1765.1
. No surplus line broker shall place any coverage with a
nonadmitted insurer for a home state insured unless the insurer is
domiciled in the Republic of Mexico and the placement covers only
liability arising out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of a
motor vehicle, aircraft, or boat in the Republic of Mexico, or, at
the time of placement, the nonadmitted insurer meets the requirements
of either subdivision (a) or (b):
(a) If the insurer is domiciled in one of the states of the United
States or its territories as defined in subdivision (o) of Section
1760.1:
(1) Is licensed to write the type of insurance in its domiciliary
jurisdiction; and
(2) (A) Has capital and surplus that together total forty-five
million dollars ($45,000,000).
(B) The requirements of subparagraph (A) may be satisfied by an
insurer possessing less than forty-five million dollars ($45,000,000)
upon an affirmative finding of acceptability by the commissioner.
The finding shall be based upon factors such as quality of
management, capital and surplus of any parent company, company
underwriting profit and investment income trends, market
availability, and company record and reputation within the industry.
The commissioner is prohibited from making an affirmative finding of
acceptability when the foreign insurer's capital and surplus is less
than four million five hundred thousand dollars ($4,500,000); or
(C) If a foreign insurer that was listed as an eligible surplus
line insurer as of January 1, 2011, and did not have the forty-five
million dollars ($45,000,000) of capital and surplus as of January 1,
2011, that insurer shall have at least thirty million dollars
($30,000,000) of capital and surplus as of December 31, 2011, and at
least forty-five million dollars ($45,000,000) of capital and surplus
as of December 31, 2013.
(b) If the insurer is not domiciled in one of the states of the
United States or its territories as defined in subdivision (o) of
Section 1760.1, the insurer is listed on the Quarterly Listing of
Alien Insurers maintained by the NAIC International Insurers
Department (IID) and is licensed as an insurer in its domiciliary
jurisdiction.
(c) If at any time the commissioner determines that an insurer is
no longer eligible pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b), the
commissioner may issue an order without prior notice and hearing. At
the time an order is issued pursuant to this subdivision to an
insurer, the commissioner shall notify all surplus line brokers of
the order.
(d) The commissioner may require, at least annually, the
submission of records and statements as are reasonably necessary to
ensure that the requirements of this section are maintained.
(e) The commissioner shall establish by regulation a schedule of
fees to cover costs of administering and enforcing this chapter.
(f) (1) Insurance may be placed on a limited basis with insurers
not eligible pursuant to this section if all of the following
conditions are met:
(A) The use of multiple insurers is necessary to obtain coverage
for 100 percent of the risk.
(B) At least 80 percent of the risk is placed with admitted
insurers or insurers that are eligible nonadmitted insurers.
(C) The placing surplus line broker submits to the commissioner,
or his or her designee, copies of all documentation relied upon by
the surplus line broker to make the broker's determination that the
financial stability, reputation, and integrity of the ineligible
insurer or insurers, are adequate to safeguard the interest of the
insured under the policy. This documentation, and any other
documentation regarding the ineligible insurer requested by the
commissioner, shall be submitted no more than 30 days after the
insurance is placed with the unlisted insurer for the initial
placement by that broker with the particular ineligible insurer, and
annually thereafter for as long as the broker continues to make
placements with the ineligible insurer pursuant to this paragraph.
(D) The insured has aggregate annual premiums for all risks other
than workers' compensation or health coverage totaling no less than
one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000).
(2) Insurance may not be placed pursuant to paragraph (1) if any
of the following applies:
(A) The ineligible insurer has for any reason been objected to by
the commissioner pursuant to this section or has become ineligible.
(B) The insurance includes coverage for employer-sponsored
medical, surgical, hospital, or other health or medical expense
benefits payable to the employee by the insurer.
(C) The insurance is mandatory under the laws of the federal
government, this state, or any political subdivision thereof, and
includes any portion of limits of coverage mandated by those laws.
(D) The insured is a multiple employer welfare arrangement, as
defined in Section 1002(40)(A) of Title 29 of the United States Code,
or any other arrangement among two or more employers that are not
under common ownership or control, which is established or maintained
for the primary purpose of providing insurance benefits to the
employees of two or more employers.
(E) Ineligible insurers represent a disproportionate portion of
the lower layers of the coverage.
(3) Nothing in this section is intended to alter any duties of a
surplus line broker pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 1765 or
other laws of this state to safeguard the interests of the insured
under the policy in recommending or placing insurance with a
nonadmitted insurer.
(4) Placements authorized by this subdivision are intended to
provide sophisticated insurance purchasers with a means to obtain
necessary commercial insurance coverage from nonadmitted insurers
that are not eligible in situations where it is not commercially
possible to fully obtain that coverage from either admitted or
eligible insurers. This subdivision shall not be deemed to permit
surplus line brokers to place with nonadmitted insurers common
commercial or personal line coverages for insureds that can be placed
with insurers that are admitted or eligible pursuant to this
section, whether the insured is an individual insured, or a group
created primarily for the purpose of purchasing insurance.
(g) With respect to a nonadmitted insurer that is listed as an
eligible surplus line insurer as of July 21, 2011, pursuant to the
former Section 1765.1 as it read prior to July 21, 2011, this section
shall not be effective until the subsequent expiration of the
policies of that insurer in effect on July 21, 2011. Nothing in the
bill that amended this section during the 2011 portion of the 2011-12
Regular Session is intended to repeal or imply there is not
authority to adopt, or to have adopted, or to continue in force, any
regulation, or part thereof, with respect to surplus line insurance,
which is not clearly inconsistent with it.