Section 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.

(Amended by Stats. 2012, Ch. 786, Sec. 35. Effective January 1, 2013.)