HB 2457 -
By Representative Kirby
ADOPTED 02/10/2012
Strike everything after the enacting clause and insert the following:
"Sec. 1 RCW 48.120.005 and 2008 c 217 s 94 are each amended to
read as follows:
The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter
unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
(1) (("Communications equipment" means handsets, pagers, personal
digital assistants, portable computers, automatic answering devices,
batteries, and their accessories or other devices used to originate or
receive communications signals or service approved for coverage by rule
of the commissioner, and also includes services related to the use of
the devices.)) "Portable electronics" means personal, self-contained,
easily carried by an individual, battery-operated electronic
communication, viewing, listening, recording, gaming, computing or
global positioning devices and other similar devices and their
accessories, and service related to the use of such devices.
(2) "((Communications equipment)) Portable electronics insurance
program" means an insurance program as described in RCW 48.120.015.
(3) (("Communications service" means the service necessary to send,
receive, or originate communications signals)) "Portable electronics
transaction" means the sale or lease of portable electronics or the
sale of a service related to the use of portable electronics by a
vendor to a customer.
(4) "Customer" means a person ((or entity purchasing or leasing
communications equipment or communications services from)) that enters
into a portable electronics transaction with a vendor.
(5) "Specialty producer license" means a license issued under RCW
48.120.010 that authorizes a vendor to offer or sell insurance as
provided in RCW 48.120.015.
(6) "Supervising ((agent)) person" means a licensed insurer or an
appointed insurance producer licensed under RCW 48.17.090 who provides
training as described in RCW 48.120.020 and is ((affiliated to a
licensed vendor)) appointed by an insurer to supervise the
administration of a portable electronics insurance program.
(7) "Vendor" means a person ((or entity resident or with offices in
this state)) in the business of ((leasing, selling, or providing
communications equipment or communications service to customers)),
directly or indirectly, engaging in portable electronics transactions.
(8) "Appointing insurer" means the insurer appointing the vendor as
its agent under a specialty producer license.
(9) "Federal securities law" means the securities act of 1933, the
securities exchange act of 1934, and the investment company act of
1940.
(10) "Location" means any physical locale in this state and any web
site, call center site, or similar site directed to residents of this
state.
Sec. 2 RCW 48.120.010 and 2008 c 217 s 95 are each amended to
read as follows:
(1) A vendor that intends to offer insurance under RCW 48.120.015
must file a specialty producer license application with the
commissioner. Before the commissioner issues such a license, the
vendor must be appointed as the insurance producer of one or more
authorized appointing insurers under a vendor's specialty producer
license.
(2) Upon receipt of an application, if the commissioner is
satisfied that the application is complete, the commissioner may issue
a specialty producer license to the vendor.
(3) An application for licensure pursuant to this section must
conform to the requirements of chapter 48.17 RCW. However, information
with respect to an applicant's officers, directors, and shareholders of
record having beneficial ownership of ten percent or more of any class
of securities registered under federal securities law may only be
required if the vendor derives more than fifty percent of its revenue
from the sale of portable electronics insurance.
Sec. 3 RCW 48.120.015 and 2002 c 357 s 3 are each amended to read
as follows:
(1) A specialty producer license authorizes a vendor and its
employees and authorized representatives to offer and sell to, enroll
in, and bill and collect premiums from customers for insurance covering
((communications equipment)) portable electronics on a master,
corporate, group, or on an individual policy basis at each location at
which the vendor engages in portable electronics transactions.
However:
(a) The supervising person must maintain a list of a vendor's
locations that are authorized to sell or solicit portable electronics
insurance coverage; and
(b) The list under (a) of this subsection must be provided to the
commissioner within ten days of a request by the commissioner.
(2) An employee or authorized representative of a vendor may sell
or offer portable electronics insurance to the vendor's customers
without being individually licensed as an insurance producer if the
vendor is licensed under this chapter and is acting in compliance with
this chapter and any rules adopted by the commissioner.
(3) A vendor billing and collecting premiums from customers for
portable electronics insurance coverage is not required to maintain
these funds in a segregated account if the vendor:
(a) Is authorized by the insurer to hold the funds in an
alternative manner; and
(b) Remits the funds to the supervising person within sixty days of
receipt.
(4) All funds received by a vendor from an enrolled customer for
the sale of portable electronics insurance are considered funds held in
trust by the vendor in a fiduciary capacity for the benefit of the
insurer.
(5) Any charge to the enrolled customer for coverage that is not
included in the cost associated with the purchase or lease of portable
electronics or related services must be separately itemized on the
enrolled customer's bill.
(6) If portable electronics insurance coverage is included with the
purchase or lease of portable electronics or related services, the
vendor must clearly and conspicuously disclose to the enrolled customer
that the portable electronics insurance coverage is included with the
portable electronics or related services.
(7) Vendors may receive compensation for billing and collection
services.
Sec. 4 RCW 48.120.020 and 2002 c 357 s 4 are each amended to read
as follows:
(1) A vendor issued a specialty producer license may not issue
insurance under RCW 48.120.015 unless:
(a) At every location where customers are enrolled in
((communications equipment)) portable electronics insurance programs,
written material regarding the program is made available to prospective
customers that:
(i) Discloses that portable electronics insurance may provide a
duplication of coverage already provided by a customer's homeowner's
insurance policy, renter's insurance policy, or other source of
coverage;
(ii) States that the enrollment by the customer in a portable
electronics insurance program is not required in order to purchase or
lease portable electronics or services;
(iii) Summarizes the material terms of the insurance coverage,
including the identity of the insurer, the identity of the supervising
person, the amount of any applicable deductible and how it is to be
paid, benefits of the coverage, and key terms and conditions of
coverage, such as whether portable electronics may be replaced with a
similar make and model or reconditioned make and model or repaired with
nonoriginal manufacturer parts or equipment;
(iv) Summarizes the process for filing a claim, including a
description of how to return portable electronics and the maximum fee
applicable in the event the customer fails to comply with any equipment
return requirements; and
(v) States that an enrolled customer may cancel enrollment for
coverage under a portable electronics insurance policy at any time and
the person paying the premium will receive a refund of any applicable
unearned premium; and
(b) The ((communications equipment)) portable electronics insurance
program is operated with the participation of a supervising ((agent))
person who, with authorization and approval from the appointing
insurer, supervises a training program for employees of the licensed
vendor. The training must comply with the following:
(i) The training must be delivered to employees and authorized
representatives of vendors who are directly engaged in the activity of
selling or offering portable electronics insurance;
(ii) The training may be provided in electronic form. However, if
conducted in an electronic form, the supervising person must implement
a supplemental education program regarding the portable electronics
insurance product that is conducted and overseen by licensed employees
of the supervising person; and
(iii) Each employee and authorized representative must receive
basic instruction about the portable electronics insurance offered to
customers and the disclosures required under this section.
(2) No employee or authorized representative of a vendor of
portable electronics may advertise, represent, or otherwise hold
himself or herself out as a nonlimited lines licensed insurance
producer.
(((2))) (3) Employees and authorized representatives of a vendor
issued a specialty producer license may only act on behalf of the
vendor in the offer, sale, solicitation, or enrollment of customers in
a ((communications equipment)) portable electronics insurance program.
The conduct of these employees and authorized representatives within
the scope of their employment or agency is the same as conduct of the
vendor for purposes of this title.
Sec. 5 RCW 48.17.170 and 2009 c 162 s 19 and 2009 c 119 s 11 are
each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
(1) Unless denied licensure under RCW 48.17.530, persons who have
met the requirements of RCW 48.17.090 and 48.17.110 shall be issued an
insurance producer license. An insurance producer may receive a
license in one or more of the following lines of authority:
(a) "Life," which is insurance coverage on human lives, including
benefits of endowment and annuities, and may include benefits in the
event of death or dismemberment by accident and benefits for disability
income;
(b) "Disability," which is insurance coverage for accident, health,
and disability or sickness, bodily injury, or accidental death, and may
include benefits for disability income;
(c) "Property," which is insurance coverage for the direct or
consequential loss or damage to property of every kind;
(d) "Casualty," which is insurance coverage against legal
liability, including that for death, injury, or disability or damage to
real or personal property;
(e) "Variable life and variable annuity products," which is
insurance coverage provided under variable life insurance contracts,
variable annuities, or any other life insurance or annuity product that
reflects the investment experience of a separate account;
(f) "Personal lines," which is property and casualty insurance
coverage sold to individuals and families for primarily noncommercial
purposes;
(g) Limited lines:
(i) Surety;
(ii) Limited line credit insurance;
(iii) Travel;
(h) Specialty lines:
(i) ((Communications equipment or services)) Portable electronics;
(ii) Rental car;
(iii) Self-service storage; or
(i) Any other line of insurance permitted under state laws or
rules.
(2) Unless denied licensure under RCW 48.17.530, persons who have
met the requirements of RCW 48.17.090(4) shall be issued a title
insurance agent license.
(3) All insurance producers', title insurance agents', and
adjusters' licenses issued by the commissioner shall be valid for the
time period established by the commissioner unless suspended or revoked
at an earlier date.
(4) Subject to the right of the commissioner to suspend, revoke, or
refuse to renew any insurance producer's, title insurance agent's, or
adjuster's license as provided in this title, the license may be
renewed into another like period by filing with the commissioner by any
means acceptable to the commissioner on or before the expiration date
a request, by or on behalf of the licensee, for such renewal
accompanied by payment of the renewal fee as specified in RCW
48.14.010.
(5) If the request and fee for renewal of an insurance producer's,
title insurance agent's, or adjuster's license are filed with the
commissioner prior to expiration of the existing license, the licensee
may continue to act under such license, unless sooner revoked or
suspended, until the issuance of a renewal license, or until the
expiration of fifteen days after the commissioner has refused to renew
the license and has mailed notification of such refusal to the
licensee. If the request and fee for the license renewal are not
received by the expiration date, the authority conferred by the license
ends on the expiration date.
(6) If the request for renewal of an insurance producer's, title
insurance agent's, or adjuster's license and payment of the fee are not
received by the commissioner prior to the expiration date, the
applicant for renewal shall pay to the commissioner, in addition to the
renewal fee, a surcharge as follows:
(a) For the first thirty days or part thereof of delinquency, the
surcharge is fifty percent of the renewal fee;
(b) For the next thirty days or part thereof of delinquency, the
surcharge is one hundred percent of the renewal fee.
(7) If the request for renewal of an insurance producer's, title
insurance agent's, or adjuster's license and fee for the renewal are
received by the commissioner after sixty days but prior to twelve
months after the expiration date, the application is for reinstatement
of the license and the applicant for reinstatement must pay to the
commissioner the license fee and a surcharge of two hundred percent of
the license fee.
(8) Subsections (6) and (7) of this section do not exempt any
person from any penalty provided by law for transacting business
without a valid and subsisting license or appointment.
(9) An individual insurance producer, title insurance agent, or
adjuster who allows his or her license to lapse may, within twelve
months after the expiration date, reinstate the same license without
the necessity of passing a written examination.
(10) A licensed insurance producer who is unable to comply with
license renewal procedures due to military service or some other
extenuating circumstance such as a long-term medical disability, may
request a waiver of those procedures. The producer may also request a
waiver of any examination requirement or any other fine or sanction
imposed for failure to comply with renewal procedures.
(11) The license shall contain the licensee's name, address,
personal identification number, and the date of issuance, lines of
authority, expiration date, and any other information the commissioner
deems necessary.
(12) Licensees shall inform the commissioner by any means
acceptable to the commissioner of a change of address within thirty
days of the change. Failure to timely inform the commissioner of a
change in legal name or address may result in a penalty under either
RCW 48.17.530 or 48.17.560, or both."
Correct the title.
EFFECT: Modifies the definition of portable electronics. Removes language that provided new standards for cancellation and nonrenewal of a portable electronics insurance policy. Removes language that provided new standards for changes to the coverage of a portable electronics insurance policy. Modifies materials required with an application for a specialty producer license. Provides additional specificity regarding disclosure materials. Provides additional specificity regarding training programs for employees who sell portable electronics insurance.