2023 Rhode Island General Laws › Title 27 - Insurance › Chapter 27-10 - Claim Adjusters › Section 27-10-12. - License denial, nonrenewal, or revocation.

§ 27-10-12. License denial, nonrenewal, or revocation.
(a)
The insurance commissioner may place on probation, suspend, revoke, or refuse to issue or renew an adjuster’s license or may levy a civil penalty in accordance with § 42-14-16 or any combination of actions for any one or more of the following causes:
(1)
Providing incorrect, misleading, incomplete, or materially untrue information in the license application;
(2)
Violating any insurance laws, or violating any regulation, subpoena, or order of the insurance commissioner or of another state’s insurance commissioner;
(3)
Obtaining or attempting to obtain a license through misrepresentation or fraud;
(4)
Improperly withholding, misappropriating, or converting any monies or properties received in the course of doing insurance business;
(5)
Intentionally misrepresenting the terms of an actual or proposed insurance contract or application for insurance;
(6)
Having been convicted of a felony;
(7)
Having admitted, or been found to have committed, any insurance unfair trade practice or insurance fraud;
(8)
Using fraudulent, coercive, or dishonest practices; or demonstrating incompetence, untrustworthiness or financial irresponsibility in the conduct of business in this state or elsewhere;
(9)
Having an insurance license, or its equivalent, denied, suspended, or revoked in any other state, province, district, or territory;
(10)
Forging another’s name to an application for insurance or to any document related to an insurance transaction;
(11)
Cheating, including improperly using notes or any other reference material, to complete an examination for an insurance license;
(12)
Knowingly accepting insurance business from an individual who is not licensed but who is required to be licensed by the department;
(13)
Failing to comply with an administrative or court order imposing a child support obligation; or
(14)
Failing to pay state income tax or comply with any administrative or court order directing payment of state income tax.
(b)
In the event that the action by the department is to deny an application for or not renew a license, the department shall notify the applicant or licensee and advise, in writing, the applicant or licensee of the reason for the nonrenewal or denial of the applicant’s or licensee’s license. The applicant or licensee may make written demand upon the department within ten (10) days for a hearing before the department to determine the reasonableness of the insurance commissioner’s action. The hearing shall be held pursuant to the Administrative Procedures Act, chapter 35 of title 42.
(c)
The license of a business entity may be suspended, revoked, or refused if the department finds, after hearing, that an individual licensee’s violation was known, or should have been known, by one or more of the partners, officers, or managers acting on behalf of the business entity and the violation was neither reported to the department nor corrective action taken.
(d)
In addition to, or in lieu of, any applicable denial, suspension or revocation of a license, a person may, after hearing, be subject to a civil fine according to § 42-14-16.
(e)
The department shall retain the authority to enforce the provisions of and impose any penalty or remedy authorized by this chapter and § 42-14-16 against any person who is under investigation for, or charged with, a violation of this chapter or title even if the person’s license has been surrendered or has lapsed by operation of law.
History of Section.
P.L. 1956, ch. 3790, § 7; G.L. 1956, § 27-10-12; P.L. 1978, ch. 123, § 1; P.L. 1985, ch. 169, § 3; P.L. 2014, ch. 107, § 1; P.L. 2014, ch. 195, § 1.