Senate Bill No. 230
(By Senators Plymale, McCabe, Jenkins, Caldwell, Fanning, Snyder
and Rowe)
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[Introduced January 20, 2004; referred to the Committee on
Banking and Insurance; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §33-1-10
of the code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended; and to amend and reenact §33-3-14
of said
code, all relating to insurance generally; defining the term
"federal flood insurance"; diverting taxes collected on
federal flood insurance policies to a special revenue fund in
the state treasury for transfer to the office of emergency
services for enhancing flood plain management; and adding
technical staff and subgrants to local government units and
eligible entities.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §33-1-10
of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted; and that §33-3-14
be amended and
reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. DEFINITIONS.
§33-1-10. Kinds of insurance defined.
The following definitions of kinds of insurance are not
mutually exclusive and, if reasonably adaptable thereto, a
particular coverage may be included under one or more of such
definitions:
(a) Life insurance -- Life insurance is insurance on human
lives including endowment benefits, additional benefits in the event
of death or dismemberment by accident or accidental means,
additional benefits for disability and annuities.
(b) Accident and sickness -- Accident and sickness insurance
is insurance against bodily injury, disability or death by accident
or accidental means, or the expense thereof, or against disability
or expense resulting from sickness, and insurance relating thereto.
Group credit accident and health insurance may also include loss
of income insurance which is insurance against the failure of a
debtor to pay his or her monthly obligation due to involuntary loss
of employment. For the purposes of this definition, involuntary
loss of employment means the debtor loses employment income (salary
or wages) as a result of unemployment caused by individual or mass
layoff, general strikes, labor disputes, lockout or termination by
employer for other than willful or criminal misconduct. Any or all
of the above mentioned perils may be included in an insurance
policy, at the discretion of the policyholder.
(c) Fire -- Fire insurance is insurance on real or personal property of every kind and interest therein, against loss or damage
from any or all hazard or cause, and against loss consequential upon
such loss or damage, other than noncontractual liability for any
such loss or damage. Fire insurance shall also include
miscellaneous insurance as defined in paragraph (12), subdivision
(e) of this section.
(d) Marine insurance is insurance:
(1) Against any and all kinds of loss or damage to vessels,
craft, aircraft, cars, automobiles and vehicles of every kind, as
well as all goods, freight, cargoes, merchandise, effects,
disbursements, profits, moneys, bullion, precious stones,
securities, choses in action, evidences of debt, valuable papers,
bottomry and respondentia interests and all other kinds of property
and interests therein, in respect to, appertaining to or in
connection with any and all risks or perils of navigation, transit
or transportation, including war risks, on or under any seas or
other waters, on land (above or below ground), or in the air, or
while being assembled, packed, crated, baled, compressed or
similarly prepared for shipment or while awaiting the same or during
any delays, storage, transshipment, or reshipment incident thereto,
including marine builders' risks and all personal property floater
risks;
(2) Against any and all kinds of loss or damage to person or
to property in connection with or appertaining to a marine, inland marine, transit or transportation insurance, including liability for
loss of or damage to either, arising out of or in connection with
the construction, repair, operation, maintenance or use of the
subject matter of such insurance (but not including life insurance
or surety bonds nor insurance against loss by reason of bodily
injury to the person arising out of the ownership, maintenance or
use of automobiles);
(3) Against any and all kinds of loss or damage to precious
stones, jewels, jewelry, gold, silver and other precious metals,
whether used in business or trade or otherwise and whether the same
be in course of transportation or otherwise;
(4) Against any and all kinds of loss or damage to bridges,
tunnels and other instrumentalities of transportation and
communication (excluding buildings, their furniture and furnishings,
fixed contents and supplies held in storage) unless fire, windstorm,
sprinkler leakage, hail, explosion, earthquake, riot or civil
commotion or any or all of them are the only hazards to be covered;
(5) Against any and all kinds of loss or damage to piers,
wharves, docks and ships, excluding the risks of fire, windstorm,
sprinkler leakage, hail, explosion, earthquake, riot and civil
commotion and each of them;
(6) Against any and all kinds of loss or damage to other aids
to navigation and transportation, including dry docks and marine
railways, dams and appurtenant facilities for control of waterways; and
(7) Marine protection and indemnity insurance, which is
insurance against, or against legal liability of the insured for,
loss, damage or expense arising out of, or incident to, the
ownership, operation, chartering, maintenance, use, repair or
construction of any vessel, craft or instrumentality in use in ocean
or inland waterways, including liability of the insured for personal
injury, illness or death or for loss of or damage to the property
of another person.
(e) Casualty -- Casualty insurance includes:
(1) Vehicle insurance, which is insurance against loss of or
damage to any land vehicle or aircraft or any draft or riding animal
or to property while contained therein or thereon or being loaded
therein or therefrom, from any hazard or cause, and against any
loss, liability or expense resulting from or incident to ownership,
maintenance or use of any such vehicle, aircraft or animal; together
with insurance against accidental death or accidental injury to
individuals, including the named insured, while in, entering,
alighting from, adjusting, repairing or cranking, or caused by being
struck by any vehicle, aircraft or draft or riding animal, if such
insurance is issued as a part of insurance on the vehicle, aircraft
or draft or riding animal;
(2) Liability insurance, which is insurance against legal
liability for the death, injury or disability of any human being, or for damage to property; and provisions for medical, hospital,
surgical, disability benefits to injured persons and funeral and
death benefits to dependents, beneficiaries or personal
representatives of persons killed, irrespective of legal liability
of the insured, when issued as an incidental coverage with or
supplemental to liability insurance;
(3) Burglary and theft insurance, which is insurance against
loss or damage by burglary, theft, larceny, robbery, forgery, fraud,
vandalism, malicious mischief, confiscation, or wrongful conversion,
disposal or concealment, or from any attempt at any of the
foregoing, including supplemental coverages for medical, hospital,
surgical and funeral benefits sustained by the named insured or
other person as a result of bodily injury during the commission of
a burglary, robbery or theft by another; also insurance against loss
of or damage to moneys, coins, bullion, securities, notes, drafts,
acceptances, or any other valuable papers and documents, resulting
from any cause;
(4) Personal property floater insurance, which is insurance
upon personal effects against loss or damage from any cause;
(5) Glass insurance, which is insurance against loss or damage
to glass, including its lettering, ornamentation and fittings;
(6) Boiler and machinery insurance, which is insurance against
any liability and loss or damage to property or interest resulting
from accidents to or explosion of boilers, pipes, pressure containers, machinery or apparatus, and to make inspection of and
issue certificates of inspection upon boilers, machinery and
apparatus of any kind, whether or not insured;
(7) Leakage and fire extinguishing equipment insurance, which
is insurance against loss or damage to any property or interest
caused by the breakage or leakage of sprinklers, hoses, pumps and
other fire extinguishing equipment or apparatus, water mains, pipes
and containers, or by water entering through leaks or openings in
buildings, and insurance against loss or damage to such sprinklers,
hoses, pumps and other fire extinguishing equipment or apparatus;
(8) Credit insurance, which is insurance against loss or damage
resulting from failure of debtors to pay their obligations to the
insured. Credit insurance shall include loss of income insurance
which is insurance against the failure of a debtor to pay his or her
monthly obligation due to involuntary loss of employment. For the
purpose of this definition, involuntary loss of employment means the
debtor loses employment income (salary or wages) as a result of
unemployment caused by individual or mass layoff, general strikes,
labor disputes, lockout or termination by employer for other than
willful or criminal misconduct; any, or all of the above mentioned
perils may be included in an insurance policy, at the discretion of
the policyholder;
(9) Malpractice insurance, which is insurance against legal
liability of the insured, and against loss, damage or expense incidental to a claim of such liability, and including medical,
hospital, surgical and funeral benefits to injured persons,
irrespective of legal liability of the insured arising out of the
death, injury or disablement of any person, or arising out of damage
to the economic interest of any person, as the result of negligence
in rendering expert, fiduciary or professional service;
(10) Entertainment insurance, which is insurance indemnifying
the producer of any motion picture, television, radio, theatrical,
sport, spectacle, entertainment or similar production, event or
exhibition against loss from interruption, postponement or
cancellation thereof due to death, accidental injury or sickness of
performers, participants, directors or other principals;
(11) Mine subsidence insurance as provided for in article
thirty of this chapter; and
(12) Miscellaneous insurance, which is insurance against any
other kind of loss, damage or liability properly a subject of
insurance and not within any other kind of insurance as defined in
this chapter, if such insurance is not disapproved by the
commissioner as being contrary to law or public policy.
(f) Surety -- Surety insurance includes:
(1) Fidelity insurance, which is insurance guaranteeing the
fidelity of persons holding positions of public or private trust;
(2) Insurance guaranteeing the performance of contracts, other
than insurance policies, and guaranteeing and executing bonds, undertakings, and contracts of suretyship:
Provided, That surety
insurance does not include the guaranteeing and executing of bonds
by professional bondsmen in criminal cases, or by individuals not
in the business of becoming a surety for compensation upon bonds;
(3) Insurance indemnifying banks, bankers, brokers, financial
or moneyed corporations or associations against loss, resulting from
any cause, of bills of exchange, notes, bonds, securities, evidences
of debt, deeds, mortgages, warehouse receipts or other valuable
papers, documents, money, precious metals and articles made
therefrom, jewelry, watches, necklaces, bracelets, gems, precious
and semiprecious stones, including any loss while they are being
transported in armored motor vehicles or by messenger, but not
including any other risks of transportation or navigation, and also
insurance against loss or damage to such an insured's premises or
to his furnishings, fixtures, equipment, safes and vaults therein,
caused by burglary, robbery, theft, vandalism or malicious mischief,
or any attempt to commit such crimes; and
(4) Title insurance, which is insurance of owners of property
or others having an interest therein, or liens or encumbrances
thereon, against loss by encumbrance, defective title, invalidity
or adverse claim to title.
(g) Federal flood insurance - Federal flood insurance is
insurance provided through the National Flood Insurance Program on
real or personal property of every kind and interest therein, against loss or damage from flood or mudslide and against loss
consequential upon such loss or damage, other than noncontractual
liability for any loss or damage.
ARTICLE 3. LICENSING, FEES AND TAXATION OF INSURERS.
§33-3-14. Annual financial statement and premium tax return;
remittance by insurer of premium tax, less certain
deductions; special revenue fund created.
(a) Every insurer transacting insurance in West Virginia shall
file with the commissioner, on or before the first day of March,
each year, a financial statement made under oath of its president
or secretary and on a form prescribed by the commissioner. The
insurer shall also, on or before the first day of March of each year
subject to the provisions of section fourteen-c of this article,
under the oath of its president or secretary, make a premium tax
return for the previous calendar year, on a form prescribed by the
commissioner showing the gross amount of direct premiums, whether
designated as a premium or by some other name, collected and
received by it during the previous calendar year on policies
covering risks resident, located or to be performed in this state
and compute the amount of premium tax chargeable to it in accordance
with the provisions of this article, deducting the amount of
quarterly payments as required to be made pursuant to the provisions
of section fourteen-c of this article, if any, less any adjustments to the gross amount of the direct premiums made during the calendar
year, if any, and transmit with the return to the commissioner a
remittance in full for the tax due. The tax is the sum equal to two
percent of the taxable premium, and also includes any additional tax
due under section fourteen-a of this article. All taxes
except
federal flood insurance premium taxes received by the commissioner
shall be paid into the insurance tax fund created in subsection (b)
of this section:
Provided, That each year, the first one million
six hundred sixty-seven thousand dollars of the portion of taxes
received by the commissioner from insurance policies for medical
liability insurance as defined in section three, article twenty-f
of this chapter and from any insurer on its medical malpractice
line, shall be temporarily dedicated to replenishing moneys
appropriated from the tobacco settlement account pursuant to
subsection (c), section two, article eleven-a, chapter four of this
code. Upon determination by the commissioner that these moneys have
been fully replenished to the tobacco settlement account, the
commissioner shall resume depositing taxes received from medical
malpractice premiums as provided in subsection (b) of this section.
(b) There is created in the state treasury a special revenue
fund, administered by the treasurer, designated the "insurance tax
fund." This fund is not part of the general revenue fund of the
state. It consists of all amounts deposited in the fund pursuant
to subsection (a) of this section, sections fifteen and seventeen of this article,
except federal flood insurance premium taxes, any
appropriations to the fund, all interest earned from investment of
the fund and any gifts, grants or contributions received by the
fund.
(c) The treasurer shall dedicate and transfer from the
insurance tax fund to the regional jail and correctional facility
investment fund created under the provisions of section twenty-one,
article six, chapter twelve of this code, on or before the tenth day
of each month, an amount equal to one twelfth of the projected
annual investment earnings to be paid and the capital invested to
be returned, as certified to the treasurer by the investment
management board:
Provided, That the amount dedicated and
transferred may not exceed twenty million dollars in any fiscal
year. In the event there are insufficient funds available in any
month to transfer the amount required pursuant to this subsection
to the regional jail and correctional facility investment fund, the
deficiency shall be added to the amount transferred in the next
succeeding month in which revenues are available to transfer the
deficiency. Each month a lien on the revenues generated from the
insurance premium tax, the annuity tax and the minimum tax, provided
in this section and sections fifteen and seventeen of this article,
up to a maximum amount equal to one twelfth of the projected annual
principal and return is granted to the investment management board
to secure the investment made with the regional jail and correctional facility authority pursuant to section twenty, article
six, chapter twelve of this code. The treasurer shall, no later
than the last business day of each month, transfer amounts the
treasurer determines are not necessary for making refunds under this
article to meet the requirements of subsection (d), section
twenty-one, article six, chapter twelve of this code, to the credit
of the general revenue fund. Commencing on the first day of the
month following the month in which the investment created under the
provisions of section twenty-one, article six, chapter twelve of
this code, is returned to the investment management board, the
treasurer shall transfer all amounts deposited in the insurance tax
fund as appropriated by the Legislature.
(d) There is created in the state treasury a special revenue
fund, administered by the treasurer, designated the "Flood Insurance
Tax Fund." This fund is not part of the general revenue fund of the
state. It consists of all amounts deposited in the fund pursuant
to subsection (a) of this section, sections fifteen and seventeen
of this article from federal flood insurance policy premium taxes
collected; any appropriations to the fund; all interest earned from
investment of moneys in the fund; and, any gifts, grants and
contributions received by this fund.
(e) The treasurer shall, within ten days of receipt of
quarterly payments, dedicate and transfer from the flood insurance
tax fund to the office of emergency services all premium taxes collected from federal flood insurance policies.
(f)Flood insurance tax funds are restricted to activities which
promote and enhance floodplain management issues and subgrants to
local units of government and other eligible entities.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to define the term federal
flood insurance and to divert taxes collected on federal flood
insurance policies to a special revenue fund in the state treasury
for transfer to the Office of Emergency Services for enhancing
floodplain management, staff and subgrants to local government units
and eligible entities.
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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