Bulletin: SC2018002

Dear Associates:

REVISED RATE MANUAL

The South Carolina Department of Insurance has approved a revised Rate Manual for South Carolina, effective April 9, 2018. Please take the opportunity to familiarize yourself with the updated Rate Manual, which the Department of Insurance has approved for use in South Carolina as of April 9, 2018. 

This filing was made to amend the chart on Page eight for Section E-Simultaneous Issue of Policies and pertains to the ALTA Homeowner’s Policy when issued together with a Loan Policy of either a greater or lesser value. The chart for this section was modified to clarify these two possible scenarios for when the ALTA Homeowner’s policy is issued simultaneously with a Loan policy of either a lesser or greater value than the Homeowner’s policy. The following language was added:

Simultaneous Issue of Policies:

NEW FORMS APPROVED

The South Carolina Department of Insurance has approved the use of the following forms in South Carolina, effective May 7, 2018:

Commitment:

ALTA Short Form Commitment for a Short Form Residential Loan Policy (009-UN) (12/01/17)

According to ALTA, this new commitment will replace the current version (last revised effective 10-16-2008 with a technical correction dated 08-01-2015) and be a companion form to the 2016 ALTA Commitment.

It incorporates by reference the substantive conditions of the offer of lender’s title insurance on a residential loan transaction and is commonly used to streamline the transfer of the data necessary for a Short Form Residential Loan Policy to be issued.

Endorsement:

ALTA Form 23.1-06 Co-Insurance - Multiple Policies (E-9234) (08/01/17)

According to ALTA, the existing ALTA 23-06 Co-Insurance Endorsement is available for issuance if two or more co-insurers assume liability under one title insurance policy issued by the “Issuing Co-Insurer.”  The ALTA 12-06 and 12.1-06 Aggregation Endorsements are also available for issuance if the title insurer aggregated liability under multiple policies that it issued on different tracts of land. However, the existing Co-Insurance Endorsement did not contemplate the apportionment of liability by a co-insurer if multiple title insurance policies are being issued on separate tracts of land.

The new Endorsement 23.1-06 (Co-Insurance - Multiple Policies), which can be issued with either Owner’s or Loan Policies, refers in paragraph 2 to the separate Aggregation Endorsement of the Co-Insurer and acknowledges that each Co-Insurer’s policy liability is aggregated with the liability of the Issuing Co-Insurer (the lead title insurer actually issuing the policy) if the Co-Insurer issues its own Aggregation Endorsement showing that Co-Insurer’s policy liability and Aggregate Amount of Insurance.

NOTE:  Agents please contact PropertyInfo Customer Care, or your title production software vendor, to have the new rate changes implemented in your system, to be effective as of April 9, 2108.

As a reminder, other forms should not be used if a comparable ALTA version is available. If a comparable ALTA version is available, the most current version of the ALTA form available in your state should be used, unless approved by a Stewart underwriter. 

If you have any questions relating to this or other bulletins, please contact a Stewart Title Guaranty Company underwriter.

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