ENROLLED

Senate Bill No. 358

(By Senators Minard, Jenkins, Minear and Sharpe)

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[Passed march 8, 2003; in effect ninety days from passage.]

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AN ACT to amend article five, chapter thirty-three of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section twenty-seven, relating to the redomestication of domestic insurance companies.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article five, chapter thirty-three of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section twenty-seven, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5. ORGANIZATION AND PROCEDURES OF DOMESTIC STOCK AND MUTUAL INSURERS.

§33-5-27. Redomestication of stock and mutual insurers.
(a) A domestic insurer may, upon the approval of the commissioner, transfer its domicile to any other state in which it is admitted to transact the business of insurance and, upon such transfer, shall cease to be a domestic insurer and shall be admitted to this state if qualified as a foreign insurer. The commissioner shall approve the proposed transfer unless he or she determines the transfer is not in the best interest of the policyholders of this state.
(b) The certificate of authority, agents' appointments and licenses, rates and other items which the commissioner allows, in his or her discretion, that are in existence at the time an insurer licensed to transact the business of insurance in this state transfers its corporate domicile to this or any other state by merger, consolidation or any other lawful method shall continue in full force and effect upon transfer if the insurer remains duly qualified to transact the business of insurance in this state. All outstanding policies of a transferring insurer shall remain in full force and effect and need not be endorsed as to the new name of the company or its new location unless so ordered by the commissioner.
(c) A transferring insurer shall file new policy forms with the commissioner on or before the effective date of the transfer, but may use existing policy forms with appropriate endorsements if allowed by, and under such conditions as approved by, the commissioner. However, every transferring insurer shall notify the commissioner of the details of the proposed transfer and shall file promptly any resulting amendments to corporate documents filed or required to be filed with the commissioner.