House Bill 1191

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 27-15-83, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE THE PRIVILEGE TAX ON FOREIGN INSURANCE COMPANIES; TO AMEND SECTIONS 83-21-1 AND 83-21-17, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE THE FEE ON NONADMITTED INSURERS AND DEPOSIT THE FEE IN THE GENERAL FUND; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 27-15-83, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

27-15-83. (1) Upon each foreign insurance company licensed as a single line company defined under Section 83-19-1, the privilege tax is as follows:

(a) Fire and Allied Lines and/or

Industrial Fire.......................... $500.00

(b) Casualty/Liability....................... $500.00

(d) Workers' Compensation.................... $500.00

(e) Boiler and Machinery..................... $500.00

(f) Plate Glass.............................. $500.00

(g) Aircraft................................. $500.00

(h) Inland Marine and/or Ocean Marine........ $500.00

(i) Automobile Physical Damage/Automobile

Liability................................ $500.00

(j) Homeowners/Farmowners.................... $500.00

(k) Guaranty/Mortgage Guaranty............... $500.00

(l) Trip Accident and Baggage................ $500.00

(m) Legal.................................... $500.00

(n) Life and/or Accident and Health;

Credit Life, Accident and Health;

Industrial Life, Accident and Health;

and Variable Contracts................... $500.00

(o) Title.................................... $500.00

(p) Fraternal................................ $ 50.00

(2) For any combination of classifications of a foreign insurance company, the privilege tax for a multiple line company shall be Three Hundred Fifty Dollars ($350.00).

(3) Any stock, mutual, reciprocal or reinsurance company shall pay the appropriate privilege tax for each line of insurance the company is licensed to underwrite.

(4) For each domestic insurance which has its home office located in Mississippi, the privilege tax shall be one-half (1/2) of the fees listed in this section.

(5) Each insurance company or association which amends its privilege license shall pay a fee of Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00).

SECTION 2. Section 83-21-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

83-21-1. No foreign insurance, indemnity or guaranty company or other insurer shall be admitted and authorized to do business in this state until:

(a) It shall deposit with the Commissioner of Insurance a certified copy of its charter, articles of incorporation, bylaws or deed of settlement, and shall pay for the filing of such document the sum of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) and a statement of its financial condition and business in such form and detail as he may require, signed and sworn to by its president and secretary or other proper officer.

(b) It shall satisfy the commissioner that it is fully and legally organized under the laws of its state or government to do the business it proposes to transact; and such capital or net assets are well invested and immediately available for the payment of losses in this state, and that it insures on any single hazard a sum no larger than one-tenth (1/10) of its net assets.

(c) It shall, by a duly executed instrument filed in his office, constitute and appoint the Commissioner of Insurance, and his successor, its true and lawful attorney, upon whom all process in any action or legal proceeding against it may be served, and therein shall agree that any process against it which may be served upon its attorney shall be of the same force and validity as if served on the company, and the authority thereof shall continue in force irrevocable so long as any liability of the company remains outstanding in this state. The service of such process shall be made by leaving a copy of the same in the hands or office of the commissioner. Copies of such instrument certified by the commissioner shall be deemed sufficient evidence thereof, and service upon such attorney shall be deemed sufficient service upon the principal.

(d) It shall appoint as its agent or agents in this state some resident or residents thereof, other than the commissioner; such appointment to be made in writing, signed by the president and secretary or manager or general agent, and filed in the office of the commissioner, authorizing the agent to acknowledge service of process for and on behalf of the company, consenting that service of process on the agent shall be as valid as if served upon the company, according to the laws of this state, and waiving all claims of error by reason of such service.

(e) It shall obtain from the commissioner a certificate that it has complied with the laws of the state and is authorized to make contracts of insurance.

(f) Such fees collected by the commissioner shall be deposited in the special fund in the State Treasury designated as the "Insurance Department Fund."

(g) The fee imposed on nonadmittted insurers under Section 83-21-17 shall be deposited in the General Fund.

SECTION 3. Section 83-21-17, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

83-21-17. The Commissioner of Insurance shall annually promulgate a list of nonadmitted insurers and each such insurer shall meet the same requirements as to capital and surplus as is required of a company licensed to do business in the State of Mississippi and annually pay a filing fee of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) in order to be eligible for certification as a nonadmitted insurer. An alien insurer shall be listed with the nonadmitted Insurers Information Office of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. In the case of an alien insurer authorized to transact insurance of the kind involved in at least one (1) state of the United States, the insurer must have unimpaired capital and/or surplus or an effective trust fund amounting to at least One Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($1,500,000.00) and, in the case of a group including incorporated and individual unincorporated insurers, the trust fund must be in the amount of not less than Fifty Million Dollars ($50,000,000.00). The incorporated members of the group shall not be engaged in any business other than underwriting as a member of the group and shall be subject to the same level of solvency regulation and control by the group's domiciliary regulator as are the unincorporated members. In the case of an alien insurer not authorized to transact business in at least one (1) state of the United States, the insurer must have an established trust fund of at least One Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($1,500,000.00) within the United States administered by a recognized financial institution and held for the benefit of all its policyholders in the United States. The Commissioner of Insurance is specifically vested with authority to promulgate such rules and regulations as deemed necessary to carry out the provisions hereof and to publish a list of nonadmitted insurers found eligible for writing business in the State of Mississippi on a nonadmitted basis. The commissioner may, by giving seven (7) days' notice, at any time remove a nonadmitted insurer from such eligible list when it appears that such insurer no longer meets the requirements of the statute or regulations of the commissioner. When a nonadmitted insurer is placed upon or removed from the eligible list, all agents holding licenses under Sections 83-21-17 through 83-21-31 shall be notified of such eligibility or removal. Any agent of this state who places insurance with a nonadmitted insurer not on the list of eligible insurers shall be deemed in violation of the cited sections and shall be subject to revocation of license in the manner provided by statute for revocation of license of fire and casualty insurance agents.

SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2010.