Title 38, Insurance

Beginning on March 1, 2003 and continuing thereafter, the director may promulgate reasonable standards for the assignment of risks to insurance carriers and servicing carriers, and an assigned risk plan, hereinafter referred to as the Associated Auto Insurers Plan, must be establ…

Every person who has been unable to obtain a motor vehicle liability policy shall have the right to apply to the director to have his risk assigned to an insurance carrier licensed to write and writing motor vehicle liability insurance in the State and the insurance carrier, whet…

Insurance carriers may satisfy their Associated Auto Insurers Plan obligations by joining with other insurers to establish an Assigned Risk Pool whereby one or more insurers accepts the assignments of other insurers and in return, the other insurers agree to be responsible for an…

The director may in its discretion, after reviewing all information pertaining to the applicant or policyholder available from its records, the records of the department, or from other sources: (1) refuse to assign an application; (2) approve the rejection of an application by an…

The producer of each Associated Auto Insurers Plan must provide on a form promulgated by the director of the Department of Insurance the information as follows: (1) the name of one other insurance agent and/or insurer representative who has rejected the applicant for automobile i…

(A) The director or his designee, or the plan manager, may review each application. Applications which are not complete or accurate, or both, shall be considered in violation of Section 38-57-30 and are subject to penalty. The department shall promulgate regulations to enforce th…

Any information filed with the director by an insurance carrier in connection with an assigned risk must be confidential and solely for the information of the director and its staff and must not be disclosed to any person, including an applicant, policyholder, and any other insur…

(A) The director is not required to disclose to any person, including the applicant or policyholder, its reasons for: (1) refusing to assign an application; (2) approving the rejection of an application by an insurance carrier; (3) approving the cancellation of a policy of motor …

The provisions of this chapter relevant to the assignment of risks must be available to nonresidents who are unable to obtain a policy of motor vehicle liability, physical damage, and medical payments insurance with respect only to motor vehicles registered and used in the State.…

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the provisions of this chapter relating to assignment of risks must be available to carriers by motor vehicle who are required by law to carry public liability and property damage insurance for the protection of the public.

(A) The purpose of this chapter is to create a legal framework within which service contracts may be sold in this State. (B) This chapter does not apply to: (1) warranties; (2) maintenance agreements; (3) commercial transactions; (4) warranties, service contracts, or maintenance …

(A) The director may conduct investigations or examinations of providers, administrators, insurers, or other persons to enforce the provisions of this chapter and protect service contract holders in this State. Upon request of the director, the provider shall make all accounts, b…

The director may promulgate regulations necessary to effectuate this chapter.

If any provision of this chapter, or the application of the provision to any person or circumstances, is held invalid, the remainder of the chapter, and the application of the provision to a person or circumstances other than those as to which it is held invalid, is not affected.

As used in this chapter: (1) "Administrator" means the person who is responsible for the administration of the service contracts or the service contracts plan or who is responsible for any filings required by this chapter. (2) "Director" means the Director of the Department of In…

(A) A provider may, but is not required to, appoint an administrator or other designee to be responsible for any or all of the administration of service contracts and compliance with this chapter. (B) A service contract must not be issued, sold, or offered for sale in this State …

(A) Reimbursement insurance policies insuring service contracts issued, sold, or offered for sale in this State shall conspicuously state that the insurer that issued the policy shall either reimburse or pay on behalf of the provider any covered sums the provider is legally oblig…

(A) Service contracts marketed, issued, sold, offered for sale, made, proposed to be made, or administered in this State shall be written, printed, or typed in clear, understandable language that is easy to read and shall disclose the requirements in this section as applicable. (…

No automatic renewal provision in a service contract shall be enforceable against the contract holder unless the contract holder was presented written or electronic notification of that automatic renewal provision not less than thirty days nor more than sixty days before the canc…

(A) A provider may not use in its name the words " insurance", "casualty", "guaranty", "surety", "mutual", or any other words descriptive of the insurance, casualty, guaranty, or surety business or a name deceptively similar to the name or description of any insurance or surety c…

(A) A provider shall maintain accurate accounts, books, and records concerning transactions regulated under this chapter which shall include: (1) copies of each type of service contract issued; (2) the name and address of each service contract holder to the extent that the name a…

As applicable, an insurer that issued a reimbursement insurance policy may not terminate the policy until a notice of termination in accordance with Chapter 75 of this title has been mailed or delivered to the director. The termination of a reimbursement insurance policy does not…

(A) Insurers issuing reimbursement insurance to providers are deemed to have received the premiums for such insurance upon the payment of provider fees by consumers for service contracts issued by such insured providers. (B) This chapter does not prevent or limit the right of an …

As used in this article: (1) "Accumulated deficit" means the amount that the association's and the fund's liabilities exceed their assets, as reported in the association's and fund's respective most recently reported financial statements on June 30, 2019. (2) "Association" means …

(1) A joint underwriting association (association) is created, containing as members all insurers authorized to write and report net-direct written premiums for medical malpractice insurance, medical professional liability insurance, hospital professional liability insurance, or …

(1) As of January 1, 2020, all insurers authorized to write on a direct basis bodily injury liability insurance, other than automobile bodily injury insurance, homeowners liability insurance, an insurer which insures only churches and their property, and farmowners liability insu…

The association, pursuant to the provisions of this article and the approved plan of operation in respect to medical malpractice insurance, has the power on behalf of its members to: (1) issue, or cause to be issued, policies of insurance to applicants including incidental covera…

(1) The association must operate pursuant to a plan of operation which shall provide for economic, fair, and nondiscriminatory administration and for the prompt and efficient provision of medical malpractice insurance and may contain other provisions including, but not limited to…

Any licensed health care provider is entitled to apply to the association for coverage. The application may be made on behalf of the applicant by a licensed agent or broker authorized in writing by the applicant. If the association determines that the applicant meets the underwri…

In respect to the structuring of rates for medical malpractice liability insurance and the determination of the profit or loss of the association in respect to that insurance, due consideration must be given by the director or his designee to all investment income.

The association shall submit, for the approval of the director or his designee, all policy forms, classifications, rates, rating plans, or rules applicable to its insurance product offerings to customers in this State. Such filings must be submitted for approval to the director n…

(1) The board of directors shall specify whether policy forms and the rate structure must be on a "claims-made" or "occurrence" basis and coverage may be provided by the association only on the basis specified by the board of directors. The board of directors shall specify the "c…

All medical malpractice insurance carriers shall file with the appropriate professional or occupational licensing board all final judgments, settlements, agreements, and awards against any licensee of that board. All information relative to parties involved is and shall remain co…

The association is authorized to provide a rate increase, assessment as provided in Section 38-79-220 or a combination thereof on policyholders which is subject to the approval of the director, or his designee, to reduce the deficit and to maintain rate adequacy.

Any future deficit must be recouped, pursuant to the plan of operation and the rating plan then in effect, by a rate increase applicable prospectively approved by the director or his designee pursuant to the provisions of Section 38-79-180.

(1) All members of the association, excluding companies who have withdrawn from the association pursuant to Section 38-79-125, must contribute to the elimination of the association's and fund's accumulated deficit. Beginning on January 1, 2020, a uniform assessment of not less th…

Beginning on January 1, 2021, an additional one percent surcharge on the premium must be assessed on association policyholders. The premium surcharge must increase by one additional percentage point annually until it reaches ten percent and does not sunset. Surcharges levied unde…

Every member of the association is bound by the approved plan of operation of the association, including any amendments made, and by any other rules the board of directors of the association lawfully prescribes.

(1) If any member insurer ceases writing business in this State, voluntarily or involuntarily, or by order or authority of the director, the insurer shall continue to be a member of the association until all of its obligations have been satisfied and the director has certified th…

(1) The provisions of this section only apply until January 1, 2020. (2) The association is governed by a board of thirteen directors, all of whom must be appointed by the Governor. The Governor shall appoint five health care providers after consultation with the South Carolina M…

The association shall file a financial statement with the department by March first of each year detailing its transactions, financial condition, operations, and affairs during the previous calendar year. In addition, the director may require the association to file quarterly fin…

The director or his designee shall conduct an examination into the financial condition and affairs of the association at least annually and shall file a report thereon with the department, the Governor, and the General Assembly. The expenses of the examination must be paid by the…

(A) No licensed health care provider, as defined in Section 38-79-110, who renders medical services voluntarily and without compensation or the expectation or promise of compensation and seeks no reimbursement from charitable and governmental sources is liable for any civil damag…

(A) Effective on January 1, 2020, the Patients' Compensation Fund provided for in Article 5 of this chapter shall merge into the South Carolina Medical Malpractice Association as created by this article. The surviving entity is the Joint Underwriting Association and referred to h…

(A) A person who serves on the Board of the Joint Underwriting Association or the Board of Governors of the Patients' Compensation Fund is prohibited from being employed in any manner or compensated by the Joint Underwriting Association or the Patients' Compensation Fund, and thi…

There is no liability on the part of, and no cause of action of any nature may arise against, any insurer, its officers, its agents, or employees or the director, his designees, or his representatives for any action taken by them in performance of their powers and duties under th…