California Insurance Code

§ 1764.1

INS § 1764.1 Effective Jan 1, 2020Div. 1 · Part 2 · Ch. 6

Statute text

(a)(1) Every nonadmitted insurer, in the case of insurance to be purchased by a home state insured pursuant to Section 1760, and surplus line broker, in the case of any insurance with a nonadmitted carrier for a home state insured to be transacted by the surplus line broker, shall be responsible to ensure that, at the time of accepting an application for an insurance policy, other than a renewal of that policy, issued by a nonadmitted insurer, the signature of the applicant on the disclosure statement set forth in subdivision (b) is obtained. In fulfillment of this responsibility, the nonadmitted insurer and the surplus line broker may rely, if it is reasonable under all the circumstances to do so, on the disclosure statement received from a licensee involved in the transaction as prima facie evidence that the disclosure statement and appropriate signature from the applicant have been obtained. The surplus line broker shall maintain a copy of the signed disclosure statement in the broker’s records for a period of at least five years. These records shall be made available to the commissioner and the insured upon request. This disclosure shall be signed by the applicant, and is not subject to a limited power of attorney agreement between the applicant and an agent or broker or a surplus line broker. The disclosure statement shall be in boldface 16-point type on a freestanding document. In addition, every policy issued by a nonadmitted insurer and every certificate evidencing the placement of insurance shall contain, or have affixed to it by the insurer or surplus line broker, the disclosure statement set forth in subdivision (b) in boldface 16-point type on the front page of the policy.

(2)In a case in which the applicant has not received and completed the signed disclosure form required by this section, the applicant may cancel the insurance so placed. The cancellation shall be on a pro rata basis as to premium, and the applicant shall be entitled to the return of any broker’s fees charged for the placement.

(b)The following notice shall be provided to home state insureds and home state insured applicants for insurance as provided by subdivision (a), and shall be printed in English and in the language principally used by the surplus line broker and nonadmitted insurer to advertise, solicit, or negotiate the sale and purchase of surplus line insurance. The surplus line broker and nonadmitted insurer shall use the appropriate bracketed language for application and issued policy disclosures: “IMPORTANT NOTICE: 1. The insurance policy that you [have purchased] [are applying to purchase] is being issued by an insurer that is not licensed by the State of California. These companies are called “nonadmitted” or “surplus line” insurers. 2. The insurer is not subject to the financial solvency regulation and enforcement that apply to California licensed insurers. 3. The insurer does not participate in any of the insurance guarantee funds created by California law. Therefore, these funds will not pay your claims or protect your assets if the insurer becomes insolvent and is unable to make payments as promised. 4. The insurer should be licensed either as a foreign insurer in another state in the United States or as a non-United States (alien) insurer. You should ask questions of your insurance agent, broker, or “surplus line” broker or contact the California Department of Insurance at the toll-free number 1-800-927-4357 or internet website www.insurance.ca.gov. Ask whether or not the insurer is licensed as a foreign or non-United States (alien) insurer and for additional information about the insurer. You may also visit the NAIC’s internet website at www.naic.org. The NAIC—the National Association of Insurance Commissioners—is the regulatory support organization created and governed by the chief insurance regulators in the United States. 5. Foreign insurers should be licensed by a state in the United States and you may contact that state’s department of insurance to obtain more information about that insurer. You can find a link to each state from this NAIC internet website: https://naic.org/state_web_map.htm. 6. For non-United States (alien) insurers, the insurer should be licensed by a country outside of the United States and should be on the NAIC’s International Insurers Department (IID) listing of approved nonadmitted non-United States insurers. Ask your agent, broker, or “surplus line” broker to obtain more information about that insurer. 7. California maintains a “List of Approved Surplus Line Insurers (LASLI).” Ask your agent or broker if the insurer is on that list, or view that list at the internet website of the California Department of Insurance: www.insurance.ca.gov/01-consumers/120-company/07-lasli/lasli.cfm. 8. If you, as the applicant, required that the insurance policy you have purchased be effective immediately, either because existing coverage was going to lapse within two business days or because you were required to have coverage within two business days, and you did not receive this disclosure form and a request for your signature until after coverage became effective, you have the right to cancel this policy within five days of receiving this disclosure. If you cancel coverage, the premium will be prorated and any broker’s fee charged for this insurance will be returned to you.”

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Legislative history

Amended by Stats. 2019, Ch. 201, Sec. 9. (AB 1813) Effective January 1, 2020.