(a) As used in this section:

(1) “Bureau” means the North Carolina Rate Bureau in Article 36 of this Chapter.

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(2) “Expenses” means that portion of a premium rate attributable to acquisition, field supervision, collection expenses, and general expenses, as determined by the group.

(3) “Multiplier” means a group’s determination of the expenses, other than loss expense and loss adjustment expense, associated with writing workers’ compensation and employers’ liability insurance, which shall be expressed as a single nonintegral number to be applied equally and uniformly to the prospective loss costs approved by the Commissioner in making rates for each classification of risks utilized by that group.

(4) “Prospective loss costs” means that portion of a rate that does not include provisions for expenses (other than loss adjustment expenses) or profit and that is based on historical aggregate losses and loss adjustment expenses adjusted through development to their ultimate value and forecasted through trending to a future point in time.

(5) “Supplementary rating information” means any manual or plan of rates, classification, rating schedule, minimum premium, policy fee, rating rule, rate-related underwriting rule, experience rating plan, statistical plan, and any other similar information needed to determine the applicable rate in effect or to be in effect.

(b) Rates and the effective date shall be submitted by the group to the Commissioner for prior approval in the form of a rate filing. The rate filing:

(1) Shall be on a form prescribed by the Commissioner and shall be supported by competent analysis, prepared by an actuary who is a member in good standing of the Casualty Actuarial Society or the American Academy of Actuaries, demonstrating that the resulting rates meet the standards of not being excessive, inadequate, or unfairly discriminatory;

(2) Shall have the final rates and the effective date determined independently and individually by the group;

(3) Shall have manual rates that are the combination of the prospective loss costs and the multiplier;

(4) Shall file any other information that the group considers relevant and shall provide any other information requested by the Commissioner;

(5) Shall be considered complete when the required information and all additional information requested by the Commissioner is received by the Commissioner.  When a filing is not accompanied by the information required under this section, the Commissioner shall inform the group within 30 days after the initial filing that the filing is incomplete and shall note the deficiencies. If information required by a rate filing or requested by the Commissioner is not maintained or cannot be provided, the group shall certify that to the Commissioner;

(6) May include deviations to the prospective loss cost based on the group’s anticipated experience. Sufficient documentation supporting the deviations and the impact of the deviation shall be included in the rate filing. Expense loads, whether variable, fixed, or a combination of variable and fixed, may vary by individual classification or grouping.  Each filing that varies the expense load by class shall specify the expense factor applicable to each class and shall include information supporting the justification for the variation;

(7) Shall include any proposed use of a premium-sized discount program, a schedule rating program, a small deductible credit program or an expense constant or minimum premium, and the use shall be supported in the rate filing; and

(8) Shall be deemed approved, unless disapproved by the Commissioner in writing, within 60 days after the rate filing is made in its entirety.  A group is not required to refile rates previously approved until two years after the effective date of this Part.

(c) At the time of the rate filing, a group may request to have its approved multiplier remain in effect and continue to use either the prospective loss cost filing in effect at the time of the rate filing or the prospective loss cost filing in effect at the time of the filing, along with all other subsequent prospective loss cost filings, as approved.

(d) To the extent that a group’s manual rates are determined solely by applying its multiplier, as presented and approved in the rate filing, to the prospective loss costs contained in the Bureau’s reference filing and printed in the Bureau’s rating manual, the group need not develop or file its final rate pages with the Commissioner.  If a group chooses to print and distribute final rate pages for its own use, based solely upon the application of its filed prospective loss costs, the group need not file those pages with the Commissioner. If the Bureau does not print the prospective loss costs in its manual, the group shall submit its rates to the Commissioner.

(e) If a new filing of rules, relativities, and supplementary rating information is filed by the Bureau and approved:

(1) The group shall not file anything with the Commissioner if the group decides to use the revisions as filed, with the effective date as filed together with the prospective loss multiplier on file with the Commissioner.

(2) The group shall notify the Commissioner of its effective date before the Bureau filing’s effective date if the group decides to use the revisions as filed but with a different effective date.

(3) The group shall notify the Commissioner before the Bureau filing’s effective date if the group decides not to use the revision or revisions.

(4) The group shall file the modification with the Commissioner, for approval, specifying the basis for the modification and the group’s proposed effective date if different from the Bureau filing’s effective date, if the group decides to use the revision with deviations.

(f) Every group shall adhere to the uniform classification plan and experience rating plan filed by the Bureau.

(g) Groups shall maintain data in accordance with the uniform statistical plan approved by the Commissioner.

(h) Each group shall submit annually a rate certification, signed by an actuary who is a member in good standing of the Casualty Actuarial Society or the American Academy of Actuaries, which states that the group’s prospective rates are not excessive, inadequate, or unfairly discriminatory.  The certification is to accompany the group’s rate filing.  If a rate filing is not required, the actuarial rate certification is to be submitted by the end of the calendar year. (1997-362, s. 3.)