TEXAS OKAYS ISO COMM. AUTO TOOLS:

The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) has cleared the way for insurers to make filings immediately using Insurance Services Office Inc.’s (ISO) commercial auto advisory information. According to ISO, its advisory service for the commercial auto insurance program in Texas now includes advisory prospective loss costs and manual rules for applying those loss costs. Loss costs are insurers’ anticipated losses, based on aggregated data, from underwriting a particular class of risks. Rules are sets of conditions under which insurers underwrite a specific risk or a class of risks. The TDI has approved for insurers’ use ISO’s commercial auto loss costs and rules for: Texas-specific liability, medical payments, personal injury protection, uninsured/underinsured motorists, and physical damage advisory loss costs for trucks, tractors and trailers, garage dealers classes and garage keepers coverage; Texas-specific loss costs for private passenger types using the standard ISO multistate program; Multistate classifications and relativity factors for classes including, but not limited to, trucks, tractors and trailers, and publics; and Loss costs for miscellaneous classes and coverages found in other states. Also approved were the following ISO rating plans for insurers’ use as additional tools to reflect the unique characteristics of individual risks: Commercial automobile liability experience and schedule rating plan; Commercial automobile physical damage experience and schedule rating plan; Composite rating plan; and Retrospective rating plan. In addition, the TDI okayed ISO’s standardized multistate commercial auto policy forms.