Dear Statutory Compliance Representative:

In 1999 the Missouri General Assembly passed and the Governor signed a new law, sections 303.400 to 303.415, RSMo 2000, which were aimed at reducing the number of uninsured motorists in the state by establishing the Motorist Insurance Information Database. In 2000, the Missouri General Assembly passed and the Governor signed changes relating to the Motorist Insurance Information Database and section 303.026, RSMo Supp 2001, to authorize an Enhanced Sampling Program (ESP). The purpose of this letter is to notify you of the reporting requirements that your company may have to meet.

Any policies issued to the owners of fleet or rental vehicles or on vehicles that are covered by a commercial line policy are fully exempted from these reporting requirements. If your Missouri business falls exclusively within these categories please fax a letter on company stationary to that effect to the Missouri Department of Revenue, Attn: ESP Manager (573) 751-5578. Your company will then be exempt from the monthly reporting requirement.

All insurance companies with in-force private passenger (non-commercial) motor vehicle liability insurance policies on vehicles principally garaged in Missouri are required to electronically report to the Missouri Department of Revenue (department) a record of each policy in force at 11:59 P.M on the last day of each month. Your company will be required to report this data to the department no later than the seventh (7th) working day of the following month. Administrative Rule 12 CSR 10-25.150 outlines the required information to be included in each record.

Electronic reporting will utilize a Missouri-developed flat file format and approved media which include: 3480 or 3490 magnetic tape cartridges, 1.4MB floppy disk, CD ROM, and file transfer using the Internet. Insurers with a “…statistically insignificant number” of policies in force (less than 100 policies) are exempted from the electronic reporting requirement; however, they are encouraged to utilize it. Only these companies may use an interactive spreadsheet or the paper format.

Detailed program and reporting guidance can be obtained by accessing the ESP website. This website provides the portal for Internet reporting, a copy of the ESP User’s Guide which explains all of the business rules/details that are needed to successfully report to the department on a monthly basis and all necessary forms.

The first step in getting certified to report under the ESP is the submission of the Missouri Insurance Partners Information Sheet (MIPIS) for your company to the department. The MIPIS must be sent to the department within ten working days following the issuance of the first reportable policy. This will provide the department with the name(s), telephone number(s) and email address(es) of the business and technical point(s) of contact within your company. A separate MIPIS form is required for each company for which you will be reporting.

Within 90 calendar days of the first reportable policy, or sooner, we expect to receive your first data transmission. During certification testing, we highly encourage using real, operational data that includes all the records that you will be reporting monthly. Since your first transmission is part of the testing/certification process, your data will only be processed in our test environment, not our production environment.

Following your initial data submission, you will then have 30 calendar days to complete the testing process and become certified. Testing involves determining the quality of your data and whether you can open an error file sent to you by the department. This period may require retransmission of your data more than once. Certification requires the receipt of your full book of business (operational data, not test data.). Once certified, your company will be required to report operational data each month until it no longer has in-force Missouri policies.

Failure to meet these deadlines may be considered non-compliance with Missouri law. The Missouri Department of Insurance will be notified of this non-compliance. Missouri law allows for an administrative penalty of up to $500 for each day of non-compliance. It is imperative that you meet these timelines as not doing so can put your company’s customers in jeopardy of having their driver licenses revoked for apparently not having automobile liability insurance.

If you have any questions or need assistance, please feel free to call the “ESP Hotline” at (573) 751-5578 or email us at enhanced.sampling@dor.mo.gov. Our project manager and technical staff are ready to provide any assistance that you may need in order to get your company certified. We look forward to receiving your data.

Sincerely,

Julie Allen, Acting Director