Oregon Statutes 748.601 – Exemptions from chapter
(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, this chapter does not affect or apply to:
Terms Used In Oregon Statutes 748.601
- Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
- Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
- Certificate: means the document issued as written evidence of the benefit contract. See Oregon Statutes 748.103
- City: includes any incorporated village or town. See Oregon Statutes 174.100
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Laws: means the society's articles of incorporation, constitution and bylaws, however designated. See Oregon Statutes 748.103
- Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
- Person: includes individuals, corporations, associations, firms, partnerships, limited liability companies and joint stock companies. See Oregon Statutes 174.100
- Society: means fraternal benefit society, unless otherwise indicated. See Oregon Statutes 748.103
- United States: includes territories, outlying possessions and the District of Columbia. See Oregon Statutes 174.100
(a) Grand or subordinate lodges of orders, societies or associations that do business in this state and that provide benefits exclusively through local or subordinate lodges;
(b) Orders, societies or associations that admit to membership only persons that are engaged in one or more crafts or hazardous occupations, in the same or similar lines of business, insuring only the members of the orders, societies or associations and the families of the members, and any societies that are auxiliary to the orders, societies or associations;
(c) Domestic societies that limit membership to employees of a particular city or town, designated firm, business house or corporation and that provide for a death benefit of not more than $400 or disability benefits of not more than $350 to any person in any one year;
(d) Domestic societies or associations with a purely religious, charitable or benevolent purpose that provide for a death benefit of not more than $400 or for disability benefits of not more than $350 to any one person in any one year; or
(e) An association, including but not limited to a fraternal benefit society, that was organized before 1880, the members of which are or were members of the Armed Forces of the United States, and that has as a principal purpose providing insurance and other benefits to the association’s members and the dependents and beneficiaries of the association’s members.
(2)(a) A society or association described in subsection (1)(c) or (d) of this section that provides for death or disability benefits for which benefit certificates are issued is not exempt from and shall comply with the provisions of this chapter.
(b) A society or association described in subsection (1)(d) of this section that has more than 1,000 members is not exempt from and shall comply with the provisions of this chapter.
(3) Except for an order, society or association that is described in subsection (1)(b) of this section, an order, society or association that, by the provisions of this section, is exempt from the requirements of this chapter may not give or allow, or promise to give or allow, to any person any compensation for procuring new members.
(4) Every society that provides for benefits in case of death or disability that results solely from accident, and that does not obligate the society to pay natural death or sick benefits, has all of the privileges and is subject to all the applicable provisions and regulations of this chapter, except that the provisions relating to medical examination, valuations of benefit certificates and incontestability do not apply to the society.
(5) The Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services may require from any society or association, by examination or otherwise, any information that enables the director to determine whether the society or association is exempt from the provisions of this chapter.
(6) An association that is exempt under subsection (1)(e) of this section shall prove to the director’s satisfaction that the association is exempt from federal taxation under section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code. An association that is exempt under subsection (1)(e) of this section is subject to the following provisions:
(a) On or before June 1 of each calendar year, the association shall file with the director a true and complete statement of the association’s financial condition, transactions and business affairs for the preceding calendar year that is audited by an independent certified public accountant and accompanied by an actuarial opinion, as provided in ORS § 733.304. For purposes of this paragraph, the director accepts and approves the statement and the opinion unless the director issues an order to disapprove the statement or opinion within 30 days after the association submits the statement and opinion.
(b) The director may require the association to file a financial statement each quarter or at other intervals the director specifies in response to factors or trends that affect insurers that transact a particular class or classes of insurance or because of changes in the management or financial condition of the association.
(c) The director may order the association to increase the association’s capital or surplus to amounts the director deems sufficient to meet the association’s liabilities, if the director has reason to believe that the association does not have sufficient capital or surplus based on eligible assets in accordance with ORS Chapter 733. The director may order an association to cease and desist from assuming any additional liabilities in this state until the association complies with the director’s order to increase the association’s capital or surplus.
(d) The association shall include with each life insurance policy or annuity that the association issues a notice in bold type or otherwise clear and conspicuous writing a notice that reads:
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This policy is issued by an association that does not have a certificate of authority from the insurance division of the Department of Consumer and Business Services. If the association that issued this policy becomes insolvent, members or claimants under this policy are not eligible for insurance guaranty fund protection under Oregon law (ORS § 734.550).
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(7) Societies and associations that are exempt under the provisions of this section are also exempt from all other provisions of the insurance laws of this state, except as provided in ORS § 731.042. [1987 c.490 § 44; 1991 c.182 § 16; 2003 c.802 § 176; 2015 c.460 § 1]