H.
B.
4050
(By Delegates Hendricks and Whitman)
[Introduced January 19, 1994; referred to the
Committee on Banking and Insurance then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section thirty-three, article three, chapter thirty-three of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to insurance policies generally; limiting the surcharge on insurance policies to benefit volunteer and part volunteer fire departments and the teachers retirement system to homeowner property insurance policies only.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section thirty-three, article three, chapter thirty-three of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. LICENSING, FEES AND TAXATION OF INSURERS.
§
33-3-33. Surcharge on homeowner's property insurance policies
to benefit volunteer and part volunteer fire
departments; special fund created; allocation of
proceeds; effective date.
(a) For the purpose of providing additional revenue for volunteer and part volunteer fire departments, certain retired teachers and the teachers retirement reserve fund, there is hereby authorized and imposed on and after the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-two, on the policyholder of any fire and casualty property insurance policy as described and limited under the provisions of section two, article seventeen-a of this chapter, a policy surcharge equal to one percent of gross direct premium paid by the policyholder for each such policy. For purposes of this section, casualty property insurance shall not include insurance on the life of a debtor pursuant to or in connection with a specific loan or other credit transaction or insurance on a debtor to provide indemnity for payments becoming due on a specific loan or other credit transaction while the debtor is disabled as defined in the policy. The policy surcharge shall not be subject to premium taxes, agent commissions or any other assessment against premiums.
The policy surcharge shall be collected and remitted by the insurer to the commissioner on forms prescribed by the commissioner on a quarterly basis and are due on the twenty-fifth day of the month succeeding the end of the quarter in which they are collected except for the fourth quarter for which the surcharge shall be due and payable on or before the first day of March of the succeeding year. All forms required by the commissioner shall be submitted under the oath of the president and secretary of the insurer.
Any insurer failing or refusing to collect and remit to the commissioner any policy surcharge and whose surcharge payments are not postmarked by the due dates for quarterly filing is liable for a civil penalty of up to one hundred dollars for each day of delinquency, to be assessed by the commissioner. The commissioner may suspend the insurer until all surcharge payments and penalties, should any penalty be imposed, are remitted in full to the commissioner.
All money from the policy surcharge shall be collected by the commissioner and he or she shall disburse the money received from the surcharge as follows:
(1) Fifty percent of the moneys collected shall be paid into a special account in the state treasury, designated the fire protection fund. The net proceeds of this portion of the tax after appropriation by the Legislature shall be distributed in accordance with the provisions of subsection (c) of this section.
(2) The remaining fifty percent of the moneys collected shall be transferred to the teachers retirement system to be disbursed according to the provisions of sections twenty-six-j, twenty-six-k and twenty-six-l, article seven-a, chapter eighteen of this code. Any balance remaining after the disbursements authorized by this subdivision have been paid shall be paid by the teachers retirement system into the teachers retirement system reserve fund.
(b) Before the first day of September, one thousand nine hundred ninety-three, and before the first day of September of each calendar year thereafter, the state treasurer shall allocate and authorize for distribution the revenues in the fire protection fund that were collected during the preceding calendar year, and the interest earned thereon.
(c) Each volunteer fire company or department shall receive on an equal share basis the revenues allocated for volunteer and part volunteer fire companies and departments under subdivision (1), subsection (a) of this section.
(d) The allocation, distribution and use of revenues provided in the fire protection fund are subject to the provisions of sections eight-a and eight-b, article fifteen, chapter eight of this code.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to limit the surcharge on insurance policies to benefit volunteer and part volunteer fire departments and the teachers retirement system to homeowner property insurance policies only.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.
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