(1) Applicability of section. (a) The provisions of this section shall apply if, in any calendar year, the aggregate amount of gross written premium on business placed with a controlled insurer by a controlling producer is equal to or greater than five percent of the admitted assets of the controlled insurer, as reported in the controlled insurer's annual statement filed as of December 31 of the prior year.
(b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a) of this subsection (1), the provisions of this section shall not apply if:
(I) The controlling producer:
Places insurance only with the controlled insurer or only with the controlled insurerand a member or members of the controlled insurer's holding company system or with the controlled insurer's parent, affiliate, or subsidiary and receives no compensation in connection with such insurance; and
Accepts insurance placements only from nonaffiliated subproducers, and not directlyfrom insureds;
(II) The controlled insurer, except for insurance business written through a residual market facility, accepts insurance business only from a controlling producer, a producer controlled by the controlled insurer, or a producer that is a subsidiary of the controlled insurer.
(2) A controlled insurer shall not accept business from a controlling producer, and a controlling producer shall not place business with a controlled insurer, unless there is a written contract between the controlling producer and the controlled insurer specifying the responsibilities of each party, which contract has been approved by the board of directors of the controlled insurer and contains the following minimum provisions:
The controlled insurer may terminate the contract for cause, upon written notice tothe controlling producer; and the controlled insurer shall suspend the authority of the controlling producer to write business during the pendency of any dispute regarding the cause for the termination;
The controlling producer shall render accounts to the controlled insurer detailing allmaterial transactions, including information necessary to support all commissions, charges, and other fees received by or owing to the controlling producer;
The controlling producer shall remit all funds due under the terms of the contract tothe controlled insurer on at least a monthly basis; and the due date shall be fixed so that premiums or installments thereof collected shall be remitted no later than ninety days after the effective date of any policy placed with the controlled insurer under this contract;
All funds collected for the controlled insurer's account shall be held by the controlling producer in a fiduciary capacity, in one or more appropriately identified bank accounts in banks that are members of the federal reserve system, in accordance with the provisions of the insurance law as applicable; and funds of a controlling producer not required to be licensed in this state shall be maintained in compliance with the requirements of the controlling producer's domiciliary state;
The controlling producer shall maintain separately identifiable records of businesswritten for the controlled insurer; and such records shall be retained for a period of five years commencing no later than the effective date of the last financial examination of the insurer;
The contract shall not be assigned in whole or in part by the controlling producer;
The controlled insurer shall provide the controlling producer with its underwritingstandards, rules and procedures, manuals setting forth the rates to be charged, and the conditions for the acceptance or rejection of risks, which standards, rules, procedures, rates, and conditions shall be the same as those applicable to comparable business placed with the controlled insurer by a producer other than the controlling producer and to which standards, rules, procedures, rates, and conditions the controlling producer shall adhere;
The rates and terms of the controlling producer's commissions, charges, or other feesand a definition of the purposes for those charges; and the rates of the commissions, charges, and other fees shall be no greater than those applicable to comparable business placed with the controlled insurer by producers other than controlling producers. For purposes of this paragraph (h) and paragraph (g) of this subsection (2), examples of "comparable business" include, without limitation, the same lines of insurance, same kinds of insurance, same kinds of risks, similar policy limits, and similar quality of business.
If the contract provides that the controlling producer, on insurance business placedwith the insurer, is to be compensated contingent upon the insurer's profits on that business, then such compensation shall not be determined and paid until at least five years after the premiums on liability insurance are earned and at least one year after the premiums are earned on any other insurance. In no event shall the commissions be paid until the adequacy of the controlled insurer's reserves on remaining claims has been independently verified pursuant to paragraph (a) of subsection (4) of this section.
A limit on the controlling producer's writings in relation to the controlled insurer'ssurplus and total writings, which limit may be different for each line or sub-line of business. The controlled insurer shall notify the controlling producer when the applicable limit is approached and shall not accept business from the controlling producer if the limit is reached. The controlling producer shall not place business with the controlled insurer if it has been notified by the controlled insurer that the limit has been reached.
The controlling producer may negotiate but shall not bind reinsurance on behalf ofthe controlled insurer on business the controlling producer places with the controlled insurer; except that the controlling producer may bind facultative reinsurance contracts pursuant to obligatory facultative agreements if the contract with the controlled insurer contains underwriting guidelines including, for both reinsurance assumed and ceded, a list of reinsurers with which such automatic agreements are in effect, the coverages and amounts or percentages that may be reinsured, and commission schedules.
Audit committee. Every controlled insurer shall have an audit committee of the board of directors, which committee shall be composed of independent directors. The audit committee shall annually meet with management, the insurer's independent certified public accountants, and an independent casualty actuary or other independent loss reserve specialist acceptable to the commissioner to review the adequacy of the insurer's loss reserves.
Reporting requirements. (a) In addition to any other required loss reserve certification, the controlled insurer shall annually, on April 1 of each year, file with the commissioner an opinion of an independent casualty actuary or such other independent loss reserve specialist acceptable to the commissioner reporting loss ratios for each line of business written and certifying to the adequacy of loss reserves established for losses incurred and outstanding as of year-end including incurred but not reported reserves on business placed by the producer.
(b) The controlled insurer shall annually report to the commissioner the amount of commissions paid to the producer, the percentage such amount represents of the net premiums written, and comparable amounts and percentage paid to noncontrolling producers for placements of the same kinds of insurance.
Source: L. 92: Entire part added, p. 1487, § 19, effective July 1.