Rating Bureau

Cooperative organization among insurers that rates and prepares new policy forms according to guidelines and regulations of the state Insurance Department. Loss experience, collected according to the line of business in specific geographical areas, is used to suggest rates for use by the rating bureau member companies. They may either use these rates or file their own deviated rates for approval by the state insurance department if it is a prior approval state. In an open competition state, a company does not need approval for a deviated rate. In a file-and-use state, a company can use a deviated rate without approval, after having filed it with the state insurance department. In a modified prior approval state, a company can use a deviated rate after filing it with the state insurance department provided it is a modest deviation and not a new rate classification.