Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2010/06/21/2010-14841/insurer-reporting-requirements-list-of-insurers-required-to-file-reports
Timestamp: 2020-02-24 00:18:09
Document Index: 664368636

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 544', 'art 544', 'art 544', 'art 544', 'art 544', 'art 544', 'art 544', 'art 512', '§\u2009544', '§\u2009544']

A Proposed Rule by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on 06/21/2010
Comments must be submitted not later than August 20, 2010. Insurers listed in the appendices are required to submit reports on or before October 25, 2010.
75 FR 34966
2010-14841
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2010-14841 https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2010-14841
This document proposes to amend appendices to NHTSA regulations on 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 2007 calendar year before October 25, 2010. If the passenger motor vehicle insurers remain listed, they must submit reports by each subsequent October 25. We are proposing to add and remove several insurers from relevant appendices.
You may submit comments, identified by DOT Docket No. NHTSA-2010-0017 by any of the following methods:
Carlita Ballard, Office of International Policy, Fuel Economy and Consumer Programs, NHTSA, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590, by electronic mail to Carlita.Ballard@dot.gov. Ms. Ballard's telephone number is (202) 366-0846. Her fax number is (202) 493-2990.
Section 33112(f)(2) provides that the agency shall exempt small insurers of Start Printed Page 34967passenger 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.[1] 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.
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 Auto Rental News.[2]
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 before October 25, and by each succeeding October 25, absent an amendment removing the insurer's name from the appendices.
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 January 12, 2010 (75 FR 1548). Based on the 2007 calendar year data market shares from A. M. Best, NHTSA proposes to make no change to Appendix A.
Each of the 19 insurers listed in Appendix A are required to file a report before October 25, 2010, setting forth the information required by Part 544 for each State in which it did business in the 2007 calendar year. As long as these 19 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 2007, because each insurer had a 10 percent or greater market share of motor vehicle premiums in those States. Based on the 2007 calendar year data for market shares from A.M. Best, we propose to add Balboa Insurance Group of South Dakota to Appendix B.
The nine remaining insurers listed in Appendix B are required to report on their calendar year 2007 activities in every State where they had a 10 percent or greater market share. These reports must be filed by October 25, 2010, and set forth the information required by Part 544. As long as these nine 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.
Appendix C lists rental and leasing companies required to file reports. Subsequent to publishing the January 12, 2010 final rule (see 75 FR 1548), the agency was informed by Enterprise Rent-A-Car company (Enterprise), that it purchased Vanguard Car Rental, USA (Vanguard) in August of 2007, and that Vanguard will no longer be reporting as a separate entity because it merged with Enterprise in August of 2009. Specifically, Enterprise stated that all reporting will be performed by its parent company, Enterprise Holdings, Inc. for all three brands, National, Alamo and Enterprise. Therefore, NHTSA proposes to remove Vanguard Car Rental USA from the list of insurers required to meet the reporting requirements.
Each of the remaining five companies (including franchisees and licensees) listed in Appendix C are required to file reports for calendar year 2007 no later than October 25, 2010, and set forth the information required by Part 544. As long as those five 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.Start Printed Page 34968
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. The cost estimates in the 1987 final regulatory evaluation should be adjusted for inflation, using the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index for 2009 (see http://www.bls.gov/​cpi). The agency estimates that the cost of compliance is $50,000 (1987 dollars) for any insurer added to Appendix A, $20,000 (1987 dollars) for any insurer added to Appendix B, and $5,770 (1987 dollars) for any insurer added to Appendix C. If this proposed rule is made final, for Appendix A, the agency would propose to make no change; for Appendix B, the agency would propose to add one company; and for Appendix C, the agency would propose to remove one company. The agency estimates that the net effect of this proposal, if made final, would be a cost increase of approximately $14,220 (1987 dollars) to insurers as a group.
Interested persons may wish to examine the 1987 final regulatory evaluation. Copies of that evaluation were placed in Docket No. T86-01; Notice 2. Any interested person may obtain a copy of this evaluation by writing to NHTSA, Technical Reference Division, 1201 New Jersey Avenue, SE., East Building, Ground Floor, Room E12-100, Washington, DC 20590, or by calling (202) 366-2588.
The information collection requirements in this proposed rule were submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) pursuant to the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). This collection of information is assigned OMB Control Number 2127-0547 (“Insurer Reporting Requirements”). This collection of information is approved for use through April 30, 2012 and the agency will seek to extend the approval afterwards. The existing information collection indicates that the number of respondents for this collection is thirty-three, however, the actual number of respondents fluctuate from year to year. Therefore, because the number of respondents required to report for this final rule does not exceed the number of respondents indicated in the existing information collection, the agency does not believe that an amendment to the existing information collection is necessary.
The agency also considered the effects of this rulemaking under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). I certify that this proposed rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. The rationale for the certification is that none of the companies proposed for Appendices A, B, or C are construed to be a small entity within the definition of the RFA. “Small insurer” is defined, in part under 49 U.S.C. 33112, as any insurer whose premiums for all forms 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, or any insurer whose premiums within any State account for less than 10 percent of the total premiums for all forms of motor vehicle insurance issued by insurers within the State. This notice would exempt all insurers meeting those criteria. Any insurer too large to meet those criteria is not a small entity. In addition, in this rulemaking, the agency proposes to exempt all “self insured rental and leasing companies” that have fleets of fewer than 50,000 vehicles. Any self-insured rental and leasing company too large to meet that criterion is not a small entity.
a. Mail: Carlita Ballard, Office of International Policy, Fuel Economy and Consumer Programs, NHTSA, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., (West Building) Washington, DC 20590;
Explain your views and reasoning clearly.Start Printed Page 34969
Comments may also be submitted to the docket electronically by logging onto the Federal eRulemaking Portal Web site at http://www.regulation.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
If you wish to submit any information under a confidentiality claim, you should submit three copies of your complete submission, including the information you claim as confidential business information, to the Chief Counsel, Office of Chief Counsel, NHTSA, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., West Building, Washington, DC 20590. In addition, you should submit two copies, from which you have deleted the claimed confidential business information, to Docket Management at the address given above under ADDRESSES. When you send a comment containing information claimed to be confidential business information, you should include a cover letter addressing the information specified in our confidential business information regulation (49 CFR Part 512).
You may read the comments received by Docket Management at the address given above under ADDRESSES. The hours of the Docket are indicated above, in the same location. You may also see the comments on the Internet. To read the comments on the Internet, log onto the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulation.gov.
Based on the foregoing, we are proposing to amend Appendices B and C of 49 CFR 544, Insurer Reporting Requirements. We are also amending § 544.5 to revise the example given the recent update to the reporting requirements.
(a) Each insurer to which this part applies shall submit a report annually before October 25, beginning on October 25, 1986. This report shall contain the information required by § 544.6 of this part for the calendar year 3 years previous to the year in which the report is filed (e.g., the report due by October 25, 2010, will contain the required information for the 2007 calendar year).
Balboa Insurance Group (South Dakota) [1]
Enterprise Holding Inc./Enterprise Rent-A-Car Company [2]
1. Indicates a newly listed company which must file a report beginning with the report due October 25, 2010.
2. Enterprise Rent-A-Car Company acquired ownership of Vanguard Car Rental USA in August 2007.
[FR Doc. 2010-14841 Filed 6-18-10; 8:45 am]