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To: Insurance
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026
By: Representatives Ford (54th), Turner,
Arnold
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
HOUSE BILL NO. 1170
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 83-3-24, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO 1
ESTABLISH THE RESPONSE DISTANCE FROM A FIRE STATION THAT MUST BE 2
UTILIZED BY THE MISSISSIPPI STATE RATING BUREAU WHEN GRADING 3
MUNICIPALITIES OR FIRE DISTRICTS FOR FIRE INSURANCE RATING 4
PURPOSES; TO REQUIRE THE COMMISSIONER OF INSURANCE TO ADOPT RULES 5
AND REGULATIONS REQUIRING THE RATING BUREAU TO CONSIDER ALL 6
SOURCES OF WATER WHEN GRADING FIRE DEPARTMENTS; TO REQUIRE THE 7
COMMISSIONER TO ADOPT RULES AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE SALE OF 8
FIRE TRUCKS; TO AMEND SECTION 83-2-7, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO 9
REQUIRE THE COMMISSIONER TO ADOPT RULES AND REGULATIONS 10
PROHIBITING INSURERS FROM ADJUSTING RATES ABOVE THE BASE RATES 11
DEVELOPED BY THE RATING BUREAU; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 12
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 13
SECTION 1. Section 83-3-24, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 14
amended as follows: 15
83-3-24. (1) When rating a municipality or fire district, 16
including evaluations of rural or volunteer fire departments, the 17
Rating Bureau shall consider the mileage, condition and 18
maintenance of the fire trucks rather than the age of the fire 19
trucks. For the purpose of grading municipalities or fire 20
districts, including rural and volunteer fire departments, and 21
awarding credits that are considered in determining an overall 22
fire rating based upon the condition of their fire trucks, the 23
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Rating Bureau shall publish guidelines for use in the grading of 24
fire trucks not later than January 30 of the calendar year during 25
which the Rating Bureau will apply the guidelines. These 26
guidelines shall be published and made available to each 27
municipality and fire district, including rural and volunteer fire 28
departments, on the Rating Bureau's website not later than January 29
30 of the calendar year during which the Rating Bureau will apply 30
the guidelines. If a fire truck in a municipality or fire 31
district, including rural and volunteer fire departments, 32
satisfies the guidelines, then the Rating Bureau shall not 33
recommend the replacement of the fire truck before the next 34
grading process. 35
(2) (a) For the purpose of grading fire departments, the 36
alternative water supply standard shall be two hundred fifty (250) 37
gallons per minute for a sustained period of one (1) hour. 38
(b) The Commissioner of Insurance shall adopt rules and 39
regulations requiring the Rating Bureau to consider all sources of 40
water, including alternative water supplies such as ponds, lakes 41
and rivers, for the purpose of grading fire departments. 42
(3) For the purpose of grading municipalities or fire 43
districts, including rural and volunteer fire departments, the 44
response distance from a fire station used by the Rating Bureau 45
must be no less than seven and one-half (7 1/2) road miles. 46
SECTION 2. The Commissioner of Insurance shall adopt rules 47
and regulations governing the sale of fire trucks in the State of 48
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Mississippi. The rules and regulations shall establish the 49
process by which a county, municipality or fire protection 50
district may sell a fire truck, whether voluntarily or 51
necessitated by a need to replace or retire the apparatus, which 52
grants other counties, municipalities and fire protection 53
districts in the state an opportunity to purchase the fire truck 54
being sold before it is made available for purchase to entities 55
located outside the state. The commissioner shall include such 56
provisions as may be necessary to balance the aim of achieving the 57
best possible price for the sale of a fire truck with the fire 58
protection needs of other areas of the state. 59
SECTION 3. Section 83-2-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 60
amended as follows: 61
83-2-7. (1) Except as provided in Section 83-2-9 and 62
subsections (2), (3) and (5) of this section, every insurer shall 63
file with the commissioner all rates, supplementary rate 64
information, policy forms and endorsements at least thirty (30) 65
days prior to the proposed effective date which shall be stated in 66
the filing. Rates, supplementary rate information, policy forms 67
and endorsements need not be filed for inland marine risks which 68
by general custom of the business are not written according to 69
manual rules or rating plans. Upon the request of the 70
commissioner, supporting information shall also be filed. Any 71
filing made under this section is deemed to be approved unless 72
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disapproved by the Commissioner of Insurance within thirty (30) 73
days after the date of filing. 74
(2) A filing of adjustments of rates for existing rating 75
systems made under this section which does not involve a change in 76
the relationship between such rates and the expense portion 77
thereof or does not involve a change of the element of expenses 78
which are paid as a percentage of premiums and does not involve a 79
change in rate relativities among such classifications on any 80
basis other than loss experience is effective on the date 81
specified in the filing which shall not be less than thirty (30) 82
days after the filing is made and shall be deemed to meet the 83
requirements of this chapter. 84
(3) The commissioner may give written notice within thirty 85
(30) days of the receipt of the filing that additional time, not 86
to exceed sixty (60) days from the date of such notice, is 87
necessary to consider the filing. A filing is deemed to meet the 88
requirements of this chapter and becomes effective unless 89
disapproved by the commissioner before the expiration of the 90
waiting period or an extension thereof. Whenever a filing made 91
under this section is not accompanied by sufficient supporting 92
information, the commissioner shall inform the filing entity as to 93
what information is required to complete the filing. The filing 94
shall not be deemed to be completed until such information is 95
furnished. 96
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(4) No insurance company shall make or issue a contract or 97
policy except in accordance with filings made with the 98
commissioner, if such filings are required. 99
(5) Subject to the provisions of subsections (6), (7) and 100
(8) of this section, rates and supplementary rate information for 101
the following commercial lines insurance coverages shall be exempt 102
from filing and approval requirements. However, the rates shall 103
remain subject to the standards set forth in Section 83-2-3. 104
Policy forms and endorsements for the following commercial lines 105
insurance coverages must be filed with the commissioner within 106
sixty (60) days of use for informational purposes only: 107
(a) Surety and Fidelity; 108
(b) Boiler and Machinery; 109
(c) Environmental Impairment or Pollution Liability; 110
(d) Kidnap and Ransom; 111
(e) Political Risk or Expropriation; 112
(f) Excess and Umbrella Liability; 113
(g) Employment Practices Liability; 114
(h) Media Liability; 115
(i) Product Liability, Product Recall, and Completed 116
Operations; 117
(j) Highly Protected Commercial Property; and 118
(k) Any other commercial lines insurance coverage or 119
risk that the commissioner shall, pursuant to regulation, exempt 120
from rate, rate supplementary information, or policy form filing 121
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requirements in order to promote enhanced competition or to more 122
effectively use the resources of the department that might 123
otherwise be used to review commercial lines filings. 124
(6) If a commercial lines insurance rate, policy form or 125
endorsement is determined not to comply with the requirements of 126
Mississippi law, the commissioner may issue an order specifying in 127
detail how the rate, policy form, or endorsement fails to meet 128
statutory requirements and further specifying a prospective date 129
after which the rate or form may not be used. The commissioner's 130
findings shall not affect policies in force prior to the date 131
specified in the order. As part of such an order, the 132
commissioner may require the insurer subject to the order to 133
submit a filing for approval by the commissioner of a new rate or 134
policy form, if any, that will replace the discontinued rate or 135
policy form. 136
(7) The commissioner may temporarily reinstate, for a period 137
of no longer than one (1) year, the filing and approval 138
requirements for rate, rate supplementary information, or policy 139
form for a specific type of commercial lines insurance if, after a 140
hearing, the commissioner makes a finding of fact that a 141
reasonable degree of competition does not exist for that specific 142
type of insurance coverage. Such a finding of fact by the 143
commissioner must specify the relevant tests used to determine 144
whether a lack of a reasonable degree of competition exists and 145
the results thereof. In the absence of such specific findings of 146
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ST: Insurance; revise various provisions
relating to rating bureau and require
commissioner to create certain rules.
fact by the commissioner, it shall be presumed that a competitive 147
market exists. 148
(8) For purposes of this section, commercial lines insurance 149
means property and casualty insurance for any risk that is not a 150
personal or family risk, but shall not include workers' 151
compensation, medical malpractice liability, creditor-placed 152
insurance or any insurance issued by residual market mechanisms or 153
assigned risk plans. 154
(9) The commissioner shall adopt such rules and regulations 155
as may be necessary to prohibit insurers from adjusting any rate 156
above the base rates developed by the Mississippi State Rating 157
Bureau. 158
SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from 159
and after July 1, 2026. 160