North Dakota Code 26.1-39-18 – Declination or termination requirements for property and casualty policies – Enforcement – Penalties
1. Whenever the commissioner, upon the filing of a complaint or through the commissioner’s own investigation has reason to believe that an insurer or insurance producer has engaged in practices which violate sections 26.1-39-10 through 26.1-39-21 and that a proceeding would be in the public interest, the commissioner shall conduct a hearing.
Terms Used In North Dakota Code 26.1-39-18
- Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Person: means an individual, organization, government, political subdivision, or government agency or instrumentality. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
- written: include "typewriting" and "typewritten" and "printing" and "printed" except in the case of signatures and when the words are used by way of contrast to typewriting and printing. See North Dakota Code 1-01-37
2. If after hearing the commissioner determines that an insurer has violated subsection 1 of section 26.1-39-13, section 26.1-39-16, or section 26.1-39-17, the commissioner may require the insured to accept the application or written request for insurance coverage at a rate and on the same terms and conditions as are available to other risks similarly situated, or reinstate insurance coverage to the end of the policy period, or continue insurance coverage at a rate and on the same terms and conditions as are available to other risks similarly situated.
3. If the commissioner after hearing determines that any person has violated section 26.1-39-10 through 26.1-39-21, the commissioner may issue a cease and desist order to restrain the person from engaging in practices that violate these sections or assess a penalty against the person of up to five hundred dollars for each violation of the sections or for each willful and knowing violation of these sections assess a penalty against such person of up to five thousand dollars or cancel, revoke, or refuse to renew a company’s certificate of authority to do business in this state.
4. If the commissioner determines in a final order that an insurer has violated subsection 1 of section 26.1-39-13, section 26.1-39-16, or section 26.1-39-17, the applicant or named insured aggrieved by the violation may bring an action in a court of competent jurisdiction in this state to recover from the insurer any loss not otherwise recovered through insurance which would have been paid under the insurance coverage that was declined or terminated in violation of these sections.
5. Any amount recovered may not be duplicative of any recovery obtained through the exercise of any other statutory or common-law claim for relief arising out of the same occurrence. No action under this section may be brought two years after the date of a final order of the commissioner finding a violation of subsection 1 of section 26.1-39-13 or section 26.1-39-16.