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Insurer Reporting Requirements; List of Insurers Required To File Reports
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[Federal Register: March 27, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 59)] [Proposed Rules] [Page 14667-14671] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr27mr02-19] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 49 CFR Part 544 [Docket No. NHTSA-2002-11392] RIN 2127-AI73 Insurer Reporting Requirements; List of Insurers Required To File Reports AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Department of Transportation (DOT). ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: This document proposes to amend Appendices A, B, and C of 49 CFR part 544, insurer reporting requirements. The appendices list those passenger motor vehicle insurers that are required to file reports on their motor vehicle theft loss experiences. An insurer included in any of these appendices would be required to file three copies of its report for the 1999 calendar year before October 25, 2002. If the passenger motor vehicle insurers remain listed, they must submit reports by each subsequent October 25. DATES: Comments must be submitted not later than May 28, 2002. Insurers listed in the appendices are required to submit reports on or before October 25, 2002. ADDRESSES: Comments on this proposed rule must refer to the docket number referenced in the heading of this notice and submit your comments in writing to: Docket Section, NHTSA, Room 5109, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590. You may also submit written comments to the docket on a computer diskette. Comments may also be submitted to the docket electronically by logging onto the Dockets Management System Web site at http://dms.dot.gov.You may visit the Docket from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Henrietta L. Spinner, Office of Planning and Consumer Programs, NHTSA, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590, by electronic mail hspinner@nhtsa.dot.gov. Ms. Spinner's telephone number is (202) 366-4802. Her fax number is (202) 493-2290. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Background Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 33112, Insurer reports and information, NHTSA requires certain passenger motor vehicle insurers to file an annual report with the agency. Each insurer's report includes information about thefts and recoveries of motor vehicles, the rating rules used by the insurer to establish premiums for comprehensive coverage, the actions taken by the insurer to reduce such premiums, and the actions taken by the insurer to reduce or deter theft. Under the agency's regulation, 49 CFR part 544, the following insurers are subject to the reporting requirements: (1) Issuers of motor vehicle insurance policies whose total premiums account for 1 percent or more of the total premiums of motor vehicle insurance issued within the United States; (2) Issuers of motor vehicle insurance policies whose premiums account for 10 percent or more of total premiums written within any one state; and (3) Rental and leasing companies with a fleet of 20 or more vehicles not covered by theft insurance policies issued by insurers of motor vehicles, other than any governmental entity. Pursuant to its statutory exemption authority, the agency exempted certain passenger motor vehicle insurers from the reporting requirements. A. Small Insurers of Passenger Motor Vehicles Section 33112(f)(2) provides that the agency shall exempt small insurers of passenger motor vehicles if NHTSA finds that such exemptions will not significantly affect the validity or usefulness of the information in the reports, either nationally or on a state-by- state basis. The term ``small insurer'' is defined, in section 33112(f)(1)(A) and (B), as an insurer whose premiums for motor vehicle insurance issued directly or through an affiliate, including pooling arrangements established under state law or regulation for the issuance of motor vehicle insurance, account for less than 1 percent of the total premiums for all forms of motor vehicle insurance issued by insurers within the United States. However, that section also stipulates that if an insurance company satisfies this definition of a ``small insurer,'' but accounts for 10 percent or more of the total premiums for all motor vehicle insurance issued in a particular state, the insurer must report about its operations in that state. In the final rule establishing the insurer reports requirement (52 FR 59; January 2, 1987), 49 CFR part 544, NHTSA exercised its exemption authority by listing in Appendix A each insurer that must report because it had at least 1 percent of the motor vehicle insurance premiums nationally. Listing the insurers subject to reporting, instead of each insurer exempted from reporting because it had less than 1 percent of the premiums nationally, is administratively simpler since the former group is much smaller than the latter. In Appendix B, NHTSA lists those insurers required to report for particular states because each insurer had a 10 percent or greater market share of motor vehicle premiums in those states. In the January 1987 final rule, the agency stated that it would update Appendices A and B annually. NHTSA updates the appendices based on data voluntarily provided by insurance companies to A.M. Best, which A.M. Best publishes in its State/Line Report each spring. The agency uses the data to determine the insurers' market shares nationally and in each state. B. Self-Insured Rental and Leasing Companies In addition, upon making certain determinations, NHTSA grants exemptions to self-insurers, i.e., any person who has a fleet of 20 or more motor vehicles (other than any governmental entity) used for rental or lease whose vehicles are not covered by theft insurance policies issued by insurers of passenger motor vehicles, 49 U.S.C. 33112(b)(1) and (f). NHTSA may exempt a self-insurer from reporting, if the agency determines: (1) The cost of preparing and furnishing such reports is excessive in relation to the size of the business of the insurer; and (2) The insurer's report will not significantly contribute to carrying out the purposes of Chapter 331. In a final rule published June 22, 1990 (55 FR 25606), the agency granted a class exemption to all companies that rent or lease fewer than 50,000 vehicles, because it believed that the largest companies' reports sufficiently represent the theft experience of rental and leasing companies. NHTSA concluded that smaller rental and leasing companies' reports do not significantly contribute to carrying out NHTSA's statutory obligations and that exempting such companies will relieve an unnecessary burden on them. As a result of the June 1990 final rule, the agency added Appendix C, consisting of an annually updated list of the self-insurers subject to part 544. Following the same approach as in Appendix A, NHTSA included, in Appendix C, each of the self-insurers subject to reporting instead of the self-insurers which are exempted. NHTSA updates Appendix C based primarily on information from Automotive Fleet Magazine and Business Travel News. C. When a Listed Insurer Must File a Report Under part 544, as long as an insurer is listed, it must file reports on or before October 25 of each year. Thus, any insurer listed in the appendices must file a report by October 25, and by each succeeding October 25, absent an amendment removing the insurer's name from the appendices. II. Proposal 1. Insurers of Passenger Motor Vehicles Appendix A lists insurers that must report because each had 1 percent of the motor vehicle insurance premiums on a national basis. The list was last amended in a final rule published on October 24, 2001 (66 FR 53731). Based on the 1999 calendar year data market [[Page 14669]] shares from A.M. Best, we propose to remove American Financial Group from Appendix A and to add Great American P & C Group and Metropolitan Life Auto & Home Group to Appendix A. Each of the 20 insurers listed in Appendix A is required to file a report before October 25, 2002, setting forth the information required by part 544 for each State in which it did business in the 1999 calendar year. As long as these 20 insurers remain listed, they will be required to submit reports by each subsequent October 25 for the calendar year ending slightly less than 3 years before. Appendix B lists insurers required to report for particular States for calendar year 1999, because each insurer had a 10 percent or greater market share of motor vehicle premiums in those States. Based on the 1999 calendar year data for market shares from A.M. Best, we propose to remove Concord Group Insurance Companies (Vermont) from Appendix B. The eight insurers listed in Appendix B are required to report on their calendar year 1999 activities in every State where they had a 10 percent or greater market share. These reports must be filed by October 25, 2002, and set forth the information required by part 544. As long as these eight insurers remain listed, they would be required to submit reports on or before each subsequent October 25 for the calendar year ending slightly less than 3 years before. 2. Rental and Leasing Companies Appendix C lists rental and leasing companies required to file reports. Based on information in Automotive Fleet Magazine and Business Travel News for 1999, NHTSA proposes to remove A T & T Automotive Services, Inc. from Appendix C and to add Ford Rent-A-Car System to Appendix C. Each of the 17 companies (including franchisees and licensees) listed in Appendix C would be required to file reports for calendar year 1999 no later than October 25, 2002, and set forth the information required by part 544. As long as those 17 companies remain listed, they would be required to submit reports before each subsequent October 25 for the calendar year ending slightly less than 3 years before. III. Regulatory Impacts 1. Costs and Other Impacts This notice has not been reviewed under Executive Order 12866. NHTSA has considered the impact of this proposed rule and determined that the action is not ``significant'' within the meaning of the Department of Transportation's regulatory policies and procedures. This proposed rule implements the agency's policy of ensuring that all insurance companies that are statutorily eligible for exemption from the insurer reporting requirements are in fact exempted from those requirements. Only those companies that are not statutorily eligible for an exemption are required to file reports. NHTSA does not believe that this proposed rule, reflecting current data, affects the impacts described in the final regulatory evaluation prepared for the final rule establishing part 544 (52 FR 59; January 2, 1987). Accordingly, a separate regulatory evaluation has not been prepared for this rulemaking action. Using the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index for 2001 (see http://www.bls.gov/cpi),