2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 38 - Insurance › Chapter 9 - Capital, Surplus, Reserves, And Other Financial Matters › Section 38-9-30. Capital and surplus requirements of insurers licensed as of July 1, 1988; delinquency.

Sections 38-9-10 and 38-9-20 do not apply to an insurer that is licensed to do business in this State on July 1, 1991, if the insurer continues to remain licensed in this State and continues to maintain at least the following minimum capital and surplus amounts if a stock insurer or minimum surplus if a mutual insurer:
(1) An insurer, if possessed of capital and surplus amounts on December 31, 1990, that were in compliance with the law at that time, but which are less than the minimums required to be maintained by Section 38-9-10, shall maintain not less than the amount of capital stated in its 1990 annual statement and maintain surplus of not less than twenty-five percent of that amount of capital. If the surplus of the insurer is reduced to less than twenty-five percent of this minimum amount of required capital, the insurer is considered delinquent, and the director or his designee may begin delinquency proceedings as provided by Chapter 27 of this title. If the minimum capital required to be maintained by this section by the insurer becomes impaired, the insurer is delinquent, and the director or his designee shall begin delinquency proceedings. If the capital is increased to an amount greater than the amount possessed on December 31, 1990, the amount of surplus that must be maintained after the increase is twenty-five percent of that greater amount of capital, and if this amount is not maintained, the director or his designee may begin delinquency proceedings as provided by Chapter 27 of this title. This increased amount of capital must not be reduced to an amount less than the amount required by Section 38-9-10, and if it becomes reduced or impaired, the insurer is delinquent, and the director or his designee shall begin delinquency proceedings.
(2) A mutual insurer, if possessed of surplus on December 31, 1990, that was in compliance with the law at that time but is less than the minimum required to be maintained by Section 38-9-20, shall maintain not less than the amount of surplus stated in its 1990 annual statement. If the surplus of the insurer is reduced to less than eighty percent of the amount shown in its 1990 annual statement, the insurer is considered delinquent, and the director or his designee may begin delinquency proceedings as provided by Chapter 27 of this title. If the surplus of the insurer is increased to an amount greater than the amount possessed on December 31, 1990, eighty percent of that greater amount of surplus, or the minimum amount required to be maintained by Section 38-9-20, whichever amount is the lesser, must be maintained after the increase, and if it is not maintained, the insurer is considered delinquent, and the director or his designee may begin delinquency proceedings as provided by Chapter 27 of this title.
(3) A domestic stock insurer possessed of the minimum capital and surplus required by item (1) or a domestic mutual insurer possessed of the minimum surplus required by item (2), which is the subject of a change of control defined in Chapter 21 of this title, the Insurance Holding Company Regulatory Act, immediately shall increase its minimum capital and surplus if a stock insurer, or its minimum surplus if a mutual insurer, to comply with the minimums in Section 38-9-10 or 38-9-20, whichever is applicable.
HISTORY: Former 1976 Code Section 38-9-30 [1947 (45) 322; 1952 Code Section 37-143; 1962 Code Section 37-143] recodified as Section 38-55-20 by 1987 Act No. 155, Section 1; Former 1976 Code Section 38-5-630 [1947 (45) 322; 1948 (45) 1734; 1952 Code Section 37-183; 1962 Code Section 37-183; 1963 (53) 564; 1971 (57) 311] recodified as Section 38-9-30 by 1987 Act No. 155, Section 1; 1988 Act No. 317, Section 3; 1991 Act No. 13, Section 8; 1993 Act No. 181, Section 535.