Cal. INS § 11628 — California Code / Code ins / Division 2 / Part 3 / Chapter 1 / Article 5 / Section 11628
Section 11628
Status: in_force

(a) (1) No admitted insurer that is licensed to issue and issuing motor vehicle liability policies, as defined in Section 16450 of the Vehicle Code, shall fail or refuse to accept an application for that insurance, to issue that insurance to an applicant therefor, or issue or cancel that insurance under conditions less favorable to the insured than in other comparable cases, except for reasons applicable alike to persons of every characteristic listed or defined in subdivision (b) or (e) of Section 51 of the Civil Code, including, but not limited to, language, or persons of the same geographic area; nor shall any characteristic listed or defined in subdivision (b) or (e) of Section 51 of the Civil Code, including, but not limited to, language, or location within a geographic area, of itself, constitute a condition or risk for which a higher rate, premium, or charge may be required of the insured for that insurance.

(2) As used in this section “geographic area” means a portion of this state of not less than 20 square miles defined by description in the rating manual of an insurer or in the rating manual of a rating bureau of which the insurer is a member or subscriber. In order that geographic areas used for rating purposes may reflect homogeneity of loss experience, a record of loss experience for the geographic area shall include the breakdown of actual loss experience statistics by ZIP Code area (as designated by the United States Postal Service) within each geographic area for family owned private passenger motor vehicles and lightweight commercial motor vehicles, under 1 1/2-ton load capacity, used for local service or retail delivery, normally within a 50-mile radius of garaging, and that are not part of a fleet of five or more motor vehicles under one ownership. A record of loss experience for the geographic area, including that statistical data by ZIP Code area, shall be submitted biennially to the commissioner for examination by each insurer licensed to issue and issuing motor vehicle liability policies, motor vehicle physical damage policies, or both. Loss experience shall include separate loss data for each type of coverage, including liability or physical damage coverage, underwritten. The biennial report shall include the insurer’s statewide loss ratio, loss adjustment expense ratio, expense ratio, and combined ratio on its assigned-risk business. Statewide summary data shall be submitted annually to the commissioner. An insurer may satisfy its obligation to report statistical data under this subdivision by providing its loss experience data and statewide expense ratio and combined ratio on its assigned-risk business to a rating or advisory organization for submission to the commissioner. This data shall be made available to the public by the commissioner biennially after examination. However, the data shall be released in aggregate form by ZIP Code or statewide basis in order that no individual insurer’s loss experience for any specific geographic area be revealed. Differentiation in rates between geographical areas shall not constitute unfair discrimination.

(3) All information reported to the department pursuant to this subdivision shall be confidential.

(4) As used in this section:

(A) “Language” means the inability to speak, read, write, or comprehend the English language.

(B) “Dependents” shall include, but not be limited to, issue regardless of generation.

(C) “Spouse” shall be determined without regard to current marital status.

(b) The commissioner may require insurers with combined ratios on statewide assigned-risk business that are 10 percent above the mean combined ratio for all plan participants to also report the following:

(1) The reason for the excessive ratio.

(2) A plan for reducing the ratio, and when the reduction can be expected to occur. The commissioner may require insurers subject to this subdivision to provide periodic reports on the progress in reducing the combined ratio.

(c) (1) No admitted insurer, licensed to issue and issuing motor vehicle liability insurance policies as defined in Section 16450 of the Vehicle Code, shall fail or refuse to accept an application for that insurance, refuse to issue that insurance to an applicant therefor, or cancel that insurance solely for the reason that the applicant for that insurance or any insured is employed in a specific occupation, or is on active duty service in the Armed Forces of the United States.

(2) Nothing in this section shall prohibit an insurer from doing any of the following:

(A) Considering the occupation of the applicant or insured as a condition or risk for which a higher rate or discounted rate may be required or offered for coverage in the course and scope of his or her occupation.

(B) Charging a deviated rate to any classification of risks involving a specific occupation, or grouping thereof, if the rate meets the requirements of Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 1850.4) of Part 2 of Division 1 and is based upon actuarial data that demonstrates a significant actual historical differential between past losses or expenses attributable to the specific occupation, or grouping thereof, and the past losses or expenses attributable to other classification of risks. For purposes of compiling that actuarial data for a specific occupation or grouping thereof, a person shall be deemed employed in the occupation in which that data is compiled if any of the following is true:

(i) The majority of his or her employment during the previous year was in the occupation.

(ii) The majority of his or her aggregate earnings for the immediate preceding three-year period were derived from the occupation.

(iii) The person is a member in good standing of a union that is an authorized collective bargaining agent for persons engaged in the occupation.

(3) Nothing in this section shall be construed to include in the definition of “occupation” any status or activity that does not result in remuneration for work done or services performed, or self-employment in a business operated out of an applicant’s or insured’s place of residence or persons engaged in the renting, leasing, selling, repossessing, rebuilding, wrecking, or salvaging of motor vehicles.

(d) Nothing in this section shall limit or restrict the ability of an insurer to refuse to accept an application for or refuse to issue or cancel insurance for the reason that it is a commercial vehicle or based upon the consideration of a vehicle’s size, weight, design, or intended use.

(e) It is the intent of the Legislature that actuarial data by occupation may be examined for credibility by the commissioner on the same basis as any other automobile insurance data that he or she is empowered to examine.

(f) (1) Except as provided in Article 4 (commencing with Section 11620), nothing in this section or in Article 10 (commencing with Section 1861.01) of Chapter 9 of Part 2 of Division 1 or in any other provision of this code, shall prohibit an insurer from limiting the issuance or renewal of insurance, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 660, to persons who engage in, or have formerly engaged in, governmental or military service or segments of categories thereof, and their spouses, dependents, direct descendants, and former dependents or spouses.

(2) The term “military service” includes, but is not limited to, officers, warrant officers, and enlisted persons, officer and warrant officer candidates, cadets or midshipmen at a service academy, cadets or midshipmen in advance Reserve Officer Training Corps programs or on Reserve Officer Training Corps program scholarships, National Guard officer candidates, students in government-sponsored precommissioning programs, and foreign military officers while on temporary duty in the United States.

(g) Any person subject to regulation by the commissioner pursuant to this code who fails to comply with a data call required by the department pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be liable to the state for a civil penalty in an amount not exceeding five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each 30-day period that the person is not in compliance, unless the failure to comply is willful, in which case the civil penalty shall be in an amount not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each 30-day period that the person is not in compliance, but not to exceed an aggregate amount of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000). The commissioner shall collect the amount so payable and may bring an action in the name of the people of the State of California to enforce collection. These penalties shall be in addition to other penalties provided by law.

(h) This section shall be known and may be cited as the “Rosenthal Auto Insurance Nondiscrimination Law.”