H. B. 3315
(By Delegates Miley and Rick Thompson )
[Introduced March 25, 2005; referred to the
Committee on Banking and Insurance then the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §33-12A-2 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to the contractual relationship
between insurance agents and insurance companies; and amending
the definition of insurance agent to include nonexclusive
agents to prohibit the arbitrary and capricious cancellation
of the contractual relationship between insurance companies
and these nonexclusive agents.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §33-12A-2 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 12A. CONTRACTUAL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN INSURANCE
COMPANIES AND AGENTS.
§33-12A-2. Definitions.
As used in this article:
(a) "Insurance company" means any individual, firm or corporation engaged in the business of selling insurance in this
state, excepting only: (1) Clubs or associations organized under
the laws of this state which sell insurance to their members and;
(2) companies engaged exclusively in the sale of life or accident
and sickness insurance.
(b) "Insurance agent" means any individual, firm or
corporation appointed by an insurance company, as defined herein,
whose exclusive activity in this field is in behalf of a single
insurance company and who is authorized by that company to solicit
insurance or to negotiate insurance on its behalf, and who is
authorized by the insurance company to effectuate and countersign
insurance contracts on its behalf.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill
is to amend the definition of
insurance agent to include non-exclusive agents for the purposes of
prohibiting arbitrary and capricious cancellation of these
contractual relationships between insurance companies and these
non-exclusive agents.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.