Title 29 — Insurance and Insurance Companies

An insurer authorized to do business in American Samoa may only write classes of insurance authorized by this chapter and by the insurer’s certificate of authority. History: 1974, PL 13-58 § 1.

Fire insurance includes insurance upon buildings and other property against loss or damage by fire, lightning, windstorms, cyclones, tornadoes, typhoons, hail or earthquakes, water from the breakage or leakage of sprinkler pumps or other apparatus erected for extinguishing fires,…

Marine insurance includes insurance upon ocean and inland risks, and transportation, but not including any other casualty insurance as hereinafter provided. History: 1974, PL 13-58 § 1.

Life insurance includes insurance on all forms of life, endowments, and annuities, but does not include health, accident, or sickness insurance or any other casualty insurance as hereinafter provided. History: 1974, PL 13-58 § 1.

(a) Accident insurance and sickness or health insurance includes insurance against injury, disablement, or death resulting from travel or general accident and against disablement resulting from sickness, and every insurance appertaining thereto. (b) Liability insurance includes a…

Fidelity and surety insurance includes all guaranteeing of persons holding places of public trust, and of the performance of contracts other than insurance policies. It also includes the execution of all bonds, undertakings and contracts of suretyship. History: 1974, PL 13-58 § 1…

Motor vehicle insurance includes all insurance on motor or motor driven vehicles, except those operating on water or on rails, against loss or damage to or loss of use of the vehicle or its tools, appliances or equipment, against local liability for loss or damage to persons or p…

Title insurance includes insurance or guaranty of title to real or personal property or any interest or encumbrance thereon, or of information relative to real property, against loss by reason of defective titles, encumbrances, or adverse claims of title, or otherwise. History: 1…

Workmen’s compensation insurance includes insurance against loss from liability imposed by law upon employers to compensate employees and their dependents for injury sustained by employees arising out of and in the course or scope of their employment. History: 1974, PL 13-58 § 1.…

“Annuity” or “annuity policy” means any agreement to make periodic payments, whether fixed or variable in amount, where the making of all or some of the payments, or the amount of the payments, is dependent upon the continuance of human life, except payments made pursuant to the …

“Mortgage insurance” means insurance against financial loss by reason of: (1) nonpayment of principal, interest and other sums agreed to be paid under the terms of an obligation secured by a mortgage, deed, or trust, or other instrument constituting a lien or charge on real or pe…

“Property insurance” means insurance on real or personal property of every kind and of every interest therein, whether on land, water or in the air, against loss or damage from any and all hazards or causes, and against consequential loss from such loss or damage, other than non-…

“Miscellaneous insurance” includes insurance about any risk not included within or under any of the classes listed in 29.1502 through 29.1512 in which there is a proper subject for insurance, not prohibited by law or contrary to sound public policy. History: 1974, PL 13-58 § 1.

Any person capable of making a contract may be an insurer, subject to the restrictions imposed by this part. History: 1974, PL 13-58 § 1.

Except as provided in 29.1520 through 29.1527, any contingent or unknown event, whether past or future, which may damage any person having an insurable interest, or create a liability against him, may be insured against, subject to this title. History: 1974, PL 13-58 § 1.

(a) Every interest in property, or any relation thereto, or any liability in respect thereto, of such a nature that a contemplated peril might directly damage the insured, is an insurable interest. A mere contingent or expectant interest in anything, not founded upon an actual ri…

Except in the case of property held by the insured as a carrier or depository, the measure of an insurable interest in property is the extent to which the insured might be damaged by loss of, or injury to, the property. History: 1974, PL 13-58 § 1.

A carrier or depository of any kind has an insurable interest in a thing held by him as such to the extent of its value. History: 1974, PL 13-58 § 1.

An interest in property insured must exist when the insurance takes effect and when the loss occurs, but need not exist in the meantime; and interest in the life or health of a person insured must exist when the insurance takes effect, but need not exist thereafter or when the lo…

(a) Except in the cases herein specified, and in the cases of life and disability insurance, a change of interest in any part of a subject insured, unaccompanied by a corresponding change of interest in the insurance, suspends the insurance to an equivalent extent until the inter…

The mere transfer of subject matter insured does not transfer the insurance, but suspends it until the same person becomes the owner of both the insurance and the subject matter insured. History: 1974, PL 13-58 § 1.

(a) Except where otherwise provided by law, no basic policy form, application form (where written application is required and is to be made a part of the policy), rider, endorsement or renewal certificate form, may be delivered or issued for delivery until the form has been filed…

The Commissioner shall disapprove any form requiring his approval: (1) if he finds it does not comply with the law; (2) if he finds it contains any provisions, including statement of premium, or has any label, description of its contents, title, heading, backing or other indicati…

The Commissioner may, at any time after a hearing held not less than 20 days after written notice to the insurer, withdraw his approval of any form on any ground set forth in 29.1531. The written notice of the hearing shall state the reason for the proposed withdrawal. No insurer…

(a) The written instrument in which a contract of insurance is set forth is the policy and it must contain the following information: (1) the parties between whom the contract is made; (2) a description of the property, life, or interest insured; (3) the interest of the insured; …

(a) All policies issued on risks in American Samoa shall be signed and subscribed as follows: (1) if the insurer is an admitted domestic insurer, each policy shall be signed and subscribed by 2 of the major officers of the insurer designated in its articles of incorporation or in…

When the name of the person intended to be insured is specified in a policy, it can be applied only to his own interest. History: 1974, PL 13-58 § 1.

A policy may be so framed that it will insure to the benefit of whosoever, during the con-tinuance of the risk, becomes the owner of the interest insured. History: 1974, PL 13-58 § 1.

On any policy of liability insurance, the injured person or his heirs or representatives has a right of direct action against the insurer within the terms and limits of the policy, whether or not the policy of insurance sued upon was written or delivered in American Samoa, and wh…

No policy of liability insurance may be issued or delivered in American Samoa unless it con-tains provisions to the effect that the insolvency or bankruptcy of the insured may not release the insurer from the payment of damages for injuries sustained or loss occasioned during the…

A policy is either an open policy, which is one wherein the value of the subject matter is not agreed upon but is left to be ascertained in case of loss, or a valued policy, which is one containing on its face an expressed agreement that the thing insured shall be valued at a spe…

(a) An insurer may not use a policy form in effecting insurance without first obtaining the Commissioner’s approval thereof as provided in this section. The Commissioner shall study each form for the purpose of guarding against any possible fraud, misrepresentation or other forms…

A policy may be assignable or not assignable, as provided by its terms. Subject to its terms relating to assignability, any life or health insurance policy under the terms of which the beneficiary may be changed upon the sole request of the insured or owner may be assigned, eithe…

(a) Every contract of insurance must be construed according to the terms and conditions of the policy. Where the contract is made pursuant to a written application therefore, if the insurer delivers a copy of the application with the policy to the insured, the application shall b…

No policy may contain any provision purporting to make a portion of the charter, bylaws or other similar document of the insurer (other than the subscriber’s agreement of power of attorney of a reciprocal insurer) a part of the contract unless that portion is set forth in full in…

Whenever the proceeds of, or payments under, a life or health insurance policy become payable in accordance with the terms of the policy or the exercise of any right or privilege under the policy, and the insurer makes payment in accordance with the terms of the policy or m accor…

The Commissioner, if he considers it necessary, may require the filing by an insurer of any sales presentation material for use in the sale or the presentation for sale of any policy. The Commissioner, within 30 days after the filing of the sales presentation material, shall disa…

The insurer is entitled to payment of the premium as soon as the subject matter insured is exposed to the peril insured against. History: 1974, PL 13-58 § 1.

Unless the insurance contract otherwise provides, a person insured is entitled to a return of premium after a policy is cancelled or rescinded as provided herein: (1) to the whole premium if no part of his interest in the thing insured was exposed to any of the perils insured aga…

An acknowledgment in a policy of receipt of the premium is conclusive evidence of its pay-ment, so far as to make the policy binding, notwithstanding any stipulation in the policy that it shall be binding until the premium is actually paid. History: 1974, PL 13-58 § 1.

(a) All rates, rate schedules, rate plans, and methods of computing rates to be applied to any insurance transacted in American Samoa must be filed in the office of the Commissioner, and before any rates may be charged, advertised, publicized, or otherwise represented, they must …

An insurer, in making rates, and the Commissioner in approving them, shall apply the follow-ing standards: (a) Rates shall not be excessive or inadequate, as herein provided, nor shall they be unfair or discriminatory. (b) No rate may be held excessive unless such rate is unreaso…

Insurers are authorized to become members or subscribers of rating bureaus, or advisory organizations of a like nature and may use the rating systems, and underwriting rules and policy forms of those organizations, provided they are not excessive, inadequate or unfairly discrimin…

(a) If, within the waiting period, the Commissioner finds that a filing does not meet the requirements of 29.1560 through 29.1565, he shall send to the insurer or rating organization which made the filing, written notice of disapproval of the filing, specifying therein in what re…

The following chart indicates the maximum allowable annual motor vehicle liability rates: Type Surcharge .00 +.40 +.90 +l .50 +2.20 Private $187.50 $262.50 $356.25 $468.75 $600. Points 0 1 2 3 4 Commercial & Fleet 231.25 Rentals 375. Motorcycles & Motorbikes 56.25 78.75 106.25 14…

(a) Annual maximum motor vehicle liability rates for buses and taxis are as follows: Points 0 1 2 Rates $350 $450 $600 Points shall be calculated in the same manner as provided in 29.1564 for private vehicles, except that: (1) the points shall be the total points of both the owne…

Any person violating 29.1560 through 29.1564 is guilty of a class B misdemeanor, and shall, upon conviction, be sentenced accordingly. History: 1974, PL 13-58 § 1, amd 1980, PL 16-90 § 28. Amendments: 1980 Amended to conform with penalties provided for in Title 46, Criminal Justi…

An insurer is liable: (1) when the thing insured is rescued from a peril insured against and which would otherwise have caused a loss if in the course of the rescue, the thing is exposed to a peril not insured against, and which permanently deprives the insured of its possession,…

An insurer is not liable for a loss caused by the willful act of the insured; but the insurer is not exonerated by the negligence of the insured or of the Insured’s agents or others. History: 1974, PL 13-58 § 1.

Failure to give notice of loss covered by any insurance within any period provided for by the policy or otherwise may not exonerate the insurer if the notice is given within a reasonable time after the insured has or should have first knowledge of the loss. In classes of insuranc…