H. B. 2758
(By Delegates Carper, Ashley, L. White
Rutledge and Douglas)
[Introduced March 27, 1993; referred to the
Committee on Banking and Insurance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact sections four, five, six, eight,
twelve and thirteen, article twelve-b, chapter thirty-three
of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended; and to further amend said article by
adding thereto two new sections, designated sections three-a
and eleven-a, all relating to insurance adjusters.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections four, five, six, eight, twelve and thirteen,
article twelve-b, chapter thirty-three of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended and reenacted; and that said article be further amended
by adding thereto two new sections, designated sections three-a
and eleven-a, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 12B. ADJUSTERS.
§33-12B-3a. "Emergency adjuster" and "insurance emergency"
defined.
(a) "Emergency adjuster" means an individual authorized bythe commissioner to act as an insurance adjuster in the
circumstances of an insurance emergency.
(b) "Insurance emergency" means a temporary situation as
declared by the insurance commissioner when the number of
licensed adjusters in the state of West Virginia is inadequate to
meet the demands of the public.
§33-12B-4. License required.
No person shall in West Virginia act as or hold himself out
to be an adjuster unless then licensed therefor pursuant to this
article. The provisions of this section do not apply to
emergency insurance adjusters as provided in section eleven-a of
this article.
§33-12B-5. Qualifications.
For the protection of the people of West Virginia, the
commissioner shall not issue, renew or permit to exist any
adjuster's license, with the exception of licenses issued to
emergency adjusters, except to an individual who:
(a) Is eighteen years of age or more.
(b) Is a resident of West Virginia, except for nonresident
adjusters as provided in section nine of this article.
(c) Satisfies the commissioner that he is trustworthy and
competent. The commissioner may, at his discretion, test the
competency of an applicant for a license under this section by
examination. If such examination is required by the
commissioner, each examinee shall pay a twenty-five dollar
examination fee for each examination to the commissioner whichfees shall be used for the purposes set forth in section
thirteen, article three of this chapter. The commissioner may,
at his discretion, designate an independent testing service to
prepare and administer such examination subject to direction and
approval by the commissioner, and examination fees charged by
such service shall be paid by the applicant.
(d) Any applicant who is engaged in the practice of
professional insurance adjusting prior to the first day of July,
one thousand nine hundred eighty-nine shall be exempt from the
examination requirement of subdivision (c) of this section.
§33-12B-6. Application.
(a) Application for an adjuster's license or renewal thereof
or emergency adjusters' licenses shall be made to the
commissioner upon a form prescribed by him and shall contain such
information and be accompanied by such supporting documents as
the commissioner may require, and the commissioner may require
such application to be made under the applicant's oath.
(b) Willful misrepresentation of any fact in any such
application or any documents in support thereof is a violation of
this chapter.
§33-12B-8. License fee.
The fee for an adjuster's license shall be twenty-five
dollars as provided in section thirteen, article three of this
chapter, except that when any other state imposes a tax, bond,
fine, penalty, license fee or other obligation or prohibition on
adjusters resident in this state, the same tax, bond, fine,penalty, license fee or other obligation or prohibition shall be
imposed upon adjusters (where licensing of nonresident adjusters
is permitted under this article) of each other state licensed or
seeking a license in this state. All fees and moneys so
collected shall be used for the purposes set forth in section
thirteen, article three of this chapter. The provisions of this
section do not apply to emergency insurance adjusters as provided
in section eleven-a of this article.
§33-12B-11a. Insurance emergency; issuance of temporary
insurance adjusters' licenses.
(a) Whenever the commissioner determines that a state
insurance emergency, as defined in section three-a of this
article, exists in the state of West Virginia, the commissioner
may authorize individuals to be emergency adjusters.
(b) When such insurance emergency conditions exist, the
commissioner may authorize such number of additional adjusters as
he considers necessary to adequately address the emergency
condition existing in the state. The adjusters shall be
authorized to act upon application of an insurance company,
licensed to do business in this state, which application shall
state the names of any individuals that the company wishes to be
authorized as emergency adjusters and other information as the
commissioner may require. The commissioner shall act on the
application within twenty-four hours after such application has
been furnished.
(c) Any such emergency license is valid only for so long asthe commissioner specifies, not to exceed a period of one hundred
twenty days.
(d) During the time an individual is licensed as an
emergency adjuster, he or she has the same power, authority and
responsibility as other adjusters authorized by this article.
§33-12B-12. Rules.
The commissioner is authorized to promulgate such rules and
regulations as are necessary to effectuate the provisions of this
article. Such rules and regulations shall be promulgated and
adopted pursuant to the provisions of chapter twenty-nine-a of
this code.
§33-12B-13. Effective date.
The provisions of the article shall become effective on the
first day of July, one thousand nine hundred eighty-nine except
that the commissioner may on and after the first day of July, one
thousand nine hundred eighty-eight, promulgate rules and
regulations pursuant to section twelve of this article.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create and define an
"emergency adjuster" and to provide for temporary insurance
adjusters' licenses.
§§3a and 11a are new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.