Senate Bill No. 428
(By Senator Minard)
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[Introduced February 4, 2004; referred to the Committee on
Banking and Insurance.]
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A BILL to amend the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §33-1-4, relating to
defining "transacting insurance".
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §33-1-4, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 1. DEFINITIONS.
§33-1-4. Transacting insurance.
(a) Any of the following acts in this state effected by mail
or otherwise is considered to constitute the transaction of an
insurance business in or from this state. Wherever the words
"business of insurance" appear in this chapter, it shall mean
transacting insurance:
(1) The making of or proposing to make an insurance contract;
(2) The making of or proposing to make, as guarantor or
surety, any contract of guaranty or suretyship as a vocation and
not merely incidental to any other legitimate business or activity
of the guarantor or surety;
(3) The taking or receiving of an application for insurance;
(4) The receiving or collection of any premium, commission,
membership fees, assessments, dues or other consideration for
insurance or any part thereof;
(5) The issuance or delivery in this state of certificates or
contracts of insurance to residents of this state or to persons
authorized to do business in this state;
(6) The solicitation, negotiation, procurement or effectuation
of insurance or renewals thereof;
(7) The dissemination of information as to coverage or rates,
or forwarding of applications, or delivery of policies or
contracts, or inspection of risks, the fixing of rates or
investigation or adjustment of claims or losses or the transaction
of matters subsequent to effectuation of the contract and arising
out of it, or any other manner of representing or assisting a
person or insurer in the transaction of risks with respect to
properties, risks or exposures located or to be performed in this
state;
(8) The transaction of any kind of insurance business
specifically recognized as transacting an insurance business within the meaning of the statutes relating to insurance;
(9) The offering of insurance or the transacting of insurance
business; or
(10) Offering an agreement or contract which purports to
alter, amend or void coverage of an insurance contract.
(b) The provisions of this section do not prohibit employees,
officers, directors or partners of a commercial insured from acting
in the capacity of an insurance manager or buyer in placing
insurance on behalf of the employer, provided that the person's
compensation is not based on buying insurance.
(c) The venue of an act committed by mail is at the point
where the matter transmitted by mail is delivered or issued for
delivery or takes effect.
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(
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide a definition
for "transacting insurance" that is applicable throughout the
insurance code.
This section is new as the former º33-1-4 (enacted by Acts
1957, c. 97) was repealed by Acts 2001, c. 158, effective July 13,
2001; therefore, underscoring and strike-throughs have been
omitted.)
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BANKING AND INSURANCE COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS
On page one, section four, line twenty-one, after the word
"state" by changing the period to a colon;
On page one, section four, lines twenty-one through twenty-
three, by striking out the following: "Wherever the words
"business of insurance" appear in this chapter, it shall mean transacting insurance:";
And,
On page three, section four, after line thirteen, by adding a
new subsection, designated subsection (d), to read as follows:
(d) Wherever the words "business of insurance" appear in this
chapter, these words mean "transacting insurance".