Virginia Code 38.2-1361: Duties of insurers utilizing managing general agents.
A. The insurer shall annually obtain a copy of the current financial statement, which shall be certified by an independent public accountant and in a form acceptable to the Commission, of each managing general agent with which it transacts business.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 38.2-1361
- Actuary: means a person who is a member in good standing of the American Academy of Actuaries. See Virginia Code 38.2-1358
- Commission: means the State Corporation Commission. See Virginia Code 38.2-100
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Insurer: means any person, duly licensed in the Commonwealth pursuant to Chapters 10 (§ Virginia Code 38.2-1358
- Managing general agent: means any person who manages all or part of the insurance business of an insurer, including the management of a separate division, department or underwriting office; and who acts as an agent for such insurer whether known as a managing general agent, manager or other similar term, who, with or without the authority, either separately or together with affiliates, produces, directly or indirectly, and underwrites an amount of gross direct written premium equal to or exceeding five percent of the surplus to policyholders of the insurer as reported in the last annual statement of the insurer in any one quarter or year together with one or more of the following: (i) adjusts or pays claims in excess of an amount determined by the Commission or (ii) negotiates reinsurance on behalf of the insurer. See Virginia Code 38.2-1358
- Person: means any association, aggregate of individuals, business, company, corporation, individual, joint-stock company, Lloyds type of organization, organization, partnership, receiver, reciprocal or interinsurance exchange, trustee or society. See Virginia Code 38.2-100
B. If the managing general agent establishes loss reserves, the insurer shall annually obtain the opinion of an actuary attesting to the adequacy of loss reserves established for losses incurred and outstanding on business produced by the managing general agent. This is in addition to any other required loss reserve certification.
C. The insurer shall conduct, at least semiannually, an on-site review of the underwriting and claims processing operations of the managing general agent.
D. Binding authority for participation in insurance syndicates or reinsurance syndicates shall rest with an officer of the insurer, who shall not be affiliated with the managing general agent.
E. At least annually and more frequently if requested by the Commission, the insurer shall report to the Commission, in a form acceptable to the Commission, concerning its transactions with a managing general agent. The report shall identify the managing general agent through which the insurer has transacted business, and for each managing general agent shall report the nature of the contract, the types of authority granted, the types of business written, the amount of premium written, and any other information the Commission may request.
F. An insurer shall review its books and records each quarter to determine if any agent as defined by § 38.2-1800 has become a managing general agent as defined in § 38.2-1358. If the insurer determines that an agent has become a managing general agent pursuant to the above, the insurer shall promptly notify the agent and the Commission of such determination, and the insurer and agent must fully comply with the provisions of this article within thirty calendar days.
G. An insurer shall not appoint to its board of directors an officer, director, employee, agent or controlling shareholder of its managing general agent. This subsection shall not apply to relationships governed by Article 5 (§ 38.2-1322 et seq.) of this chapter or Article 2 (§ 38.2-4230 et seq.) of Chapter 42 of this title.
H. The insurer shall not delegate to any person, other than one of its officers, the authority to enter into or bind any reinsurance agreement by which the insurer agrees to cede any risk to a reinsurer, except that an insurer may delegate the specific authority to bind facultative reinsurance contracts by placing individual risks pursuant to the provisions of subdivision 1 of § 38.2-1353 or subdivision 10 of § 38.2-1360. The officer shall be a regular salaried employee of the insurer and shall not be affiliated with the managing general agent. The insurer is not prohibited by the provisions of this subsection from delegating to its managing general agent the authority to enter into or bind an agreement to assume a risk provided the managing general agent is licensed to act as a reinsurance intermediary manager under the provisions of Article 8 (§ 38.2-1347 et seq.) of this chapter and the authority to both cede and assume a given risk is not simultaneously vested in the same intermediary.
2001, c. 706.