Nevada Bulletin 25-005: the 3% flex-rated filing rule behind some 2026 home-insurance renewals

If your 2026 Las Vegas or Henderson home-insurance renewal moved up a few percent, part of the explanation may be a regulatory change most homeowners have never heard of. On November 14, 2025, the Nevada Division of Insurance issued Bulletin 25-005, setting the thresholds for a new Program of Flex-Rated Filing — a streamlined lane, created by Assembly Bill 376 (2025), that lets property insurers file modest rate increases without the full filing process Nevada law otherwise requires.

Effective January 1, 2026, both thresholds sit at 3.000%. This guide explains what the bulletin actually says, the guardrails the statute puts around flex filings, what the program does not do, and how to read your own renewal. It is general information, not legal advice, and not a quote or a binding offer of insurance.

What Bulletin 25-005 actually says

The bulletin is short — one page over the signature of Nevada Insurance Commissioner Ned Gaines — and does three things:

• Confirms the program exists. Effective January 1, 2026, Section 20.3 of AB 376 (2025) requires the Commissioner to establish a Program of Flex-Rated Filing, allowing an insurer that issues a line of property insurance covering real property to file a proposed increase in rates under the program, in lieu of a filing under NRS 686B.070.
• Sets the initial thresholds. Effective January 1, 2026, the maximum percentage of overall rate impact is 3.000% and the maximum percentage of individual rate disruption is 3.000%. The statute sets a floor: the overall-rate-impact threshold may not be less than 3 percent. These thresholds remain in effect until revised by regulation, and the Division has opened a rulemaking to take public input on them.
• Explains eligibility mechanics. A filing qualifies only if submitted through SERFF (the NAIC’s System for Electronic Rate and Form Filing) and the insurer states in the filing description and memorandum that it is intended for the flex-rated program.

The Commissioner may adjust the thresholds on or before June 1 of any year, after soliciting public input and holding a public hearing that considers past and future economic conditions. You can read the bulletin itself on the bulletin itself (PDF, doi.nv.gov). This is general information, not legal advice.

The two 3% thresholds, decoded

The statute defines both numbers, and they measure different things:

Both limits have to hold at once. A carrier can’t average its way under the cap by raising one territory sharply and another not at all — the single-policyholder disruption limit catches that. The practical read for a homeowner: a rate increase that reached you through the flex-rated lane cannot, by itself, have raised your rate more than 3.000%. If your bill moved more than that, something else is going on — more on that below. This is general information, not a quote or a binding offer of insurance.

How a flex-rated filing works — and its guardrails

Section 20.3 of AB 376 builds several consumer-protective conditions into the program:

• Increase-only, rates-only. A flex filing must be limited solely to a proposed rate increase and may not change any supplementary rate information. Decreases and anything more complicated go through the normal process.
• Renewal-only. The increase cannot touch an existing policyholder until that policyholder’s policy renews — no mid-term surprises.
• 45-day runway. The first existing policyholder affected must renew no earlier than 45 days after the filing date.
• No stacking. An insurer can’t use the program if its cumulative filings on the same line in the previous 12 months would blow through a threshold, or if an affected policyholder already absorbed a flex-rated increase in the previous 12 months.
• 15-day review. The Commissioner reviews every flex filing. If, within 15 days, the Commissioner finds it doesn’t qualify, the insurer is notified and the filing is treated as a full NRS 686B.070 filing. If no notice issues within 15 days, the filing is deemed approved.

What the program does not do

Four common misreadings, corrected:

• It is not a 3% cap on Nevada premiums. A carrier that needs more than 3% can still file a larger increase the traditional way under NRS 686B.070, with full actuarial support. The flex program is an alternative lane, not a ceiling on the market.
• It doesn’t cover every policy. The program applies to lines of property insurance covering real property — homeowners is the everyday example. Section 20.7 of AB 376 excludes property insurance for business and commercial risks, and other lines (like auto) follow their own filing rules.
• It doesn’t explain every premium change. Your bill can move without any rate filing at all: an inflation adjustment raising your dwelling limit (Coverage A), a deductible change, or a discount falling off will each change premium independently. Our Las Vegas home insurance cost guide walks through what actually builds a premium.
• It doesn’t judge value. A filing being lawful says nothing about whether the resulting price is the best available for your home. Comparing carriers at equal coverage is a separate exercise — and the one that actually saves money when savings exist. Savings vary by household and carrier and are never guaranteed.

How to read your 2026 renewal letter

Before assuming a rate filing explains your renewal, check the parts of the packet that move premium on their own. All of this is general guidance — your policy documents control:

• Compute the actual change. New total premium vs. last term, as a percentage. Small single-digit movement is consistent with a flex-rated filing; larger movement means a traditional filing or coverage changes.
• Compare Coverage A. If your dwelling limit rose with an inflation adjustment, premium follows even with zero rate change. Whether the new limit matches real rebuild cost is its own question — see replacement cost vs. market value.
• Read the deductibles. A deductible that changed at renewal changes both your price and your out-of-pocket exposure. Check the wind/hail and any wildfire-specific deductible language — our wildfire coverage guide shows what to look for.
• Check the discounts. If a discount quietly dropped off, ask why — sometimes it’s recoverable.
• Then compare the market. One carrier’s renewal is one data point. A coverage checkup against other Nevada-admitted carriers at the same limits tells you whether it’s a good one.

Where AB 376’s wildfire changes fit in

Bulletin 25-005 is one half of a package. The same bill that created the flex-rated program — AB 376 (2025) — also authorized Nevada property insurers, from January 1, 2026, to exclude the peril of wildfire from a property policy and to sell standalone wildfire-only policies. Both provisions came out of the same hard-market pressure, and both reach homeowners the same way: through the language and pricing of renewal offers.

That’s why the renewal read matters twice in 2026 — once for the price, once for the wildfire language. We cover the coverage half in Nevada’s AB 376 wildfire exclusion law, explained. For the bill’s official text and status, see the Nevada Legislature’s AB 376 page. This is general information, not legal advice.

The bottom line

Bulletin 25-005 gave Nevada property insurers a streamlined lane for rate increases of up to 3.000%, starting January 1, 2026, with real guardrails: renewal-only timing, a 45-day runway, a 12-month anti-stacking rule, and a per-policyholder disruption cap. It is not a cap on your bill, it doesn’t apply to commercial or auto lines, and it can’t tell you whether your carrier’s price is competitive. So treat your 2026 renewal as a prompt, not a verdict: verify the coverage details that move premium on their own, read the wildfire language while you’re in there, and put the renewal next to what other Nevada-admitted carriers would charge for the same protection. If you’d like a licensed local agent to run that comparison across 15+ carriers, that’s one call. This is general information, not legal advice, and not a quote or a binding offer of insurance; pricing and terms vary by carrier, property, and location, and savings are never guaranteed.

Frequently asked questions

Methodology: this guide is based on Nevada Division of Insurance Bulletin 25-005 (November 14, 2025) and the enrolled text of Nevada Assembly Bill 376 (83rd Session, 2025), particularly Sections 20.3, 20.7, and 27. Statutory and bulletin language is paraphrased or quoted from those official documents; how any provision applies to a specific policy depends on that policy’s language and the carrier’s filings. Coverage terms, pricing, and availability vary by carrier, property, and location, and are never guaranteed; nothing here is legal advice, a quote, or a binding offer of insurance. Reviewed 2026-07-02.

Related Las Vegas insurance guides