R.I. ADOPTS FLEX-RATING:

Rhode Island has relaxed its regulation of personal lines insurance rates. The House and Senate approved a flex-rating measure allowing insurers to increase or decrease rates by no more than 5 percent within a one-year period without prior approval of the state. The measure (HB 8042) took effect immediately. Rate changes higher or lower than 5 percent would still be subject to prior state approval by the Department of Business Regulation. State Rep. Brian Patrick Kennedy, chairman of the House Corporations Committee, sponsored the bill. Kennedy is also chairman of the executive committee for the National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL), whose flex-rating model served as the basis for the Rhode Island measure, although that proposal calls for a flexible range of up to 14 percent.