Bill Text: HI SB1237 | 2017 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating To Insurance.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-03-01 - The committee on CPH deferred the measure. [SB1237 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2017-SB1237-Introduced.html

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THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	1237
TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2017
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

relating to insurance.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 

     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that self-service storage facilities offer customers stored property insurance as an affordable insurance option if those customers do not have a homeowners' or renters' insurance policy.  Stored property insurance policies typically insure the contents within a storage unit located at a storage facility.

     The legislature also finds that many of the customers of self-service storage facilities do not have homeowners' or renters' insurance policies and are unlikely to seek insurance from the traditional insurance market for their storage facility unit.  Moreover, the generally short-term and low-cost nature of a storage unit rental provides little economic incentive for insurance companies to pursue stored property insurance customers on a regular basis.  This makes it difficult for individuals wishing to purchase insurance to protect the value of their stored property.  Affording individuals the opportunity to purchase insurance at the point of rental will provide a more accessible means to obtain optional affordable coverage for their stored property.

     The purpose of this Act is to exempt individuals selling only insurance for property stored at a self-service storage facility from obtaining a license as an insurance producer provided that specific requirements are met.

     SECTION 2.  Section 431:9A-104, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:

     "(b)  A license as an insurance producer shall not be required of the following:

     (1)  An officer, director, or employee of an insurer or of an insurance producer; provided that the officer, director, or employee does not receive any commission or remuneration on policies written or sold to insure risks residing, located, or to be performed in this State and:

         (A)  The officer, director, or employee's activities are executive, administrative, managerial, clerical, or a combination of these and are only indirectly related to the sale, solicitation, or negotiation of insurance;

         (B)  The officer, director, or employee's functions relate to underwriting, loss control, inspection, or the processing, adjusting, investigating, or settling of a claim on a contract of insurance; or

         (C)  The officer, director, or employee is acting in the capacity of a special agent or agency supervisor, assisting insurance producers where the person's activities are limited to providing technical advice and assistance to licensed insurance producers and do not include the sale, solicitation, or negotiation of insurance;

     (2)  A person who secures and furnishes information regarding group life insurance, group property and casualty insurance, group annuities, group or blanket accident and health or sickness insurance, for the purpose of enrolling individuals or issuing certificates under such plans, or otherwise assisting in administering the plans, or who performs administrative services related to mass marketed property and casualty insurance, where no commission is paid to the person for the service;

     (3)  An employer or association or its officers, directors, employees, or the trustee of any employee trust plan, to the extent that the employer, association, officers, employees, directors, or trustees are engaged in the administration or operation of a program of employee benefits for the employer's or association's own employees or the employees of its subsidiaries or affiliates, which program involves the use of insurance issued by an insurer, so long as the employers, associations, officers, directors, employees, or trustees are not in any manner compensated, directly or indirectly, by the company issuing the contracts;

     (4)  Employees of insurers or organizations employed by insurers who are engaging in the inspection, rating, or classification of risks, or in the supervision or the training of insurance producers, and who are not individually engaged in the sale, solicitation, or negotiation of insurance;

     (5)  A person whose activities in this State are limited to advertising without the intent to solicit insurance in this State through communications in printed publications or other forms of electronic mass media, whose distribution is not limited to residents of this State; provided that the person does not sell, solicit, or negotiate insurance that would insure risks residing, located, or to be performed in this State;

     (6)  A person who is not a resident of this State who sells, solicits, or negotiates a contract of insurance for commercial property and casualty risks to an insured with risks located in more than one state insured under that contract; provided that the person is otherwise licensed as an insurance producer to sell, solicit, or negotiate that insurance in the state where the insured maintains its principal place of business and the contract of insurance insures risks located in that state; [or]

     (7)  A salaried, full-time employee who counsels or advises the person's employer relative to the insurance interests of the employer or of the subsidiaries or business affiliates of the employer; provided that the employee does not sell or solicit insurance or receive commissions[.]; or

     (8)  A person whose only activity is the solicitation of stored property insurance sold in connection with and incidental to the rental of storage space in a self-service storage facility under a rental agreement for a period not to exceed one year; provided that the person does not receive a commission for stored property insurance sold pursuant to that solicitation, written disclosure material is given to the customer at the time of solicitation, and the written material includes all of the following:

          (A)  A disclosure that the stored property insurance is not required under State law and may duplicate coverage already provided by the customer's homeowners, renters, or other insurance policies;

          (B)  A summary of the material terms of the stored property insurance coverage, including all of the following:

              (i)  The identity of the insurer;

             (ii )  The benefits of the coverage; and

            (iii)  The key terms and conditions of the coverage; and

          (C)  A summary of the process for filing a claim.

     For the purposes of this paragraph:

     "Self-service storage facility" has the same meaning as in section 507-61.

     "Stored property insurance" means insurance under a group or master policy issued to a self-service storage facility to provide insurance coverage to its customers for the loss of, or damage to, tangible personal property that is contained in a storage space located at a self-service storage facility or is in transit during the term of a self-service storage facility rental agreement; provided that the insured value of the policy shall not exceed $10,000."

     SECTION 3.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.
     SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

 

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

 

 

Report Title:

Self-service storage facilities; Insurance

 

Description:

Exempts individuals selling only insurance for property stored at a self-service storage facility from obtaining a license as an insurance producer provided that specific requirements are met.

 

 

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.