Conn. Agencies Regs. § 38a-430-2

Current through October 16, 2024

Section 38a-430-2 - Filing procedure

Any insurer required pursuant to Section 38a-430 of the Connecticut General Statutes to file a copy of a form with the Commissioner for approval, shall comply with the following standards:

(a)Filing.

(1) Filing shall be done electronically through SERFF or any subsequent corresponding system adopted by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners or the Commissioner. All fields in SERFF shall be filled out appropriately and accurately for each filing.

(2) If one or more elements within a filing vary by member company within a group of companies, the filer shall file separately for each insurer within the group.

(3) The electronic filing shall contain a descriptive caption. The caption shall include a brief description of the type of filing, and any applicable form identification number. All subsequent correspondence to the Insurance Department on the filing shall include the caption in the identical format as it was displayed in the original electronic filing and a reference to the previous filing's State tracking number, in addition to the date of the original filing transmittal document and the Department's file number, if known.

(4) All SERFF submissions shall include the following information in the filing description:

(A) A list of the documents submitted therewith;

(B) A brief outline of proposed changes;

(C) The approval sought;

(D) The proposed effective date; and

(E) Whether the form sought to be approved by the Commissioner is subject to the requirements of the Insurance Plain Language Act, Chapter 699a of the Connecticut General Statutes.

(b) Every form filing shall be completed in "John Doe" fashion.

(c)

(1) Every form filing subject to the requirements of the Insurance Plain Language Act, Chapter 699a of the Connecticut General Statutes, shall be accompanied with a certificate signed by an officer of the insurer, that the form complies with the Insurance Plain Language Act.

(2) The certificate required by subdivision (1) of this subsection shall be in the following form:

(NAME OF COMPANY)

(COMPANY ADDRESS)

This is to certify that the forms listed below are in compliance with Chapter 699a of the Connecticut General Statutes.

A. Option Selected

_____1. Policy and its related forms are scored for the Flesch reading ease test as one

unit and the combined score is _____.

_____2. Policy and its related forms are scored separately for the Flesch

reading ease test. Scores for the policy and each form are indicated below:

Form Form Number Flesch Score

B. Test Option Selected

_____1. Test was applied to entire policy form(s).

_____2. Test was applied on sample basis. Form(s) contain(s) more than

10,000 words. Copy of form(s) enclosed indicating word samples tested.

C. Standards for Certification

A checked block indicates the standard has been achieved.

_____1. The policy text achieves a minimum score of 45 on the Flesch reading

ease test in accordance with the option chosen in Section A above.

_____2. It is printed in not less than ten point type, one point leaded. (This

does not apply to specification pages, schedules and tables.)

_____3. The layout and spacing of the policy separate the paragraphs from each other and from the border of the paper.

_____4. The section titles are captioned in bold face type or otherwise stand out significantly from the text.

_____5. Unnecessarily long, complicated or obscure words, sentences, para-graphs or constructions are not used in the policy.

_____6. The style, arrangement and overall appearance of the policy give no undue prominence to any portion of the policy or to any endorsement or riders.

______7. A table of contents or an index of the principal sections is included in the policy. (This applies only if the policy has more than 3,000 words or

consists of more than 3 pages.)

(COMPANY NAME)

_________________ By: ______________________________

(Date)

(Title)

(d) Each form filing other than those involving group life, group annuities and group accident and health insurance, shall be accompanied with the rates that will be used in connection with such form.

(e) When an insurer makes reference to another document in its filing, it shall include a copy or provide the tracking number for the referenced document.

(f) The Insurance Department is obligated to collect, pursuant to Section 12-211 of the Connecticut General Statutes, form filing fees from foreign or alien insurers, if the state or foreign country in which they are domiciled imposes such and larger fees upon Connecticut's domestic insurers. Accordingly, each insurer domiciled in any other state or jurisdiction which requires such fees shall remit the equivalent filing fee (in the form of a check made payable to the Treasurer, State of Connecticut or electronically through SERFF) together with each such filing submitted. The insurer shall also represent and certify that the fee payment remitted is the same amount required by its domiciliary state or jurisdiction.

Conn. Agencies Regs. § 38a-430-2

Effective September 25, 1992; Amended April 23, 2015; Amended April 4, 2017