Title 33, Title 33

(1) Any person who violates a cease and desist order issued pursuant to 33-18-1004 is subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $1,000. Each day of violation constitutes a separate violation. The total penalty may not exceed a $10,000 aggregate. The department may institute and ma…

Violations of 33-18-221 through 33-18-224 are subject to cease and desist orders of the commissioner issued under 33-18-1004.

The purpose of this chapter is to regulate trade practices in the business of insurance in accordance with the intent of congress as expressed in Public Law 79-15 (the McCarran-Ferguson Act, 15 U.S.C. 1011 through 1015), which was approved March 9, 1945, by defining or providing …

(1) No person shall engage in this state in any trade practice which is defined in this chapter as or determined pursuant to this chapter to be an unfair method of competition or an unfair or deceptive act or practice in the business of insurance. (2) Nothing in this chapter shal…

(1) (a) As used in this section, "life insurance product" means any product, including individual and group life insurance, funding agreements, and annuities, that provides insurance for which the probabilities of the duration of human life or the rate of mortality are an element…

For the purposes of 33-18-101, 33-18-102, 33-18-201 through 33-18-206, 33-18-208, 33-18-209, 33-18-302, 33-18-303, and Title 33, chapter 18, part 10, the following terms apply: (1) "Health insurance lead generator" means a person who utilizes a lead-generating device to: (a) publ…

A person may not, with such frequency as to indicate a general business practice, do any of the following: (1) misrepresent pertinent facts or insurance policy provisions relating to coverages at issue; (2) fail to acknowledge and act reasonably promptly upon communications with …

A person may not make, issue, circulate, or cause to be made, issued, or circulated any estimate, illustration, circular, sales presentation, omission, comparison, or statement that: (1) misrepresents the benefits, advantages, conditions, or terms of any insurance policy; (2) mis…

A person may not make, publish, disseminate, circulate, or place before the public, or cause, directly or indirectly, to be made, published, disseminated, circulated, or placed before the public, in a newspaper, magazine, electronic mail, internet advertisement or posting, or oth…

No person shall make or issue or cause to be made or issued any written or oral statement misrepresenting or making incomplete comparisons as to the terms, conditions, or benefits contained in any policy for the purpose of inducing or attempting or tending to induce the policyhol…

(1) No person shall file with any supervisory or other public official or make, publish, disseminate, circulate, or deliver to any person or place before the public or cause, directly or indirectly, to be made, published, disseminated, circulated, delivered to any person, or plac…

(1) No person shall make or permit any unfair discrimination between individuals of the same class and equal expectation of life in the rates charged for any contract of life insurance or of life annuity or in the dividends or other benefits payable thereon or in any other of the…

(1) No insurer, whether an authorized insurer or an unauthorized insurer, shall make available through any rating plan or form, property, casualty, or surety insurance to any firm, corporation, or association of individuals, any preferred rate or premium based upon any fictitious…

Except as otherwise expressly provided by law and in 33-22-2204, a person may not knowingly: (1) permit or offer to make or make any contract of life insurance, life annuity, or disability insurance or agreement as to such contract other than as plainly expressed in the contract …

Nothing in 33-18-206 and 33-18-208 shall be construed as including within the definition of discrimination or rebates any of the following practices: (1) in the case of any contract of life insurance or life annuity, paying bonuses to policyholders or otherwise abating their prem…

(1) Except as provided in subsections (3), (4), and (11)(a), a title, property, casualty, or surety insurer or an employee, representative, or insurance producer of an insurer may not, as an inducement to purchase insurance or after insurance has been effected, pay, allow, or giv…

No person shall issue or deliver or permit its insurance producers, officers, or employees to issue or deliver agency company stock or other capital stock or benefit certificates or shares in any common-law corporation or any advisory board contract or other similar contract of a…

(1) A person may not willfully collect any sum as a premium or charge for insurance that is not then provided or is not in due course to be provided, subject to acceptance of the risk by the insurer, by an insurance policy issued by an insurer as authorized by this code. (2) A pe…

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an insurance producer, as defined in 33-17-102, may extend credit to a policyholder in connection with the issuance or servicing of any policy procured or negotiated by the insurance producer, but any credit so extended must satisfy one…

An insurer, health service corporation, or health maintenance organization may not place an elimination rider on or rescind coverage provided by a disability policy, certificate, or subscriber contract after a policy, certificate, or contract has been issued unless the insured ha…

(1) An insurer, health maintenance organization, or health service corporation may not unfairly discriminate against a victim of abuse. (2) For purposes of this section, "abuse" means the occurrence between family members, current or former household members, or intimate partners…

(1) The prohibition against rebates or discounts provided for in 33-18-210 does not apply with respect to property or casualty insurance sales to: (a) an active, retired, or honorably separated member of the United States armed forces, including a member of a reserve component as…

(1) Except as provided in 33-18-219 and subsection (2) of this section, an insurer may not recover costs of defending an insured against claims asserted against the insured if the insurer is subsequently determined to not owe a duty to defend the insured. (2) An insurer may recov…

Section 33-18-218 does not apply and an insurer may seek reimbursement from an insured for any amount paid by the insurer in defending any claim asserted against an insured if: (1) the insured made fraudulent or material misrepresentations or concealed or omitted facts or informa…

(1) An insurance company, including its producers and adjusters, that issues or renews a policy of insurance in this state covering, in whole or part, a motor vehicle may not: (a) require that a person insured under the policy use a particular company or location for providing au…

(1) For purposes of 33-18-221, 33-18-223, and 33-18-224, "market price" means the: (a) price agreed upon between the insurer and the business; or (b) prevailing competitive rate that is reasonable and necessary in the local area where the repairs are to be performed. (2) The mark…

(1) It is unlawful for an insurance company, individually or with others, to directly or indirectly: (a) establish an agreement with any person to act as a glass broker for the insurance company under which the glass broker sets a price that must be met by a glass repair shop as …

(1) (a) An insurance company, including its producers and adjusters, that issues or renews a policy of insurance in this state covering, in whole or in part, a motor vehicle may not: (i) require that a claimant under the policy use a particular automobile body repair business or …

(1) An insurance company, including its producers and adjusters, that issues or renews a policy of insurance in this state covering, in whole or in part, a motor vehicle may not: (a) require that a person, whether or not insured by the insurance company, for whom the insurance co…

In 33-18-231 through 33-18-235 the following definitions apply: (1) "Claim documentation" means standard claims forms or other documentation routinely accepted by insurers as proof of loss. (2) "Insurer" means any insurer as that term is defined by this title, including any frate…

(1) An insurer shall pay or deny a claim within 30 days after receipt of a proof of loss unless the insurer makes a reasonable request for additional information or documents in order to evaluate the claim. If an insurer makes a reasonable request for additional information or do…

(1) The commissioner may, after a hearing, impose an administrative fine as provided in 33-1-317 on an insurer if the commissioner finds that the insurer as a general course of business practice in this state fails to: (a) use due diligence in processing all claims; (b) pay claim…

Nothing in 33-18-231 through 33-18-235 requires the commissioner to disclose information in violation of the Insurance Information and Privacy Protection Act.

The commissioner may adopt rules, under the Montana Administrative Procedure Act, necessary to implement 33-18-231 through 33-18-234.

(1) An insured or a third-party claimant has an independent cause of action against an insurer for actual damages caused by the insurer's violation of 33-18-201(1), (4), (5), (6), (9), or (13). (2) In an action under this section, a plaintiff is not required to prove that the vio…

(1) An insured or a third-party claimant shall cooperate with an insurer with respect to an insurance claim or cause of action made or asserted against the insured, the insurer, or both, or reported to the insurer. The duty to cooperate includes, in addition to other duties speci…

(1) Except for providers who are prepaid or agree to a different payment schedule, an insurer shall make an offer to pay or shall pay all approved claims for covered services or damages that solely involve the recovery of property damages in an amount of $2,500 or less arising ou…

(1) An insurer that provides coverage for anatomical gifts, organ transplants, or related treatment and services may not: (a) deny coverage under an insurance policy to a covered person solely on the basis of the person's disability; (b) deny to a patient eligibility, or continue…

(1) (a) An insurance producer may not directly or indirectly hold the insurance producer out to the public as a financial planner, investment adviser, consultant, financial counselor, or any other type of specialist engaged in the business of providing financial planning or advic…

(1) A time-limited demand from a claimant to an insurer offering to settle any claim must: (a) reference this section; (b) be in writing and labeled "time sensitive" at the top of the first page of the writing setting forth the required material terms of the offer to settle set f…

(1) A life insurer and its board of directors, officers, employees, or representatives that sell any life insurance, other than funeral insurance as defined in 33-20-1501(1)(c)(ii), may not own, manage, supervise, operate, or maintain any mortuary, funeral, or undertaking establi…

No person shall make, publish, disseminate, or circulate, directly or indirectly, or aid, abet, or encourage the making, publishing, disseminating, or circulating of any oral or written statement or any pamphlet, circular, article, or literature which is false or maliciously crit…

No person shall enter into any agreement to commit or by any concerted action commit any act of boycott, coercion, or intimidation resulting in or tending to result in unreasonable restraint of or monopoly in the business of insurance.

(1) Any insurer may retain, invest in, or acquire the whole or any part of the capital stock of any other insurer or insurers or have a common management with any other insurer or insurers unless such retention, investment, acquisition, or common management is inconsistent with a…

(1) No insurer shall directly or indirectly pay or use or offer, consent, or agree to pay or use any money or property for or in aid of any political party, committee, or organization or for or in aid of any corporation or other body organized or maintained for political purposes…

(1) (a) A person may not require, as a condition precedent to the lending of money or extension of credit or any renewal of these, the person to whom the money or credit is extended or whose obligation a creditor is to acquire or finance to negotiate any contract of insurance or …