West Virginia Code 33-26-10 – Duties and powers of the commissioner
(a) The commissioner shall:
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 33-26-10
- Association: means the West Virginia Insurance Guaranty Association created under section six of this article. See West Virginia Code 33-26-5
- Commissioner: means the Insurance Commissioner of West Virginia. See West Virginia Code 33-26-5
- Insolvent insurer: means an insurer licensed to transact insurance in this state, either at the time the policy was issued or when the insured event occurred, and against whom a final order of liquidation has been entered with a finding of insolvency by a court of competent jurisdiction in the insurer&rsquo. See West Virginia Code 33-26-5
- Member insurer: means any person who: writes any kind of insurance to which this article applies under section three of this article, including farmers&rsquo. See West Virginia Code 33-26-5
- Net direct written premiums: means direct gross premiums written in this state on insurance policies to which this article applies, less return premiums on the policies and dividends paid or credited to policyholders on such direct business. See West Virginia Code 33-26-5
- State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
(1) Notify the association of the existence of an insolvent insurer not later than three business days after he or she receives notice of the determination of the insolvency.
(2) Upon request of the board of directors, provide the association a statement of the net direct written premiums of each member insurer.
(b) The commissioner may:
(1) Require that the association notify the insureds of the insolvent insurer and any other interested parties of the determination of insolvency and of their rights under this article. The notification shall be by mail at their last known address, where available, but if sufficient information for notification by mail is not available, notice by publication in a newspaper of general circulation is sufficient.
(2) Suspend or revoke, after notice and hearing, the certificate of authority to transact insurance in this state of any member insurer which fails to pay an assessment when due or fails to comply with the plan of operation. As an alternative, the commissioner may levy a fine on any member insurer which fails to pay an assessment when due. The fine may not exceed five percent of the unpaid assessment per month, except that no fine may be less than $100 per month.
(3) Revoke the designation of any servicing facility if he or she finds that claims are being handled unsatisfactorily.
(c) Any final order of the commissioner under this article is subject to judicial review as provided by section fourteen, article two of this chapter.