West Virginia Code of State Rules › Agency 114 - Insurance Commission › Title 114 - LEGISLATIVE RULE INSURANCE COMMISSIONER › Series 114-09 - Mass Marketing Of Property And Liability Insurance › Section 114-9-5 - Prohibitions

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 28, July 12, 2024
5.1. Producers. -- No
				person shall act as an insurance agent or an insurance broker in connection with a
				mass marketing plan for any kind of insurance unless such person is duly licensed,
				pursuant to the provisions of article twelve, chapter thirty-three of the West
				Virginia Code of 1931, as amended.
5.2.
				Fictitious arrangement prohibited. -- No insurer shall, without the approval of the
				Insurance Commissioner sell insurance pursuant to a mass marketing plan to members
				of any association or organization formed principally for the purpose of obtaining
				such insurance.
5.3. Compulsory
				participation prohibited. -- No insurer shall sell insurance pursuant to a mass
				marketing plan if it is a condition of employment or of membership in an
				association, organization or other group that any employee or member purchase
				insurance pursuant to such plan, or if any employee or member shall be subject to
				any penalty by reason of his nonparticipation.
5.4. Tie-in sales prohibited. -- No insurer shall
				sell insurance pursuant to a mass marketing plan if (i) the purchase of insurance
				available under such plan is contingent upon the purchase of any other insurance,
				product or service or (ii) the purchase or price of any other insurance, product or
				service is contingent upon the purchase of insurance available under such plan. This
				provision shall not be deemed to prohibit the reasonable requirement of safety
				devices, such as heat detectors, lightning rods, theft prevention equipment and the
				like.
5.5. Cancellation and nonrenewal.
(a) The failure of an employer, association,
				organization or other group to remit premiums when due for any reason (including,
				but not limited to, interruption or termination of employment or membership) shall
				not be regarded as "Nonpayment of Premium" by any insured under any such plan
				providing for remittance of premium by such employer, association, organization or
				other group, unless such insured shall have been given written notice of such
				failure to remit and shall not himself have paid such premium by the later of (i)
				twenty (20) days after such notice or (ii) the due date of such premium remittance
				under the mass marketing plan.
(b) All
				mass marketing plans shall provide that upon termination of employment or membership
				or upon the discontinuance of the mass marketing plan, the insured employee or
				member may maintain his policy in force for at least sixty (60) days in the same
				amount, upon payment of the premium applicable to the class of risk to which he
				belongs on an individual basis. The option to maintain the insurance in force shall
				be exercised within thirty (30) days following the date of termination. Any notice
				of cancellation or nonrenewal of any policy of an employee or member insured under a
				mass marketing plan shall be accompanied by a notice to the employee or member that,
				at his request, the insurer will afford the employer, association, organization or
				other group a reasonable opportunity to consult with the insured and to present
				facts in opposition to cancellation or nonrenewal.