H.
B.
4384
(By Delegates S. Williams, Staton,
Beane, Farris and Flanigan)
[Introduced February 7, 1994; referred to the
Committee on Banking and Insurance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section twenty-nine, article twelve, chapter thirty-three of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to requiring insurance companies which withdraw from writing private passenger automobile insurance within the state to continue to pay agents who service surviving policies for a period of four years from the date of termination of the contractual relationship for those renewal policies which the agent continues to service.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section twenty-nine, article twelve, chapter thirty-three of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 12. AGENTS, BROKERS, SOLICITORS AND EXCESS LINE.
§
33-12-29. Termination of contractual relationship; continuation
of certain commissions; exceptions; change of
address.
(a) In the event of a termination of a contractual relationship between a duly licensed insurance agent and an automobile insurer of private passenger automobiles who is withdrawing from writing private passenger automobile insurance within the state, the insurer shall pay the agent a commission, equal to the commission the agent would have otherwise been entitled to under his or her contract with the insurer, for a period of four years from the date of termination of the contractual relationship for those renewal policies that cannot otherwise be canceled or nonrenewed pursuant to law, which policies the agent continues to service.
(b) Subsection (a) of this section does not apply to an agent who is an employee of the insurer, or an agent as defined by article twelve-a of this chapter, or an agent, who by contractual agreement either represents only one insurer or group of affiliated insurers or who is required by contract to submit risks to a specified insurer or group of affiliated insurers prior to submitting them to others.
(c) When applying for a license to act as an agent, broker, solicitor, excess line broker, or service representative, each applicant shall report his or her mailing address to the commissioner. An agent, broker, solicitor, excess line broker, or service representative shall notify the commissioner of any change in his or her mailing address within thirty days of such change. The commissioner shall maintain the mailing address of each agent, broker, solicitor, excess line broker, and service representative on file.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require insurance companies which withdraw from writing private passenger automobile insurance within the state to continue to pay agents who service surviving policies for a period of four years from the date of termination of the contractual relationship for those renewal policies which the agent continues to service.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.