(a) Mutual debts or mutual credits, whether arising out of one or more contracts between the insurer and another person in connection with any action or proceeding under this Article shall be set off and the balance only shall be allowed or paid, except as provided in subsections (b), (d), and (e) of this section and in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 58-30-175.

(b) No setoff shall be allowed in favor of any person where:

(1) The obligation of the insurer to the person would not at the date of the filing of a petition for liquidation entitle the person to share as a claimant in the assets of the insurer;

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Terms Used In North Carolina General Statutes 58-30-160

  • Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
  • Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
  • Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories, so called; and the words "United States" shall be construed to include the said district and territories and all dependencies. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3

(2) The obligation of the insurer to the person was purchased by or transferred to the person with a view to its being used as a setoff;

(3) The obligation of the person is to pay an assessment levied against the members or subscribers of the insurer, or is to pay a balance upon a subscription to the capital stock of the insurer, or is in any other way in the nature of a capital contribution;

(4) Repealed by Session Laws 1995 (Regular Session, 1996), c. 658, s. 1.

(5) The obligation of the insurer is owed to an affiliate of the person, or to any other entity or association other than the person;

(6) The obligation of the person is owed to an affiliate of the insurer, or to any other entity or association other than the insurer;

(7) The obligations between the person and the insurer arise out of transactions where either the person or the insurer has assumed risks and obligations from the other party and then has ceded back to that party substantially the same risks and obligations;

(8) The obligation of the person is to pay to the insurer sums held in a fiduciary capacity for the insurer; or

(9) The person alone or together with any other member of its insurance company holding system owns fifty percent (50%) or more of the voting stock of the insurer.

(c) A setoff shall be permitted to local agents against agents’ balances otherwise payable to the domiciliary or ancillary receiver for the amount expended by the agents to replace insurance coverage of their insureds and the reasonable expenses incident thereto as a result of any domestic, foreign or alien insurer being placed in delinquency proceedings. Agents claiming a setoff shall within 60 days of replacing coverage provide a verified accounting of the replacement of the insurance to the domiciliary receiver, the ancillary receiver, if any, and the North Carolina Insurance Guaranty Association or similar organization in the state of residence of the policyholder. The verified accounting shall include the name of the agent, the name of the insured, the policy number, the replacement policy number, the cost of the replacement policy, the amount of unearned premium under each policy as to which setoff is claimed, any claimed expenses and a verification that the accounting has been provided to each of the persons and entities described herein. Unearned premiums set off as provided above in any amount shall be deemed paid in full by the insurer and no person shall have a claim for the unearned premiums against the North Carolina Insurance Guaranty Association or similar organization in the state of residence of the policyholder.

(d) The receiver shall provide persons with accounting statements identifying debts which are currently due and payable. Where a person owes to the insurer currently due and payable balances, against which the person asserts setoff of mutual credits which may become due and payable from the insurer in the future, the person shall promptly pay to the receiver the currently due and payable amount; provided that, notwithstanding any other provision of this Article, the receiver shall promptly and fully refund, to the extent of the person’s prior payments, any mutual credits that become due and payable to the person by the insurer.

(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, a setoff of sums due on obligations in the nature of those set forth in subdivision (b)(7) of this section shall be allowed for those sums accruing from business written where the contracts were entered into, renewed, or extended with the express written approval of the insurance regulator of the state of domicile of the now insolvent insurer, when in the judgment of the regulator it was necessary to provide reinsurance in order to prevent or mitigate a threatened impairment or insolvency of the insurer in connection with the exercise of the regulator’s official responsibilities. (1989, c. 452, s. 1; 1991, c. 681, s. 47; 1995 (Reg. Sess., 1996), c. 658, s. 1.)