reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
SC Code § 38-25-110 (2021)
2021 South Carolina Code of Laws|Title 38 - Insurance|Chapter 25 - Unauthorized Transaction Of Insurance Business|Section 38-25-110. Prohibition on transaction of insurance business in State without certificate of authority.

 It is unlawful for an insurer to transact insurance business in this State without a certificate of authority from the director or his designee. Any of the acts listed in items (1) through (8) in this State effected by mail or otherwise by or on behalf of an unauthorized insurer is considered to constitute the transaction of an insurance business in this State. The venue of an act committed by mail is at the point where the matter transmitted by mail is delivered and takes effect. Unless otherwise indicated, the term "insurer" as used in this section includes all corporations, associations, partnerships, and individuals engaged as principals in the business of insurance and also includes interinsurance exchanges and mutual benefit societies.  (1) The making of or proposing to make, as an insurer, an insurance contract.  (2) The making of or proposing to make, as guarantor or surety, any contract of guaranty or suretyship as a vocation and not merely incidental to any other legitimate business or activity of the guarantor or surety.  (3) The taking or receiving of any application for insurance.  (4) The receiving or collection of any premium, commission, membership fees, assessments, dues, or other consideration for any insurance or any part thereof.  (5) The issuance or delivery of contracts of insurance to residents of this State or to persons authorized to do business in this State.  (6) Directly or indirectly acting as an agent for or otherwise representing or aiding on behalf of another, any person or insurer in the solicitation, negotiation, procurement, or effectuation of insurance or renewals thereof or in the dissemination of information as to coverage or rates, or forwarding of applications, or delivery of policies or contracts, or inspection of risks, a fixing of rates or investigation or adjustment of claims or losses or in the transaction of matters after effectuation of the contract and arising out of it, or in any other manner representing or assisting a person or insurer in the transaction of insurance with respect to subjects of insurance resident, located, or to be performed in this State. This section does not prohibit full-time salaried employees of a corporate insured from acting in the capacity of an insurance manager or buyer in placing insurance in behalf of their employer.  (7) The transaction of any kind of insurance business specifically recognized as transacting an insurance business within the meaning of the statutes relating to insurance.  (8) The transacting or proposing to transact any insurance business in substance equivalent to any of the foregoing in a manner designed to evade the insurance laws of this State.  HISTORY: Former 1976 Code Section 38-53-30 [1975 (59) 127; 1976 Act No. 732 Section 8] recodified as Section 38-25-110 by 1987 Act No. 155, Section 1; 1993 Act No. 181, Section 600.
SC Code § 38-25-120 (2021)
2021 South Carolina Code of Laws|Title 38 - Insurance|Chapter 25 - Unauthorized Transaction Of Insurance Business|Section 38-25-120. Acting as agent for unauthorized insurer prohibited.

 No person may in this State act as agent for an insurer not authorized to transact business in this State or negotiate for or place or aid in placing insurance coverage in this State for another with an unauthorized insurer.  HISTORY: Former 1976 Code Section 38-52-10 [1947 (45) 322; 1952 Code Section 37-261; 1962 Code Section 37-261; 1978 Act No. 457 Section 1] recodified as Section 38-25-120 by 1987 Act No. 155, Section 1.
SC Code § 38-25-130 (2021)
2021 South Carolina Code of Laws|Title 38 - Insurance|Chapter 25 - Unauthorized Transaction Of Insurance Business|Section 38-25-130. Aiding unauthorized insurer prohibited.

 No person may in this State aid an unauthorized insurer in effecting insurance or in transacting insurance business in this State, either by fixing a rate, or by adjusting or investigating losses, by inspecting or examining risks, by acting as attorney in fact or as attorney for service of process or otherwise, except as provided in Sections 38-25-510 and 38-25-520.  HISTORY: Former 1976 Code Section 38-52-20 [1947 (45) 322; 1952 Code Section 37-262; 1962 Code Section 37-262; 1978 Act No. 457 Section 1] recodified as Section 38-25-130 by 1987 Act No. 155, Section 1.
SC Code § 38-25-140 (2021)
2021 South Carolina Code of Laws|Title 38 - Insurance|Chapter 25 - Unauthorized Transaction Of Insurance Business|Section 38-25-140. Insurance on out-of-state property by insurer not locally authorized.

 No person may make, negotiate for or place, or aid in negotiating or placing an insurance contract in this State for another who is an applicant for insurance covering any property or risk in another state, territory, or district of the United States with an insurer not authorized to transact insurance business in the state, territory, or district where the property or risk or any part thereof is located.  HISTORY: Former 1976 Code Section 38-52-30 [1947 (45) 322; 1952 Code Section 37-263; 1962 Code Section 37-263; 1978 Act No. 457 Section 1] recodified as Section 38-25-140 by 1987 Act No. 155, Section 1.
SC Code § 38-25-150 (2021)
2021 South Carolina Code of Laws|Title 38 - Insurance|Chapter 25 - Unauthorized Transaction Of Insurance Business|Section 38-25-150. Exemptions.

 This article does not apply to:  (1) the lawful transaction of surplus lines insurance;  (2) the lawful transaction of reinsurance by insurers;  (3) transactions in this State involving a policy lawfully solicited, written, and delivered outside this State covering only subjects of insurance not resident, located, or expressly to be performed in this State at the time of issuance, and which transactions are subsequent to the issuance of the policy;  (4) attorneys acting in the ordinary relation of attorney and client in the adjustment of claims or losses;  (5) except for mass-marketed insurance, transactions in this State involving group life and group accident and health or blanket accident and health insurance or group annuities where (i) the master policy was lawfully issued and delivered in and pursuant to the laws of a state in which the insurer was authorized to do an insurance business and in which the policyholder was domiciled or otherwise had a bona fide situs and (ii) except for group annuities, the insurer complies with Sections 38-65-50, 38-65-60, 38-71-740, and 38-71-750;  (6) transactions in this State involving any policy of insurance or annuity contract issued before April 30, 1975;  (7) contracts of insurance covering risks of transportation and navigation and transactions in this State relative to a policy issued or to be issued outside this State involving insurance on vessels, craft or hulls, cargoes, marine builder's risk, marine protection and indemnity, or other risk, including strikes and war risks commonly insured under ocean or wet marine forms of policy;  (8) transactions in this State involving contracts of insurance other than contracts of life, accident, or accident and health insurance issued to one or more industrial insureds. An "industrial insured" means an insured:  (i) which procures insurance by use of the services of a full-time employee acting as a risk manager or insurance manager or utilizing the services of a regularly and continuously qualified insurance consultant;  (ii) whose aggregate annual premiums for insurance on all risks total at least twenty-five thousand dollars; and  (iii) which has at least twenty-five full-time employees.  HISTORY: Former 1976 Code Section 38-52-40 [1947 (45) 322; 1952 Code Section 37-264; 1962 Code Section 37-264; 1978 Act No. 457 Section 1] Section 38-53-30 [1975 (59) 127; 1976 Act No. 732 Section 8] recodified as Section 38-25-150 by 1987 Act No. 155, Section 1.
SC Code § 38-25-160 (2021)
2021 South Carolina Code of Laws|Title 38 - Insurance|Chapter 25 - Unauthorized Transaction Of Insurance Business|Section 38-25-160. Director may exempt insurer or other organization from provisions of chapter; certain requirements; discontinuance of exemption.

 The director or his designee may, by regulation of the department or by his order, exempt from all or any provisions of this chapter an insurer or other organization not formed or operating for profit which affords life insurance or annuities to nonprofit educational and scientific institutions and their staff members in this State. However, in affording this exemption the director or his designee shall require the insurer or other organization to appoint the director as agent for service of process. The director or his designee may require the insurer or other organization to file with the department, as information, policy forms, annual statements, and financial and other similar material. The director or his designee may, after due notice and hearing, discontinue the exemption for any reason which would have, if then existing or known, justified his refusal to afford the exemption when it was granted.  HISTORY: Former 1976 Code Section 38-53-30 [1975 (59) 127; 1976 Act No. 732 Section 8] recodified as Section 38-25-160 by 1987 Act No. 155, Section 1; 1993 Act No. 181, Section 601.
SC Code § 38-25-310 (2021)
2021 South Carolina Code of Laws|Title 38 - Insurance|Chapter 25 - Unauthorized Transaction Of Insurance Business|Section 38-25-310. Director authorized to seek restraining order.

 Whenever the director or his designee believes, from evidence satisfactory to him, that an insurer is violating or about to violate Section 38-25-110 the director or his designee may, through the Attorney General, cause a complaint to be filed in the Court of Common Pleas of Richland County to enjoin and restrain the insurer from continuing the violation, engaging in the violation, or doing any act in furtherance of the violation. The court has jurisdiction of the proceeding and has the power to make and enter an order or judgment awarding preliminary or final injunctive relief as in its judgment is proper.  HISTORY: Former 1976 Code Section 38-53-40 [1975 (59) 127] recodified as Section 38-25-310 by 1987 Act No. 155, Section 1; 1993 Act No. 181, Section 602.
SC Code § 38-25-320 (2021)
2021 South Carolina Code of Laws|Title 38 - Insurance|Chapter 25 - Unauthorized Transaction Of Insurance Business|Section 38-25-320. Penalty for unauthorized insurers.

 An unauthorized insurer who transacts any unauthorized act of an insurance business as set forth in Article 3 of this chapter may be fined not more than fifty thousand dollars.  HISTORY: Former 1976 Code Section 38-53-80 [1975 (59) 127] recodified as Section 38-25-320 by 1987 Act No. 155, Section 1; 1988 Act No. 374, Section 2.
SC Code § 38-25-330 (2021)
2021 South Carolina Code of Laws|Title 38 - Insurance|Chapter 25 - Unauthorized Transaction Of Insurance Business|Section 38-25-330. Penalty for violation of chapter.

 A person wilfully violating any provisions of this chapter is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be fined in the discretion of the court or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.  HISTORY: Former 1976 Code Section 38-51-180 [1947 (45) 322; 1952 Code Section 37-249; 1962 Code Section 37-249] Section 38-52-90 [1947 (45) 322; 1952 Code Section 37-271; 1962 Code Section 37-271; 1978 Act No. 457 Section 1] recodified as Section 28-25-330 by 1987 Act No. 155 Section 1; 1988 Act No. 374, Section 9; 1993 Act No. 184 Section 211; 1998 Act No. 262, Section 2.
SC Code § 38-25-360 (2021)
2021 South Carolina Code of Laws|Title 38 - Insurance|Chapter 25 - Unauthorized Transaction Of Insurance Business|Section 38-25-360. Personal liability on contracts of unauthorized insurers.

 In the event of failure of an unauthorized insurer to pay any claim or loss within the provisions of the insurance contract, a person who assisted or in any manner aided directly or indirectly in the procurement of the insurance contract is liable to the insured for the full amount of the claim or loss in the manner provided by the insurance contract.  HISTORY: Former 1976 Code Section 38-53-30 [1975 (59) 127; 1976 Act No. 732 Section 8] recodified as Section 38-25-360 by 1987 Act No. 155, Section 1.
SC Code § 38-25-520 (2021)
2021 South Carolina Code of Laws|Title 38 - Insurance|Chapter 25 - Unauthorized Transaction Of Insurance Business|Section 38-25-520. Director agent for service of process on unauthorized insurers.

 (a) The issuance and delivery of a policy of insurance or contract of insurance or indemnity to any person in this State or the collection of a premium thereon by an insurer not licensed in this State, as herein required, irrevocably constitutes the director and any successor of his in office the true and lawful attorney in fact upon whom service of any and all processes, pleadings, actions, or suits arising out of the policy or contract in behalf of the insured may be made.  (b) Service of process in this action is made by delivering to and leaving with the director or some person in apparent charge of his office two copies of it and by payment to the director of a fee of ten dollars, of which five dollars must be retained by the director to offset the costs he incurs in service of process and of which five dollars must be deposited to the credit of the general fund of the state.  (c) The director or his designee shall immediately mail by registered mail one of the copies of the process to the defendant at its last known principal place of business and shall keep a record of all process served upon him. The service of process is sufficient if: (1) notice of the service and a copy of the process are sent within ten days thereafter by registered mail by the plaintiff's attorney to the defendant at its last known principal place of business, and (2) the defendant's receipt or a receipt issued by the post office with which the letter is registered, showing the name of the sender of the letter and the name and address of the person to whom the letter is addressed, and the affidavit of the plaintiff's attorney showing compliance herewith are filed with the clerk of court in which the action is pending by the date the defendant is required to appear or within any further time which the court may allow.  (d) No plaintiff is entitled to a judgment by default, a judgment with leave to prove damages, or a judgment pro confesso under this section until the expiration of thirty days from the date of filing of the affidavit of compliance.  (e) Nothing in this section limits or abridges the right to serve any process, notice, order, or demand upon any person or insurer in any other manner permitted by law.  HISTORY: Former 1976 Code Section 38-52-50 [1947 (45) 322; 1952 Code Section 37-265; 1962 Code Section 37-265; 1978 Act No. 457 Section 1] recodified as Section 38-25-520 by 1987 Act No. 155, Section 1; 1988 Act No. 366, Section 3; 1993 Act No. 181, Section 604.
SC Code § 38-25-530 (2021)
2021 South Carolina Code of Laws|Title 38 - Insurance|Chapter 25 - Unauthorized Transaction Of Insurance Business|Section 38-25-530. Alternative method for service on unauthorized insurer.

 Service of process in any action, suit, or proceeding involving an unauthorized insurer is, in addition to that provided in Sections 38-25-510 and 38-25-520, valid if served upon any person within this State who, in this State on behalf of the insurer, is:  (1) soliciting insurance;  (2) making any contract of insurance or issuing or delivering any policies or written contracts of insurance; or  (3) collecting or receiving any premium for the insurer, or adjusting any loss or claim for the insurance, and if counsel, within ten days after service upon the person, causes to be sent by registered mail to the last known address of the insurer a copy of the process with proper postage affixed to the envelope containing it and files an affidavit, with the clerk of court or magistrate in whose court the cause is pending, of compliance herewith, with leave to the court to extend the time for the mailing of process and filing of affidavit.  HISTORY: 1987 Act No. 155, Section 1.
SC Code § 38-25-540 (2021)
2021 South Carolina Code of Laws|Title 38 - Insurance|Chapter 25 - Unauthorized Transaction Of Insurance Business|Section 38-25-540. Actions by unauthorized insurers.

 An unauthorized insurer is not permitted to maintain any action, suit, or proceeding in this State to enforce a right, claim, or demand arising out of the transaction of insurance business until the insurer has obtained a certificate of authority to transact insurance business in this State. The unauthorized insurer may maintain an action, suit, or proceeding in connection with its investments in this State or in connection with a contract issued by it at a time when it was authorized to do business in the state where the contract was issued. This section does not prevent the insurer from defending an action in the courts of this State. The failure of an insurer transacting insurance business in this State to obtain a certificate of authority does not impair the validity of any act or contract of the insurer. This section does not apply to an eligible surplus lines insurer which maintains the deposit required by Section 38-9-80 or which has on file with the department a surety bond issued by an admitted insurer in an amount determined by the director or his designee to be sufficient to meet the security requirements of Section 38-9-80. Before an eligible surplus lines insurer files or causes to be filed any action, suit, or proceeding in this State to enforce a right, claim, or demand arising out of the transaction of insurance, it shall produce evidence that the security deposit is presently on file or that the required surety bond is then in force and effect.  HISTORY: Former 1976 Code Section 38-52-60 [1947 (45) 322; 1952 Code Section 37-267; 1962 Code Section 37-267; 1978 Act No. 457 Section 1] Section 38-53-30 [1975 (59) 127; 1976 Act No. 732 Section 8] recodified as Section 38-25-540 by 1987 Act No. 155, Section 1; 1988 Act No. 314, Section 3; 1993 Act No. 181, Section 605.
SC Code § 38-25-550 (2021)
2021 South Carolina Code of Laws|Title 38 - Insurance|Chapter 25 - Unauthorized Transaction Of Insurance Business|Section 38-25-550. Prerequisites to pleading by unauthorized insurer; exemptions of eligible surplus lines insurer.

 (a) Before an unauthorized insurer files or causes to be filed any pleading in any court action, suit, or proceeding or any notice, order, pleading, or process in an administrative proceeding before the director or his designee instituted against the person or insurer, the insurer shall either:  (1) Deposit with the clerk of court in which the action, suit, or proceeding is pending, or with the director or his designee in administrative proceedings before the director or his designee, cash or securities, or file with the clerk of court or the director or his designee a bond with good and sufficient sureties, to be approved by the clerk or director or his designee, in an amount to be fixed by the court or director or his designee sufficient to secure the payment of any final judgment which may be rendered in the action or administrative proceeding.  (2) Procure a certificate of authority to transact the business of insurance in this State. In considering the application of an insurer for a certificate of authority, for the purposes of this paragraph, the director or his designee need not assert the provisions of Section 38-7-90 against the insurer with respect to its application if he determines that the insurer would otherwise comply with the requirements for a certificate of authority.  (b) The director or his designee, in an administrative proceeding in which service is made as provided in Section 38-25-510, may in his discretion order a postponement as may be necessary to afford the defendant reasonable opportunity to comply with subsection (a) and to defend the action.  (c) This section does not apply to an eligible surplus lines insurer which maintains the deposit required by Section 38-9-80 or which has on file with the department a surety bond issued by an admitted insurer in an amount determined by the director or his designee to be sufficient to meet the security requirements of Section 38-9-80. Before an eligible surplus lines insurer files or causes to be filed any action, suit, or proceeding in this State to enforce a right, claim, or demand arising out of the transaction of insurance, it shall produce evidence that the security deposit is presently on file or that the required surety bond is then in force and effect.  HISTORY: Former 1976 Act Section 38-52-70 [1947 (45) 322; 1952 Code Section 37-268; 1962 Code Section 37-268; 1978 Act No. 457 Section 1] Section 38-53-60 [1975 (59) 127] recodified as Section 38-25-550 by 1987 Act No. 155, Section 1; 1988 Act No. 314, Section 4; 1993 Act No. 181, Section 606.
SC Code § 38-25-560 (2021)
2021 South Carolina Code of Laws|Title 38 - Insurance|Chapter 25 - Unauthorized Transaction Of Insurance Business|Section 38-25-560. Filing of certain motions.

 Nothing in this article may be construed to prevent an unauthorized insurer from filing a motion to quash a writ or to set aside service thereof made in the manner provided in Section 38-25-510, 38-25-520, or 38-25-530 on the ground that (a) no policy or contract of insurance has been issued or delivered to a citizen or resident of this State or to a corporation authorized to do business in this State, (b) the insurer has not been transacting business in this State, or (c) the person on whom service was made pursuant to Section 38-25-530 was not doing any of the acts listed in that section.  HISTORY: Former 1976 Code Section 38-52-80 [1947 (45) 322; 1952 Code Section 37-270; 1962 Code Section 37-270; 1978 Act No. 457 Section 1]; Section 38-53-60 [1975 (59) 127] recodified as Section 38-25-560 by 1987 Act No. 155, Section 1.
SC Code § 38-26-10 (2021)
2021 South Carolina Code of Laws|Title 38 - Insurance|Chapter 26 - Administrative Supervision Of Insurers Act|Section 38-26-10. Short title.

 This chapter may be cited as the "Administrative Supervision of Insurers Act".  HISTORY: 1991 Act No. 13, Section 3; 1993 Act No. 181, Section 608.