MI | Michigan has issued a bulletin regarding its annual Surplus Lines Consumer Price Index (CPI). This bulletin supersedes Bulletin 2017-08-INS, dated June 14, 2017.
The Legislature amended section 1915 of the Insurance Code of 1956 (Code), MCL 500.1915, effective January 5, 2007, providing in part as follows:
(1) A licensee may not charge, in addition to the premium charged by an unauthorized insurer, a fee to cover the costs incurred in the placement of the indemnity which exceeds $50.00, unless all the following conditions are met:
(a) The fee in excess of $50.00 is filed with the [Director] and not disapproved by the [Director] within 30 days of the date it is filed with the [Director].
(b) The fee exceeds $50.00 only to the extent that the actual additional costs incurred for services performed by persons or entities unrelated to the licensee exceed that amount.
(2) A fee charged pursuant to subsection (1) shall not be excessive or discriminatory. The licensee shall maintain complete documentation of all fees charged pursuant to subsection (l)(b). Those fees shall not be included as a part of the policy premium in the computation of premium taxes.
Section 1915 also requires the Director to annually adjust the $50.00 fee to reflect the percentage of change in the consumer price index (CPI) for all urban consumers in the United States city average for all items, as most recently reported by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
By issuing this bulletin, the Director certifies that he has performed the CPI adjustment required by section 1915 of the Code, MCL 500.1915. Effective June 1, 2018, through May 31, 2019, the maximum fee a surplus lines licensee may charge for costs, without application as quoted above, is $62.00.