26.1-52 Property Insurance Placement Facility

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CHAPTER 26.1-52PROPERTY INSURANCE PLACEMENT FACILITY26.1-52-01. Sunrise - Trigger. The commissioner may implement a property insuranceplacement facility for those residents who are unable to obtain necessary property insurance<br>through the standard insurance market. The commissioner shall hold a public hearing upon<br>notice of not less than twenty days to determine the reasonable availability of property insurance<br>in the market. Upon a finding by the commissioner that there is a lack of availability of property<br>insurance in the market, the commissioner shall by order authorize the implementation of a<br>property insurance placement facility as set forth in this chapter.26.1-52-02. Definitions. As used in this chapter:1.&quot;Basic property insurance&quot; means insurance against direct loss to property as<br>defined and limited in standard fire policies and extended coverage endorsements<br>thereon.2.&quot;Homeowners insurance&quot; means insurance on owner-occupied dwellings providing<br>personal multiperil property and liability coverage.3.&quot;Insurer&quot; means an insurance company authorized to write and that is engaged in<br>writing in North Dakota, on a direct basis, basic property and homeowners insurance<br>or components thereof.4.&quot;North Dakota property insurance placement facility&quot; or &quot;facility&quot; means the<br>organization formed by insurers to assist applicants in securing basic property or<br>homeowners insurance.26.1-52-03. Board.1.A board of directors consisting of seven members shall direct the operations of the<br>property insurance placement facility. The seven members are comprised of five<br>directors from the insurance industry and two public directors as follows:a.Two of the five industry representatives must come from domestic insurance<br>companies, one must come from county mutual insurance companies, one<br>from foreign stock companies, and one from foreign mutual companies. The<br>commissioner shall appoint the first board on a staggered basis. Subsequent<br>board members are to be elected by facility members.b.The public directors must be appointed by the commissioner. Public directors<br>may include licensed insurance agents.c.The term of each director is three years beginning on January first of the year<br>the director is elected or appointed, except as staggered in the initial<br>appointment process.A vacancy must be filled by election by the otherdirectors for the remainder of the term. A vacancy to a public directorship must<br>be filled by appointment by the commissioner for the remainder of the term. If<br>the board fails to elect a replacement for an industry vacancy within thirty days,<br>the commissioner shall appoint a replacement for the remainder of the term.2.The board shall prepare and maintain a plan of operation which provides for the<br>management of the facility, including the hiring of employees or contracting services<br>to carry out the plan of operation, establishment of necessary facilities within the<br>state, assessment of members to defray losses and expenses, negotiating<br>commissionagreements,establishingreasonableunderwritingstandards,developing reasonable cancellation and nonrenewal standards, acceptance and<br>cession of reinsurance, adopting procedures for determining amounts of insurancePage No. 1to be provided, procedures for payment of claims, procedures for appealing adverse<br>actions, procedures for reporting the plan experience to a statistical agent, and<br>procedures for contracting facility functions to the private sector. The board has<br>ninety days to submit the initial plan of operation to the commissioner for approval.<br>All subsequent amendments to the plan of operation must be submitted to the<br>commissioner for approval. The commissioner may require the board to waive the<br>assessment requirement for an insurer if the assessment would cause a significant<br>financial impairment to the insurer or would jeopardize the solvency of the insurer.26.1-52-04. Facility membership. Each insurer authorized to write and who is engagedin writing within this state, on a direct basis, basic property insurance or any component thereof<br>in multiperil policies or homeowners insurance shall participate in the facility as a condition of its<br>authority to do the business of insurance in this state. Members of the facility are responsible for<br>the cost of funding the operations, expenses, and losses of the facility. Each year the board shall<br>assess the members based upon each member's pro rata share of the aggregate property<br>insurance premium written in the second preceding calendar year as disclosed in the annual<br>statement and other reports filed by members with the commissioner. The assessment must be<br>based on the premiums reported from income from this state in the following lines of the annual<br>statement: fire, allied lines, and homeowners multiple peril.26.1-52-05. Coverage and forms. The plan must use standard policy forms to providecoverage for basic property and homeowners insurance. The plan may not provide coverage for<br>automobile or commercial risks.26.1-52-06.Rates.The facility shall establish rates and may include data from anadvisory or statistical organization in the development of its rates. Rates must be submitted to<br>the commissioner for approval prior to use. Rates must be actuarially sound under chapter<br>26.1-25 and may not actively compete with rates in the voluntary market.26.1-52-07. Underwriting. A person who has been refused coverage, in writing, by atleast five standard carriers based on an underwriting, claims, or credit history is eligible to apply<br>to the facility for coverage.26.1-52-08. Agents. A licensed property and casualty agent may submit an applicationon behalf of an applicant to the facility. The agent is entitled to receive a commission for the<br>service. The agent is not a representative of the facility.26.1-52-09. Immunity. The facility, its members, employees, contractors, agents, andthe commissioner are not liable for, nor may a cause of action be brought against them, for<br>statements made in good faith in the course of conducting facility operations and procedures.26.1-52-10. Examinations and audits. The commissioner shall examine the facilityevery three years.The facility shall submit a financial report and an annual report to thecommissioner by April first of each year.The report must include premiums written, lossesincurred, loss-adjusting expenses incurred, underwriting expenses, claims losses, and<br>assessments.Page No. 2Document Outlinechapter 26.1-52 property insurance placement facility