(A) The director may declare a line of insurance competitive by providing public notice on the department website and in major newspapers in South Carolina of the intention of declaring a market competitive in sixty days. A separate notice must be sent to the Consumer Advocate. A report that provides the support for that declaration must be available upon request and posted on the department's website. A party may send a request to the department requesting a public hearing before the Administrative Law Court. If a public hearing is requested, the department shall cooperate in establishing a hearing.

(B) The following factors must be considered by the director for purposes of determining if a reasonable degree of competition exists in a particular line of insurance:

(1) the number of insurers or groups of affiliated insurers providing coverage in the market;

(2) measures of market concentration and changes of market concentration over time;

(3) ease of entry and the existence of financial or economic barriers that could prevent new firms from entering the market;

(4) the extent to which any insurer or group of affiliated insurers controls all or a portion of the market;

(5) whether the total number of companies writing the line of insurance in this State is sufficient to provide multiple options;

(6) the availability of insurance coverage to consumers in the markets by specific geographic area, by line of insurance, and by class of risk; and

(7) the opportunities available to consumers in the market to acquire pricing and other consumer information.

Each factor must indicate a competitive market in order for a determination that there is a competitive market to be made.

(C) The director shall monitor the degree and continued existence of competition in this State on an on-going basis. The director may utilize existing relevant information, analytical systems, and other sources, or rely on a combination of them. Activities may be conducted internally within the insurance department, in cooperation with other state insurance departments, through outside contractors, or in any other appropriate manner.

(D) An affected person or organization may make a written request to the director or his designee to initiate a hearing to determine whether a particular line of insurance continues to be competitive. The request for hearing must specify the grounds to be relied upon by the applicant. Within thirty days after the receipt of the request, the director or his designee shall transmit the request for hearing to the Administrative Law Court.

HISTORY: 2004 Act No. 290, Section 1, eff July 29, 2004.