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[Utah Code Table of Contents]
[TITLE 31a. Table of Contents]
31A-20-101 Underwriting limitations.
No insurer may insure or attempt to insure against:
(1) a wager or gaming risk;
(2) loss of an election;
(3) the penal consequences of a crime; or
(4) punitive damages.
1986
31A-20-102 Joint underwriting.
(1) Every group, association, or other organization of insurers that engages in joint underwriting or joint reinsurance shall file with the commissioner:
(a) a copy of its constitution, articles of incorporation, or agreement of association, and its bylaws or rules governing its activities, all certified by the custodian of the originals;
(b) a list of its members; and
(c) the name and address of its resident process agent.
(2) Every group, association, or other organization shall promptly notify the commissioner of every change in its constitution, articles of incorporation, agreement of association, bylaws, rules, its list of members, and its resident process agent.
(3) If all members of a group of insurers under this section
are authorized to do business in Utah, the business done
by the group shall be allocated for regulatory purposes to
individual members of the group. The group itself is subject
only to Chapters 1, 2, 4, 20, 21, 22, 23, and 26. If any
member of the group is not authorized to do business in Utah,
the group shall obtain authorization to do business under
Chapter 14 and is subject to regulation under that chapter.
1985
31A-20-103 Classifications of insurance.
The commissioner may by rule define lines and classes of insurance which are not already defined under Section 31A-1-301 . These definitions may be used for any purposes within the commissioner's regulatory power, including:
(1) providing instructions for reports and replies under Section 31A-2-202 ;
(2) controlling combinations of lines or classes of insurance; and
(3) determining which rules under Chapter 22 are applicable.
1987
31A-20-104 Combinations of policies.
Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the commissioner
may by rule establish standards for the combination of different
coverages in policies and may specify whether premiums shall
be separately stated for each.
1985
31A-20-105 Indemnity agreements for surety corporation.
In assessing the financial condition of a surety insurer
and its underwriting capacity and limits, the commissioner
shall take into account the existence of a systematic underwriting
practice of indemnity or security arrangements under Section
31A-22-104
.
1985
31A-20-106 Variable contracts.
No insurer may deliver within this state any contract providing life or annuity benefits in variable amounts until the insurer has satisfied the commissioner that its condition and methods of operation in connection with those types of contracts do not render its operation hazardous to the public or its policyholders in Utah. In determining the qualification of an insurer requesting authority to deliver those contracts in Utah, the commissioner shall consider:
(1) the history and financial condition of the insurer;
(2) the character, responsibility, and general fitness of the insurer's officers and directors; and
(3) in the case of a foreign insurer, whether the regulation
provided by the state of its domicile or the jurisdiction
in which its head office is located provides protection to
policyholders and the public substantially equal to that
provided by the Insurance Code and the rules issued under
it.
1985
31A-20-107 Reinsurance.
(1) An authorized insurer writing nonassessable policies may assume as a reinsurer any risks it may write directly. Subject to Chapters 5 through 14, Chapter 17, and to any limitation imposed on a foreign insurer by the law of its domicile, the commissioner may also authorize an insurer to assume, as a reinsurer, designated classes of risks it is not authorized to write directly.
(2) Subject to Section 31A-5-508 , any authorized insurer may cede or retrocede to any insurer authorized to assume it under Subsection (1) any liability it has undertaken on risks lawfully written under its certificate of authority. It may also cede or retrocede reinsurance to any authorized agency of the federal government or of this state. Subject to Section 31A-17-404 , the rules adopted by the commissioner under that section, and to Subsection (3), an authorized insurer may also cede or retrocede reinsurance to an unauthorized insurer.
(3) No person may knowingly cede reinsurance or permit or assist it to be ceded to any reinsurer not in sound financial condition. If the reinsurer satisfies one or more of the security factors under Subsection 31A-17-404 (3), there is a rebuttable presumption that the reinsurer is in sound financial condition.
(4) Any authorized reinsurer who knowingly assumes from an unauthorized insurer, risks that may lawfully be written only by an authorized insurer, shall immediately report the facts of the transaction to the commissioner. The assuming reinsurer is liable for all taxes and penalties applicable under Sections 31A-3-301 , 31A-3-302 , and 31A-3-303 , but may take credit for their payment in its settlement of accounts with the unauthorized ceding insurer, unless the assuming reinsurer's agreement with the ceding insurer already took those taxes into account.
(5) (a) Except as provided under Subsection (5)(b), any authorized reinsurer proposing to withdraw from writing a class of its business in Utah, except by nonrenewal of existing contracts at their expiration, shall give the commissioner 60 days' written notice of its intention. The authorized reinsurer may not withdraw until after those 60 days have lapsed.
(b) This subsection does not apply if the withdrawing
reinsurer writes an insignificant market share of that class
of business in Utah. The commissioner shall define "insignificant
market share" by rule.
1992
31A-20-108 Single risk limitation.
(1) This section applies to all lines of insurance, including ocean marine and reinsurance, except:
(a) title insurance;
(b) workers' compensation insurance;
(c) occupational disease insurance; and
(d) employers' liability insurance.
(2) (a) Except as provided under Subsections (3) and (4) and under Section 31A-20-109 , an insurance company authorized to do an insurance business in Utah may not expose itself to loss on any single risk in an amount exceeding 10% of its capital and surplus.
(b) The commissioner may adopt rules to calculate surplus under this section.
(c) The portion of any risk reinsured by a reinsurance contract worthy of a reserve credit under Section 31A-17-404 may not be included in determining the limitation of risk under this section.
(3) (a) The commissioner may adopt rules, after hearings held with notice provided under Section 31A-2-303 , to specify the maximum exposure to which an assessable mutual may subject itself.
(b) The rules described in Subsection (3)(a) may provide for classifications of insurance and insurers to preserve the solidity of insurers.
(4) As used in this section, a "single risk" includes all losses reasonably expected as a result of the same event.
(5) A company transacting fidelity or surety insurance
may expose itself to a risk or hazard in excess of the amount
prescribed in Subsection (2), if the commissioner, after
considering all the facts and circumstances, approves the
risk.
2002
31A-20-109 Single risk limitation for title insurance.
(1) As used in this section:
(a) "Net retained liability" means the total potential liability retained by a title insurer for a single risk, after deducting liability reinsured for which credit may be taken under Section 31A-17-404 .
(b) "Single risk" means the sum of the potential liabilities under all title insurance policies issued on any estates in the same real property.
(2) The net retained liability of a title insurer for
a single risk, whether assumed directly or as reinsurance,
may not exceed 50% of the capital and surplus of the insurer.
1985
31A-20-110 Underwriting rules for title insurance.
(1) No title insurance policy may be written until the title insurer or its producer has conducted a reasonable search and examination of the title and has made a determination of insurability of title under sound underwriting principles. Evidence of this search and reasonable determination shall be retained in the files of the title insurer or its producer for not less than 15 years after the policy has been issued, either in its original form or as recorded by any process which can accurately and reliably reproduce the original. This section does not apply to a company assuming liability through a contract of reinsurance, or to a company acting as coinsurer, if another coinsuring company has complied with this section.
(2) No title insurance policy may be issued except by a title insurance company or by a producer licensed under Section 31A-23a-105 .
(3) This section is enforceable only by the commissioner.
It does not create, eliminate, or modify any private cause
of action or remedy.
2003
