the essential property insurance.

No insurer or agency licensed to do business in this State may issue any policy or contract of insurance covering property in this State which contains any clause or provision requiring the insured to take or maintain a larger amount of insurance than that expressed in the policy…

(A) The rates, rating plans, and rating rules applicable to the insurance written by the association are those approved for use of the association by the director or his designee. Surcharges may be used as approved by the director or his designee. Rates may include rules for clas…

(A) A person insured pursuant to this article or his representative or a member company who is aggrieved by an act, ruling, or decision of the association: (1) regarding rates, classification of risks, assessments, voluntary credits, cancellation or termination of policies, or un…

All reports of inspection performed by or on behalf of the association must be made available to the members of the association, applicants, agents, brokers, and the department. All reports of inspection performed by or on behalf of the association must be made available to the m…

The association shall file with the department by March thirty-first of each year a statement which summarizes the transactions, conditions, operations, and affairs of the association during the preceding fiscal year ending October thirty-first. The statement must contain any mat…

The department may make an examination into the affairs of the association and in undertaking the examination may hold a public hearing. The expense of the examination must be borne and paid by the association.

The department has authority to make reasonable regulations, not inconsistent with law, to enforce, carry out, and make effective the provisions of this article after notice and hearing before the Administrative Law Court.

(A) In order to maintain stability in the property insurance market and to assure the continued, consistent availability of essential property insurance coverage in the coastal area, the Director of the Department of Insurance, who is selected as defined in Section 38-1-20(16), o…

(A) The Director of Insurance shall appoint an advisory committee to the director to study issues associated with the development of strategies for reducing loss of life and to address the mitigation of property losses due to hurricane, earthquake, flood, and fire. The advisory c…

(A) There is established within the Department of Insurance a loss mitigation grant program. Funds may be appropriated to the grant program, and any funds appropriated must be used for the purpose of making grants to local governments or for the study and development of strategie…

(A) There is established within the Department of Insurance, the South Carolina Hurricane Damage Mitigation Program. The advisory committee, established pursuant to Section 38-75-470, shall provide advice and assistance to the program administrator with regard to his administrati…

(A) The Department of Insurance, in consultation with the Department of Consumer Affairs, the Department of Commerce, the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes, the Manufactured Housing Institute of South Carolina, South Carolina Building Codes Council, the Home Builders Association of…

Any clause in any policy of insurance purporting or undertaking to limit or invalidate the force of the policy in case of encumbrance by real estate mortgage of the property insured by the policy is void.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no insurer has a cause of action against a tenant who causes damage to real or personal property leased by the landlord to the tenant when the insurer is liable to the landlord for the damages under an insurance contract between the lan…

This article applies to all property insurance and casualty insurance, as defined in Section 38-1-20, except for automobile insurance and any other type of property or casualty insurance as to which there are specific statutory provisions of law governing cancellation, nonrenewal…

For the purposes of this article: (1) "Renewal" or "to renew" means the issuance of or the offer to issue by an insurer a policy succeeding a policy previously issued and delivered by the same insurer or an insurer within the same group of insurers, or the issuance of a certifica…