Title 83, Insurance

(1) The commissioner, or any person he or she may appoint, may examine any domestic, foreign or alien society transacting or applying for admission to transact business in this state in the same manner as authorized for examination of domestic, foreign or alien insurers. Requirem…

(a) No foreign or alien society shall transact business in this state without a license issued by the commissioner. Any such society desiring admission to this state shall comply substantially with the requirements and limitations of this chapter applicable to domestic societies.…

(1) When the commissioner upon investigation finds that a domestic society:(a) Has exceeded its powers;(b) Has failed to comply with any provision of this chapter;(c) Is not fulfilling its contracts in good faith;(d) Has a membership of less than four hundred (400) after an exist…

(1) When the commissioner upon investigation finds that a foreign or alien society transacting or applying to transact business in this state:(a) Has exceeded its powers;(b) Has failed to comply with any of the provisions of this chapter;(c) Is not fulfilling its contracts in goo…

No application for injunction against or proceeding for the dissolution of or the appointment of a receiver for any domestic society, or lodge thereof, or against any foreign or alien society, shall be entertained in any court of this state unless made by the Attorney General or …

(1) Agents of societies shall be licensed in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 17 of Title 83. (2) No examination or license shall be required of any regular salaried officer, employee or member of a licensed society who devotes substantially all of his or her services to…

Every society authorized to do business in this state shall be subject to the provisions of Chapter 5 of Title 83 relating to unfair practices; provided, however, that nothing therein shall be construed as applying to or affecting the right of any society to determine its eligibi…

(1) Every society authorized to do business in this state shall appoint in writing the commissioner and each successor in office to be its true and lawful attorney upon whom all lawful process in any action or proceeding against it shall be served, and shall agree in such writing…

(1) A person who shall knowingly or willfully make any false or fraudulent statement or representation in or relating to any application for membership or for the purpose of obtaining money from or a benefit in any society, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction the…

(1) Nothing contained in this chapter shall be so construed as to affect or apply to grand or subordinate lodges of Masons, Odd Fellows, or Knights of Pythias exclusive of the insurance department of the supreme lodge Knights of Pythias, and the Junior Order of United American Me…

All decisions and findings of the commissioner made under the provisions of this chapter shall be subject to review as set forth in Section 83-6-41 or otherwise in Title 83 as respects the particular subject matter involved.

If any provision of this chapter or the application of such provision to any circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the chapter or the application of the provision to other circumstances, shall not be affected thereby.

Any number of persons not less than three (3), a majority of whom shall be bona fide residents of this state, by complying with the provisions of this chapter, may become, together with others who may hereafter be associated with them or their successors, a body corporate for the…

(1) Whenever the period of existence of a mutual insurance company created with a life of fifty (50) years expires before March 4, 1993, then every such mutual company that continues to do business for ninety (90) days after March 4, 1993, by the doing of such business shall be d…

The provisions of Sections 83-31-101 through 83-31-181 may be cited as the “Mississippi Mutual Insurance Company Conversion, Reorganization and Merger Act.”

(a) As used in Sections 83-31-101 through 83-31-143, the following terms shall have the meaning ascribed herein unless the context indicates otherwise:(a) “Conversion plan” means a plan adopted under Sections 83-31-101 through 83-31-143 by the board of directors of a domestic mut…

(1) A mutual insurance company that seeks to convert to a stock company must adopt, by the affirmative vote of not less than two-thirds (⅔) of the members of its board of directors, a conversion plan consistent with the requirements of Sections 83-31-101 through 83-31-143. A mutu…

(1) Not later than the ninetieth day after the date on which a mutual insurance company’s board of directors adopts a conversion plan, the company shall file with the commissioner:(a) A copy of the conversion plan, including the documents relating to the conversion plan;(b) The i…

(1) The conversion plan may be:(a) Amended by a vote of two-thirds (⅔) of the members of the board of directors of the applicant in response to the comments or recommendations of the commissioner or any other state or federal agency or governmental entity before any solicitation …

(a) Fire insurance. Any company organized under the provisions of this chapter is empowered and authorized to make contracts of insurance or to reinsure or accept reinsurance, or any portion thereof, to the extent specified in its articles of association for the kinds of insuranc…

(1) Within sixty (60) days after the commissioner’s approval of the plan, the mutual insurance company shall send to each eligible member notice of the members’ meeting to vote on the conversion plan. The notice must be sent to the member’s last known address, as shown on the mut…

(1) A conversion plan is adopted on receiving the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds (⅔) of the votes cast in person or by proxy by eligible members at a duly convened meeting to consider the plan of conversion. (2) Members entitled to vote on the proposed conversion plan ma…

Not later than the thirtieth day after the date on which the eligible members adopt the conversion plan at a duly convened meeting, the converted stock company shall file with the commissioner the minutes of the meeting of the eligible members at which the conversion plan was ado…

(1) Each conversion plan must include the provisions required by Sections 83-31-101 through 83-31-143 and by any rules or regulations adopted by the commissioner. (2) Each policy in effect on the effective date of the conversion remains in effect under the terms of that policy, e…

(1) Except for an alternative plan under Section 83-31-127, each conversion plan must specify the subscription rights of eligible members. (2) The plan must include a provision that:(a) Each eligible member is to receive, without payment by the member, nontransferable subscriptio…

(1) The conversion plan must provide that any shares of capital stock not sold or distributed to holders of surplus notes, or subscribed to by eligible members exercising subscription rights under Section 83-31-119, may be sold in a private placement, public offering or other alt…

The conversion plan may provide for the creation of a liquidation account for the benefit of members in the event of voluntary liquidation after conversion in an amount equal to the surplus of the mutual insurance company, exclusive of the principal amount of any surplus note, on…

(1) The board of directors may adopt a conversion plan that does not rely wholly or partially on issuing nontransferable subscription rights to members to purchase stock of the converted stock company if the commissioner finds that the alternative conversion plan complies with Se…

(1) For a conversion plan to take effect:(a) The commissioner must approve the conversion plan; and(b) The eligible members must approve the conversion plan and adopt the amended or restated articles of association. (a) The commissioner must approve the conversion plan; and (b) T…

(1) A mutual company transacting fire, casualty, or multiple line insurance business under the laws of this state, with the approval of the commissioner of insurance, may reinsure all risks undertaken by it in any company authorized to transact a similar class of insurance busine…

(1) On the effective date of the conversion:(a) The corporate existence of the mutual insurance company continues in the converted stock company; and(b) All assets, rights, franchises and interests of the mutual insurance company in and to property, real, personal or mixed, and a…

(1) A director, officer, agent or employee of the mutual insurance company may not receive a fee, commission or other consideration, other than that person’s usual salary or compensation, for aiding, promoting or assisting in a conversion under Sections 83-31-101 through 83-31-14…

If the mutual insurance company complies substantially and in good faith with the notice requirements of Section 83-31-47 or 83-31-101 through 83-31-181, the mutual insurance company’s failure to send a member the required notice under Section 83-31-109(2)(a) or Section 83-31-111…

An action challenging the validity of or arising out of acts taken or proposed to be taken regarding a conversion plan under Sections 83-31-101 through 83-31-143 must begin in the Chancery Court of the First Judicial District of Hinds County, Mississippi, not later than the thirt…

(1) If a mutual insurance company is insolvent or, in the judgment of the commissioner, is in hazardous financial condition, its board of directors, by a majority vote, may petition the commissioner to waive the provisions of Sections 83-31-101 through 83-31-143 requiring notice …

(1) A mutual insurance company may not be permitted to convert under Sections 83-31-101 through 83-31-143 if, as a direct result of the conversion, any person or any affiliate acquires control of the converted stock company, unless that person or the affiliate complies with the r…

A mutual insurance company, by endorsement or rider approved by the commissioner and delivered to the policyholder, may simultaneously with or at any time after the adoption of a conversion plan amend any outstanding insurance policy to evidence the extinguishment of the rights, …

(a) As used in Sections 83-31-145 through 83-31-181, the following items shall have the meaning ascribed herein unless the context indicates otherwise:(a) “Mutual insurance holding company” means an incorporated entity without permanent capital stock that is organized under Secti…

(1) The voting shares of the capital stock of a subsidiary insurance company, which are required by Sections 83-31-145 through 83-31-181 in order to maintain a majority of the voting shares, are to be at all times owned by a mutual insurance holding company or one or more interme…

(a) Domestic mutual insurance holding companies shall have all the powers and authority and shall be subject to the requirements applicable to Mississippi nonprofit private corporations under Section 79-11-101 et seq., except:(a) A mutual insurance holding company shall be organi…

Any fraternal benefit society organized under the laws of this state may be converted into a mutual life or mutual life and disability insurance company, so as to come within the provisions of all laws governing mutual companies and operate under this chapter upon the terms and c…

(1) A domestic mutual insurance company, by itself or together with one or more other mutual insurance companies, under a plan of reorganization, may reorganize as a mutual insurance holding company system that must consist of a mutual insurance holding company and one or more co…

(1) A plan of reorganization shall include the following provisions:(a) A description of the structure of the proposed mutual insurance holding company system consistent with the requirements therefor set forth in Sections 83-31-145 through 83-31-181.(b) A description of the qual…

A mutual insurance holding company shall not be authorized to pay dividends or make distributions to mutual insurance holding company members except as may be expressly approved by the commissioner. Neither the adoption nor the implementation of a plan of reorganization leading t…

(1) Subject to applicable requirements of Sections 83-31-47 and 83-31-101 through 83-31-181 and Section 83-6-1 et seq., a mutual insurance holding company may:(a) Merge or consolidate with, or acquire the assets of, a mutual insurance holding company formed under Section 83-31-47…

(1) No mutual insurance holding company shall be formed unless its articles of association are approved by the commissioner before filing the articles of association with the Mississippi Secretary of State as provided by law. (2) The articles of association shall be effective whe…