Title 38, Insurance

(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…

(a) No insurance policy or renewal thereof may be canceled by the insurer prior to the expiration of the term stated in the policy, except for one of the following reasons: (1) nonpayment of premium; (2) material misrepresentation of fact which, if known to the company, would hav…

(a) No insurance policy may be nonrenewed by an insurer except in accordance with the provisions of this section or Section 38-75-730, and any nonrenewal attempted which is not in compliance with this section or Section 38-75-730 is ineffective. (b) A policy written for a term of…

(a) If an insurer intends to renew a policy, the insurer shall furnish renewal terms and a statement of the amount of premium or estimated premium due for the renewal policy period in the manner required by this section. (b) If the policy being renewed (hereinafter "original poli…

(A) All insurers, at the issuance of a new policy and at each renewal, clearly shall notify the applicant or policyholder of a personal lines residential property insurance policy of the availability and the range of each premium discount, credit, other rate differential, or redu…

(a) It is unlawful for any insurer to cancel, nonrenew, or renew a policy of insurance except in compliance with the requirements of this article. (b) Midterm cancellation of an entire block, line, or class of business is presumed to be unfair, inequitable, and contrary to the pu…

For eligible surplus lines insurers, the timely giving of all notices required by this article to the licensed broker who placed the insurance and represents the insured is considered notice to the insured.

(A) All property and casualty insurance carriers issuing medical malpractice policies of insurance within South Carolina for licensed health care providers, as defined in Section 38-79-110, shall provide and maintain coverage to all qualified applicants who timely remit payments …

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 either or any firm, person, or corporation furnishing to the insurer information as …

No insurer may nonrenew a policy of homeowners insurance because the insured has filed a claim with that insurer for damages resulting from an act of God.

As used in this article, unless the context otherwise requires: (1) "Associate" means any one of the following: (a) a business organized for profit in which a producer of title business is a director, officer, partner, employee, or owner of one percent or more of the equity capit…

No insurer transacting title insurance business in this State may expose itself to any one risk in an amount exceeding fifty percent of the aggregate amount of its total capital and surplus and its reserves other than its loss or claim reserves. As used in this section, the words…

(A) A domestic title insurer shall establish and maintain a reinsurance reserve computed in accordance with this section, and all sums attributed to the reserve are at all times and for all purposes considered unearned portions of the original premiums. This reserve must be repor…

(A) If a domestic title insurer becomes insolvent, is in the process of liquidation or dissolution, or is in the possession of the director or his designee: (1) the amount of the assets of the title insurance company equal to the reinsurance reserve then remaining may be used wit…

(A) All title insurers licensed in this State shall establish and maintain reserves against unpaid losses and loss expenses. (B) Upon receiving written notice from or on behalf of the insured of a title defect in or lien or adverse claim against the title of the insured that may …

(A) A title insurer may obtain reinsurance for all or any part of its liability under one or more of its title insurance policies or reinsurance agreements and also may reinsure title insurance policies issued by other title insurers on risks located in this State or elsewhere. R…

(A) No title insurer or title insurance agent may accept an order for, issue a title insurance policy to, or provide services to an applicant if it knows or has reason to believe that the applicant was referred to it by any producer of title business or by any associate of the pr…

(A) Premium rates may not be inadequate, excessive, or unfairly discriminatory. (B) Rates are excessive if in the aggregate they are likely to produce a long-run profit that is unreasonably high in relation to the riskiness of the class of business, or if expenses are unreasonabl…

(A) A title insurer shall file with the director or his designee the premium rate schedules it proposes to use in this State. If the director or his designee finds in his review of a filing that it does not violate Section 38-75-970, he shall approve the schedule within sixty day…

(A) Each title insurer and title agent shall print and make available to the public schedules of its currently effective premiums and charges. (B) The schedules shall: (1) be dated to show the date the premiums and charges became effective; (2) be kept available to the public dur…

In order to effect a complete reform of automobile insurance and insurance practices in South Carolina, the purposes of this chapter are to provide: (1) that every automobile insurance risk which is insurable on the basis of the criteria established in this chapter is entitled to…

This article may be cited as the "Motor Vehicle Theft and Motor Vehicle Insurance Fraud Reporting-Immunity Act".

An automobile insurer is not required to write coverage for automobile insurance as defined in Section 38-77-30 for an applicant or existing policyholder. An insurer or producer shall retain, for at least three years, a record of its refusals of coverage including the reason for …

As used in this article: (a) "Authorized agency" means: (1) the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division, the Department of Public Safety, the sheriff's department of any county of this State, and any duly constituted criminal investigative department or agency of another st…

If a driver's license is suspended or revoked because the licensee is determined by the Department of Motor Vehicles to have no motor vehicle liability insurance, the Director of the Department of Motor Vehicles or his designee shall waive the reinstatement fee imposed pursuant t…

(a) Any authorized agency may require, in writing, the insurance company at interest to release to the requesting agency any or all relevant information or evidence considered important to the authorized agency which the company may have in its possession, relating to any specifi…