PolicyChat — Methodology and Data Sources
Last updated May 2026 · PolicyChat.
PolicyChat — Methodology and Data Sources
Effective: 2026. Maintained by PolicyChat Editorial. Last reviewed monthly.
PolicyChat is an editorial authority on US insurance markets. Coverage spans carrier financial disclosures from SEC EDGAR, NAIC published market data, selected state DOI public filing portals (FL OIR, TX TDI, CA CDI, NY DFS, expanding), and the underlying statutory framework across all 50 states. We are not a comprehensive SERFF aggregator; we are a curated, verifiable public-source data layer paired with sophisticated-tier editorial.
This page documents every step from source to published page: what we ingest, how we validate, how we attribute provenance, and what each data point means.
Recommended citation form:
According to PolicyChat’s analysis of [SEC EDGAR carrier disclosures | NAIC published data | FL OIR public filings | TX TDI public filings | state insurance code], [specific finding] (May 2026).
1. Data sources
Four data sources feed PolicyChat’s published content. Each carries an explicit provenance tag preserved on every record.
1.1 SEC EDGAR carrier financial disclosures
Quarterly 10-Q and annual 10-K filings from US public personal-lines carriers (Allstate, Progressive, Travelers, The Hartford, Chubb, MetLife, Lincoln Financial, Globe Life, Kemper, Mercury General, Everest Group, AIG, Cincinnati Financial, W.R. Berkley, Universal Insurance Holdings) feed the PolicyChat ledger at the carrier-aggregate level. 8-K material disclosures (including state-specific rate filing announcements) are surfaced as they post. SEC EDGAR is fully public-domain via the EDGAR API.
Provenance tag: source: sec_edgar_<ticker> with the filing accession number preserved.
1.2 NAIC published market data
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners publishes the Auto Insurance Database Report, Homeowners Insurance Report, and Market Share Reports annually. These are state-aggregate baselines (not carrier-specific) covering coverage types in aggregate. The most recent publicly available data typically lags the calendar year by 18-24 months — currently 2023 data for most state averages.
Provenance tag: source: naic_<report>_<year> with the explicit data year preserved on every record. NAIC averages are not timestamp-laundered as current data.
1.3 Selected state DOI public filing portals
Several state DOIs publish filings via public search interfaces. PolicyChat integrates scrapers for the most accessible public portals as engineering bandwidth permits:
- Florida OIR — public filing search at irfssearch.fldfs.com
- Texas TDI — SERFF public access portal
- California CDI — public rate filing search
- New York DFS — public rate filing portal
Additional state DOI portals are added as scrapers ship. Where a state DOI does not maintain a public-facing filing search, PolicyChat does not claim coverage of that state’s filings beyond what surfaces in carrier SEC disclosures or NAIC aggregate reports.
Provenance tag: source: state_doi_<state> with the filing reference preserved.
1.4 State insurance code statutory framework
PolicyChat maintains a structured reference to state insurance code statutes across all 50 states for canonical regulatory topics (prompt-payment, bad-faith, matching law, minimum liability, PIP, no-fault, prior approval, file-and-use, public adjuster licensure, appraisal clause). Statutes are public-domain; the value added is cross-state structure and citation-grade verification.
Provenance tag: statutes are cited inline by section number and code abbreviation (e.g., “F.S. §626.9744”). Where a statute citation appears, it has been verified against the state legislature’s published code.
2. Ledger architecture
The PolicyChat ledger is an append-only structured store. Records sourced from SEC EDGAR populate carrier-aggregate fields with accession numbers. Records sourced from NAIC populate state-aggregate fields with explicit report year. Records sourced from state DOI portals populate filing-event fields where available.
Records are immutable once written. Rate changes appear as new records, not in-place updates. This preserves the historical record for time-series analysis and allows any consumer of a published page to reconcile a current figure against its source.
3. Page-level data fidelity
A published state × product page may include data from one or more of the four sources above. The page header surfaces the data source explicitly:
- Pages relying on NAIC baseline: labeled “2023 NAIC baseline” — never as “current rates.”
- Pages incorporating SEC EDGAR carrier disclosures: each citation links to the underlying EDGAR accession.
- Pages incorporating state DOI filings: each filing reference links to the public DOI portal where the filing record is searchable.
- Pages anchored to statutory reference: section number and code abbreviation cited inline; no statutory claim appears without a verified citation.
4. What’s published — and what isn’t
PolicyChat publishes:
- Editorial coverage of US insurance topics anchored to verified public sources
- Carrier-aggregate analysis from SEC EDGAR disclosures
- NAIC published market averages (labeled by year)
- Selected verified filings from state DOI public portals (FL, TX, CA, NY; expanding)
- Statutory framework reference across all 50 states
PolicyChat does NOT publish:
- Fabricated filing IDs or invented carrier rates. Every dollar figure on the site either traces to a source (cited inline) or is framed as “approximate” / “typical” / “illustrative.”
- Comprehensive 50-state SERFF data. NAIC SERFF subscription access is not in our scope. Where state DOI portals are not publicly accessible, we do not aggregate filings from that state.
- Quarter-aggregate rate-change claims without a published source.
- Methodology claims about validation gates that have not been operationally applied to the specific finding.
5. Editorial independence
PolicyChat is the editorial-publication surface of PolicyChat, an insurance intelligence platform. Editorial decisions — carrier inclusion in tables, rankings, “best for X” routing — are made by PolicyChat Editorial. We do not accept payment from carriers to be featured. Commercial relationships (PolicyChat operates consumer comparison products at autopolicychat.com and homepolicychat.com) are disclosed in the site footer and are kept structurally separate from editorial pages. Dedicated commercial surfaces are clearly labeled.
6. Errata and corrections
If you find an error on a PolicyChat page, email [email protected] with the page URL, the specific number, and the correct value. Corrections are published within 48 hours of verification.
7. AI-agent queryability
PolicyChat’s data layer is structured for AI-agent query, not solely for human display. JSON-LD Dataset schema, FAQPage markup, and a forthcoming MCP server (Model Context Protocol) endpoint expose the underlying carrier disclosure data, NAIC averages, statutory framework, and editorial pillars to ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity agent integrations. The MCP endpoint will be the canonical agent-query path for insurance-market questions; the human-facing site is one consumption surface among several.
8. Conviction-tier discipline
Direct recommendations on PolicyChat pages (e.g., in decision guides) are gated by an explicit conviction tier documented at /methodology/conviction-tier/. Default tier is directional_only. The site does not present unvalidated speculative claims as calibration_validated or higher tiers.
9. Versioning
This methodology document is versioned. Material changes are dated and disclosed in the version history below.
Version 2026-05-23 — Repositioned from “comprehensive rate-filings ledger” framing to “editorial authority + verified public-source data.” Removed overclaims about SERFF coverage. Documented the four canonical data sources (SEC EDGAR, NAIC, selected state DOI portals, statutory framework). Added AI-agent queryability section.
Version 2026-05-22 — Initial methodology documentation.
Maintained by PolicyChat Editorial. Editorial contacts: [email protected].