(1) An insurer or authorized representative of the insurer who terminates the appointment, employment, contract or other insurance business relationship with an insurance producer shall notify the Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services not later than the 30th day after the effective date of the termination, in the manner prescribed by the director, if the reason for termination is one of the reasons set forth in ORS § 744.074 or if the insurer has knowledge that the insurance producer was found by a court, government body or self-regulatory organization authorized by law to have engaged in any of the activities set forth in ORS § 744.074. Upon the written request of the director, the insurer shall provide additional information, documents, records or other data pertaining to the termination or activity of the insurance producer.

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(2) An insurer or the authorized representative of the insurer shall promptly notify the director in a manner acceptable to the director if, upon further review or investigation, the insurer discovers additional information that would have been reportable to the director in accordance with subsection (1) of this section if the insurer had then known of its existence.

(3) Not later than the 15th day after making a notification required by subsection (1) or (2) of this section, the insurer shall mail a copy of the notification to the insurance producer at the insurance producer’s last known business address. If the insurance producer is terminated for cause for any of the reasons listed in ORS § 744.074, the insurer shall provide a copy of the notification to the insurance producer at the insurance producer’s last known business address by certified mail, return receipt requested, postage prepaid or by overnight delivery using a nationally recognized carrier.

(4) Not later than the 30th day after the insurance producer has received a notification under subsection (3) of this section, the insurance producer may file with the director written comments concerning the substance of the notification. The insurance producer shall, by the same means, simultaneously send a copy of the comments to the reporting insurer. The comments shall become a part of the director’s file and shall accompany every copy of a report distributed or disclosed for any reason about the insurance producer as allowed under subsection (5) of this section.

(5) In the absence of actual malice, an insurer, the authorized representative of the insurer, an insurance producer, the director or an organization of which the director is a member and that compiles the information and makes it available to other insurance regulators or regulatory or law enforcement agencies shall not be subject to civil liability. In the absence of actual malice, a civil cause of action shall not arise against any such entity or its agents or employees as a result of any statement or information required by or provided pursuant to this section, or any information relating to any statement that may be requested in writing by the director from an insurer or insurance producer, or relating to a statement by a terminating insurer or insurance producer to an insurer or insurance producer, that is limited exclusively to whether a termination for cause under subsection (1) of this section was reported to the director. Immunity under this subsection is available only if the propriety of any termination for cause under subsection (1) of this section is certified in writing by an officer or authorized representative of the insurer terminating the relationship.

(6) In any action brought against a person who may have immunity under subsection (5) of this section for making any statement required by this section or providing any information relating to any statement that may be requested in writing by the director, the party bringing the action must plead specifically in any allegation that subsection (5) of this section does not apply because the person making the statement or providing the information did so with actual malice.

(7) Subsections (5) and (6) of this section do not abrogate or modify any existing statutory or common law privileges or immunities.

(8) The director may take any administrative action authorized by the Insurance Code, including suspension or revocation of a license or certificate of authority, against an insurer, the authorized representative of an insurer or an insurance producer who fails to file notice as required by this section or who is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to have filed notice with actual malice.

(9) Any information, documents, records or other data in the control or possession of the director that are furnished by an insurer or an insurance producer, or an employee or agent thereof acting on behalf of the insurer or insurance producer, or that are obtained by the director in an investigation pursuant to this section shall be confidential, shall not be subject to subpoena and shall not be subject to discovery nor admissible in evidence in any private civil action. The director, however, may use the confidential information, documents, records or other data in administering this section and in the furtherance of any other regulatory or legal action brought as a part of the director’s duties. The information, documents, records or other data referred to in this subsection are subject to the public officer privilege described in ORS § 40.270. [2001 c.191 § 17; 2003 c.364 § 19]

[Repealed by 1967 c.359 § 704]