CO Code § 10-1-103 (2021)
2021 Colorado Code|Title 10 - Insurance|Article 1 - General Provisions|Part 1 - General Provisions|§ 10-1-103. Division of Insurance - Repeal of Functions

  There is established a division of insurance within the department of regulatory agencies. This division is charged with the execution of the laws relating to insurance, and has a supervising authority over the business of insurance in this state. Offices of the division of insurance shall be provided in the capitol buildings group at Denver, Colorado. Whenever any law of this state refers to the insurance department of the state of Colorado, said law shall be construed as referring to the division of insurance.    The commissioner of insurance, before incurring any expense for his or her office and the maintenance thereof, exclusive of salaries and wages, shall make requisition therefor upon and receive the approval of the executive director of the department of personnel as required by law.    All direct and indirect expenditures of the division are paid from the division of insurance cash fund, which is hereby created in the state treasury. All fees collected under sections 8-44-204 (7), C.R.S., 8-44-205 (6), C.R.S., 10-2-413, 10-3-108, 10-3-207, 10-3.5-104, 10-3.5-107, 10-12-106, 10-15-103, 10-16-110 (1) and (2), 10-16-111 (1), 10-23-102, 10-23-104, 24-10-115.5 (5), C.R.S., and 29-13-102 (5), C.R.S., not including fees retained under contracts entered into in accordance with section 10-2-402 (5) or 24-34-101, C.R.S., and all taxes collected under section 10-3-209 (4) designated for the division of insurance, are transmitted to the state treasurer, who shall credit the moneys to the division of insurance cash fund. The division shall use all moneys credited to the division of insurance cash fund as provided in this section and in section 24-48.5-106, C.R.S., subject to annual appropriation by the general assembly for the purposes authorized in this title and as otherwise authorized by law. Moneys in the fund do not revert to the general fund or to any other fund. In accordance with section 24-36-114, C.R.S., all interest derived from the deposit and investment of moneys in the fund is credited to the general fund. (3.5) Repealed.    The division of insurance shall adopt a seal with the words “commissioner of insurance of the state of Colorado” and such other design as the commissioner may prescribe engraved thereon, by which it shall authenticate its proceedings, and of which the courts of this state shall take judicial notice. All copies of papers, certified by the commissioner and sealed with the seal of the division, shall have the same force and validity as the originals thereof in any suit or proceeding in any court in this state.    The office of the division of insurance is a public office. Except as otherwise provided by law, the documents, materials, and information of the office or on file in the office are public records of this state, and information shall be furnished to anyone applying for the information; except that documents, materials, and information provided by the regulatory officials of any state, federal agency, or foreign country and by the national association of insurance commissioners shall be given confidential treatment if such documents, materials, and information are treated as confidential in such other state or foreign country or by such other federal agency or the national association of insurance commissioners. Notwithstanding any provision of this subsection (5) to the contrary, the commissioner or the commissioner's designee may share otherwise confidential documents, materials, and information with regulatory officials of any state, federal agency, or foreign country and with the national association of insurance commissioners if the association or the regulatory official of the other state, federal agency, or foreign country agrees and has the legal authority to maintain the same level of confidentiality as applies to the documents, materials, and information under Colorado law.      The provisions of section 24-34-104, C.R.S., concerning the termination schedule for regulatory bodies of this state, unless extended as provided in that section, are applicable to the division of insurance created by this section.        Repealed. (b) (I) (A) Repealed.    (Deleted by amendment,L. 2006, p. 75, § 1, effective March 27, 2006.) (B.5) and (C)(Deleted by amendment, L. 2010, (HB 10-1220), ch. 197, p. 849, § 1, effective July 1, 2010.)       Prior to such repeal, the division of insurance shall be reviewed as provided for in section 24-34-104, C.R.S.           (D) Except as otherwise provided in section 24-34-104 (31)(a)(I), the functions of the division of insurance are repealed, effective September 1, 2030, pursuant to this section and section 24-34-104 .   (E) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2010, (HB 10-1220), ch. 197, p. 849, § 1, effective July 1, 2010.)   History. Source: L. 2003: Entire article RC&RE, p. 590, § 1, effective July 1. L. 2004: (3) amended, p. 1253, § 2, effective May 27. L. 2005: (6) amended, p. 761, § 11, effective June 1. L. 2006: (6)(b)(I)(B) and (6)(b)(I)(D) amended and (6)(b)(I)(B.5) and (6)(b)(I)(E) added, p. 75, § 1, effective March 27; (5) amended, p. 959, § 2, effective January 1, 2007. L. 2007: (6)(b)(I)(B.5) amended, p. 339, § 1, effective July 1. L. 2008: (6)(b)(I)(C) amended, p. 209, § 1, effective March 26. L. 2010: (6)(b)(I)(A), (6)(b)(I)(B.5), (6)(b)(I)(C), (6)(b)(I)(D), and (6)(b)(I)(E) amended,(HB 10-1220), ch. 197, p. 849, § 1, effective July 1. L. 2012: (3) and (6)(b)(I)(D) amended and (6)(b)(I)(A) repealed,(HB 12-1266), ch. 280, p. 1491, § 2, effective July 1. L. 2016: (6)(b)(I)(D) amended,(HB 16-1192), ch. 83, p. 232, § 5, effective April 14. L. 2017: (6)(b)(I)(D) amended,(SB 17-249), ch. 283, p. 1544, § 2, effective June 1; (5) amended,(HB 17-1231), ch. 284, p. 1575, § 14, effective January 1, 2018. L. 2020: (3.5) added,(HB 20-1406), ch. 178, p. 811, § 5, effective June 29. L. 2021: (3.5) repealed,(SB 21-266), ch. 423, p. 2795, § 7, effective July 2.    Editor's note:   This section is similar to former § 10-1-103 as it existed prior to 2002.   Cross references:   For the legislative declaration contained in the 2006 act amending subsection (5), see section 1 of chapter 211, Session Laws of Colorado 2006.   ANNOTATION   Annotator's note. Since § 10-1-103 is similar to § 10-1-103 as it existed prior to the 2002 repeal of article 1 of title 10, relevant cases construing that provision have been included in the annotations to this section.   Insurance department charged with execution of insurance related laws. It is provided by this section that the insurance department shall be charged with the execution of the laws relating to insurance now and which may hereafter be enacted, and shall have a supervising authority over the business of insurance in this state. Aronoff v. Pioneer Mut. Comp. Co., 134 Colo. 395 , 304 P.2d 1083 (1956).   The interpretation of an insurance contract is a matter of law. Bd. of County Comm'rs v. Colo., 888 P.2d 352 (Colo. App. 1994).   An insurance contract should be construed to carry out the intention of the parties, and that intention should be ascertained, if possible, from the language in the policy alone; however, if there is an ambiguity, uncertainty, or conflict as to coverage, courts should construe the policy in favor of the insured. Bd. of County Comm'rs v. Colo., 888 P.2d 352 (Colo. App. 1994).   Ambiguity in insurance contract with regard to the retroactive date of the contract must be resolved by giving effect to the intention of the parties, and, therefore, the date which the parties to the contract intended, based on undisputed testimony, is the date that coverage began. Bd. of County Comm'rs v. Colo., 888 P.2d 352 (Colo. App. 1994).   Applied in Travelers Indem. Co. v. Barnes, 191 Colo. 278 , 552 P.2d 300 (1976).