631.23 Authorized clauses for insurance forms.

(1) Promulgation of clauses. The commissioner may not promulgate mandatory uniform clauses that preclude an insurer from filing its own forms under s. 631.20; the commissioner may only disapprove such forms on the basis of the criteria stated in that section. Subject thereto, the commissioner may promulgate authorized clauses by rule upon a finding that:

(a) Price or coverage competition is ineffective because diversity in language or content makes comparison difficult;

(b) Provision of language, content or form of specific clauses is necessary to provide certainty of meaning of those clauses;

(c) Regulation of contract forms would be more effective or litigation would be substantially reduced if there were increased standardization of certain clauses; or

(d) Reasonable minimum standards of insurance protection are needed for policies to serve a useful purpose.

(2) Degree of specificity. Any rule creating an authorized clause may prescribe that to be treated as an authorized clause there must be verbatim or substantial adherence to prescribed language, that certain standards or criteria must be met, or that certain drafting principles must be followed. The rules may also permit liberalization of prescribed language. If the proposed rule prescribed verbatim adherence, the commissioner shall make a finding that substantial adherence to the prescribed language is not sufficient and that liberalization of prescribed language will frustrate the purposes of the prescription. If an insurer uses authorized clauses as part of filed forms the commissioner may only disapprove those clauses under s. 631.20 upon a finding that improper combination of clauses makes them violate the criteria of s. 631.20.

History: 1975 c. 375, 421; 1979 c. 221; 2007 a. 168.