Code of Vermont Rules › Agency 21 - DEPARTMENT OF FINANCIAL REGULATION › Sub-Agency 020 - INSURANCE DIVISION › Chapter 023 - RULES GOVERNING INTERMUNICIPAL INSURANCE AGREEMENTS › Section 21 020 023 - RULES GOVERNING INTERMUNICIPAL INSURANCE AGREEMENTS

Current through June,
				2024
Section 1 Purpose
				and Authority
This rule is promulgated pursuant to and in accordance with
				  the provisions of Title 24, Chapter 121, Subchapter 6 of the Vermont Statutes
				  Annotated. The purpose of this rule is to set forth rules, forms and procedures
				  regarding Intermunicipal Insurance Agreements that the Commissioner deems
				  necessary to assist in the formation of intermunicipal insurance associations,
				  to expedite approval of any plan of operation, to provide for the fiscal
				  integrity of agreements entered into under the Act, and to regulate trade,
				  market and claim practices engaged in by such associations.
Section 2 Definitions
A. "Act" means Title 24, Chapter 121,
				Subchapter 6 of the Vermont Statutes Annotated.
B. "Actuary" means a person who is not an
				employee of the Association, has experience in the area of self-insured
				programs, and is qualified to sign the applicable statement of actuarial
				opinion in accordance with the American Academy of Actuaries qualification
				standards for actuaries signing such statements.
C. "Administrator" means an individual,
				partnership, corporation or other entity authorized to serve as a
				representative of an Association in carrying out the policies of the Members'
				Supervisory Board and managing the Association's activities.
D. "Association" means an association,
				compact or corporation any of which shall be organized not for profit, and
				formed for the purpose of entering into Intermunicipal Insurance Agreements
				under the Act.
E. "Commissioner"
				means the Commissioner of the Department of Financial Regulation of the State
				of Vermont.
F. "Contribution" means
				money, or a money equivalent approved by the Commissioner, required of a Member
				for the purpose of distributing, sharing or pooling any risk in an
				Intermunicipal Insurance Agreement.
G. "Fiscal integrity" means the economic
				soundness and fairness of an Intermunicipal Insurance Agreement.
H. "Health Benefit Association" means an
				association that offers one or more health benefit plans to school employers,
				as defined in
				16 V.S.A. §
											2101, for coverage of their school employees,
				as defined in
				16 V.S.A. §
											2101.
I. "Intermunicipal Insurance Agreement" means
				an agreement entered into by two or more Members for obtaining or effecting
				insurance by self-insurance, for obtaining or effecting insurance from any
				insurer authorized to transact business in this state as an admitted or surplus
				lines carrier, or for obtaining and effecting insurance secured in accordance
				with any other method provided by law.
J. "Member" means a Vermont municipality, as
				defined in
				24 V.S.A. §
											4941, which has entered into a Member
				Agreement and thereby becomes a member in an Association.
K. "Member Agreement" means the written
				agreement executed between the Member and the Association setting forth the
				conditions of membership in the Association, the obligations, if any, of each
				Member to the other Members, and the terms of the Plan, including coverages,
				limits and deductibles, where applicable.
L. "Members' Supervisory Board" means the
				governing authority of the Association.
M. "Plan" means the plan of insurance,
				self-insurance or intermunicipal risk management offered by the Association to
				its Members.
N. "Service Agent"
				means any individual, partnership, corporation or other entity that may provide
				any or all of the services necessary to create or maintain an approved
				Intermunicipal Insurance Agreement, including but not limited to claims
				adjustment, safety engineering, compilation of statistics, the preparation and
				collection of Contribution payments, loss reports and the administration of a
				claims fund.
O. "Trade, marketing
				and claim practices" means the methods employed by an Association in
				advertising, promoting, selling, administering and managing its Intermunicipal
				Insurance Agreement to and for its Members and prospective Members, and the
				Association's treatment of any third-party claimants that may file a claim
				against or sue a Member.