Title 56, Insurance

To qualify for and hold authority to transact insurance in this state an insurer must be an incorporated insurer, or a reciprocal insurer or an incorporated fraternal benefit society. [1967 c.359 §80]

(1) The Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services shall establish standards by rule for determining whether the continued operation of an authorized insurer may be hazardous to the policyholders or to the insurance-buying public generally, for the purpose of ca…

The Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services shall not grant or continue authority to transact insurance in this state for any insurer: (1) The management of which is found by the director to be untrustworthy or so lacking in insurance experience as to make th…

No certificate of authority may be issued to any state, province or foreign government nor to any instrumentality, political subdivision or agency thereof. [Formerly 736.080]

An insurer that otherwise qualifies therefor may be authorized to transact any one class or combination of classes of insurance, except: (1) A reciprocal insurer shall not transact life insurance or title insurance. (2) A title insurer shall be a stock insurer, and shall not tran…

No domestic, foreign or alien insurer shall deliver or issue for delivery in this state variable life insurance or variable annuity policies unless the insurer is authorized to transact life insurance in this state and the Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Servi…

The Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services at any time may amend an insurer’s certificate of authority to accord with lawful changes in the insurer’s charter or insuring powers. [1967 c.359 §84]

(1) The Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services shall issue to an insurer a certificate of authority if upon completion of the application for a certificate of authority by the insurer the director finds, from the application and such other investigation and …

(1) An insurer’s subsisting certificate of authority is evidence of its authority to transact in this state the class or classes of insurance specified therein, either as direct insurer or as reinsurer or as both. (2) Although issued to the insurer the certificate of authority is…

(1) A certificate of authority shall continue in force as long as the insurer is entitled thereto under the Insurance Code and until suspended or revoked by the Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services, or terminated at the request of the insurer; subject, how…

(1) The Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services shall refuse to continue, or shall suspend or revoke, an insurer’s certificate of authority if: (a) As a foreign insurer, it no longer meets the requirements for the authority; or as a domestic insurer, it has f…

(1) The Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services may refuse to continue or may suspend or revoke an insurer’s certificate of authority if the director finds after a hearing that: (a) The insurer has violated or failed to comply with any lawful order of the dir…

(1) All suspensions or revocations of, or refusals to continue, an insurer’s certificate of authority shall be by order of the Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services order. (2) Upon suspending, revoking or refusing to continue the insurer’s certificate of au…

(1) In an order suspending the certificate of authority of an insurer, the Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services may provide that the suspension expires at the end of a specified period or when the director determines that the cause or causes of the suspens…

(1) A person who is prohibited by 18 U.S.C. 1033 from engaging or participating in the business of insurance because of a conviction of a felony involving dishonesty or a breach of trust or conviction of a crime under 18 U.S.C. 1033 may apply to the Director of the Department of …

(1) No insurer shall be formed or authorized to transact insurance in this state which has or will have, or which uses or will use as an assumed business name, a name or principal identifying name factor: (a) That is the same as or deceptively similar to: (A) Any other insurer so…

(1) The provisions, procedures and requirements of ORS chapter 60 relating to a registered office, registered agent and to service of process, notice and demand shall govern all insurers transacting insurance in this state, whether authorized or unauthorized, except that the Dire…

(1) A title insurer, in order to receive and maintain a certificate of authority, shall own and maintain at all times a title plant covering a period of at least the immediately preceding 50 years except years before 1960 and consisting of a general index, adequate maps and curre…

A title plant that conforms on December 31, 1999, with ORS 731.438 (1) and (2) (1997 Edition) satisfies the requirements of ORS 731.438 (1) as amended by section 1, chapter 183, Oregon Laws 1999, if it also contains after that date a general index, adequate maps and currently pos…

An insurer may not transact a life insurance business upon a mutual assessment plan within this state. [Formerly 739.105; 2005 c.185 §1]

An insurer may accept, from a holder of a life insurance policy, deposits in addition to current premium payments to provide a fund for payment of future premiums or to make possible the future acquisition of additional insurance, annuities or other benefits, whether the interest…

Except as authorized by the federal Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (P.L. 106-102), an insurer may not engage in any business except the making of insurance or a kind of business related to the insurance business. However, a foreign or alien insurer may engage, outside this state, in any …

No domestic insurer, or any of the representatives thereof, shall transact insurance in any jurisdiction in which such insurer is not authorized in accordance with the laws of such jurisdiction. [Formerly 736.645]

(1) Individuals, partnerships and corporations of this state, hereby designated as subscribers, may exchange reciprocal or interinsurance contracts with each other, or with individuals, partnerships and corporations of other states and countries, providing indemnity among themsel…

A reciprocal insurer having a surplus of not less than $500,000 may issue nonassessable policies. [1967 c.359 §100]

(1) The rights and power of the attorney of a reciprocal insurer shall be as provided in the power of attorney given it by the subscribers. (2) The power of attorney must set forth: (a) The powers of the attorney. (b) That the attorney may accept service of process on behalf of t…

(1) Any instrument required to be verified by the oath of the attorney for a reciprocal insurer may, in case of an incorporated attorney, be verified by the oath of the president, vice president, secretary or other executive officer of such corporation. (2) The certificate of aut…

(1)(a) Every insurer authorized to issue workers’ compensation coverage to subject employers as required by ORS chapter 656 shall maintain a place of business in this state where the insurer shall: (A) Process claims and make available complete records of claims for compensation …

An insurer shall not issue workers’ compensation insurance policies pursuant to ORS chapter 656 unless it furnishes occupational safety and health loss control consultative services to its insured employers consistent with the requirements of ORS 654.097. [1975 c.585 §3; 1981 c.8…

(1) Except as provided in subsection (5) of this section, an insurance company selling commercial liability insurance and authorized to do business in Oregon may not withdraw from, fail to renew or cancel any line of insurance or class of business without supplying appropriate wr…

(1) No insurer or insurance producer selling a policy of group life insurance or group health insurance subject to the exemption in ORS 731.146 (2)(b) is authorized to sell membership in a group for the purpose of qualifying an applicant who is an individual for the insurance. (2…

(1) An insurer may limit the drug outlets or pharmacists from which a person covered under a health insurance policy issued by the insurer is authorized by the insurer to obtain services only if the insurer first provides an opportunity to drug outlets and pharmacists to offer to…

(1) The exemption in ORS 731.146 (2)(b) does not apply to an insurer that offers coverage under a group health insurance policy or a group life insurance policy in this state unless the Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services determines that the exemption app…

(1) Each insurer shall have an annual audit conducted by an independent certified public accountant and shall file an audited financial report annually with the Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services. The annual audited financial report shall disclose: (a) T…

(1)(a) An insurer shall notify a claimant in writing at the time the insurer pays $5,000 or more to settle a third-party liability claim if: (A) The claimant is a natural person; (B) The insurer or an agent or other representative of the insurer, including the insurer’s attorney,…

(1) No insurer shall retain any risk on any one subject of insurance, whether a domestic risk or not, in an amount exceeding 10 percent of its surplus to policyholders, or in the case of title insurance, more than 50 percent of such surplus, except that an insurance company, incl…

(1) An insurer may accept reinsurance only of such risks, and retain risk thereon within such limits, as it is otherwise authorized to insure. (2) Except as provided in ORS 731.512, 732.517 to 732.546 or 742.150 to 742.162, an insurer may reinsure risks with an insurer authorized…

(1) The purpose of ORS 731.509, 731.510, 731.511, 731.512 and 731.516 is to protect the interests of insureds, claimants, ceding insurers, assuming insurers and the public generally. The Legislative Assembly declares that the intent of the Legislative Assembly is to ensure adequa…

(1) Subject to the provisions of ORS 731.508 relating to allowance of credit for reinsurance, the Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services shall allow a reduction from liability for the reinsurance a domestic insurer cedes to a reinsurer that does not meet the…

(1) For purposes of allowing credit to a ceding domestic insurer under ORS 731.509 if the reinsurance is ceded to an assuming insurer that is accredited as a reinsurer in this state, an insurer may be accredited as a reinsurer in this state if the insurer: (a) Files and maintains…

(1) No insurer shall withdraw from this state until its direct liability to its policyholders and obligees under all its insurance policies then in force in this state has been assumed by another authorized insurer under an agreement approved by the Director of the Department of …

(1) A ceding insurer shall manage the ceding insurer’s reinsurance recoverables in proportion to the ceding insurer’s book of business. A domestic ceding insurer shall notify the Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services within 30 days after reinsurance recover…

(1) As used in this section, “policyholders’ position” means the aggregate amount of mortgage insurance policies covering amounts of insured obligations, divided by the insurer’s surplus to policyholders as defined in ORS 731.504 (6). (2) Except as provided in subsection (3) of t…

(1) Credit must be allowed if reinsurance is ceded to an assuming insurer that meets each of the conditions set forth below: (a) The assuming insurer must be licensed in a reciprocal jurisdiction and have the assuming insurer’s home office in, or be domiciled in, as applicable, t…

(1) Except as provided in subsections (2) to (6) of this section and ORS 731.562 and 731.566, to qualify for authority to transact insurance in this state an insurer shall possess and thereafter maintain capital or surplus, or any combination thereof, of not less than $2.5 millio…

To qualify for authority to transact title insurance in this state, an insurer shall possess and thereafter maintain capital or surplus, or any combination thereof, of not less than $2.5 million. [Formerly 748.010; 1987 c.483 §2; 2001 c.318 §2]

To qualify for authority to transact insurance in this state, a reciprocal insurer shall possess and thereafter maintain a surplus of not less than $2.5 million, and any reciprocal insurer that exchanges policies of insurance covering workers’ compensation insurance shall possess…

No advancement made by the subscribers or the attorney of a reciprocal insurer shall be withdrawn or refunded except out of the surplus of the insurer in excess of its required capitalization, and then only upon the written consent of the Director of the Department of Consumer an…

(1) Except as provided in subsection (4) of this section, every authorized insurer shall file with the Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services, on or before March 1 of each year, a financial statement for the year ending December 31 immediately preceding. Thi…

As used in ORS 731.592 and 731.594, “insurer” includes, but is not limited to: (1) An insurer, as defined in ORS 731.106. (2) A health care service contractor, as defined in ORS 750.005, including, but not limited to, a health maintenance organization. (3) A multiple employer wel…