Title 56, Insurance

In any action against an unauthorized insurer in which service of process was made in the manner provided in ORS 746.320, the court may award reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing party. [Formerly 736.258; 1981 c.897 §103; 1995 c.618 §130]

ORS 746.320 to 746.360 do not apply to an action against an unauthorized insurer arising out of any policy of: (1) Reinsurance or wet marine and transportation insurance; (2) Insurance effected in compliance with ORS 735.400 to 735.495; (3) Insurance against legal liability arisi…

In order that the Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services may effectively administer ORS 746.310 to 746.370, every person for or by whom insurance has been placed with an unauthorized insurer shall, upon the director’s order, produce for examination all polic…

As used in ORS 746.405 to 746.530, unless the context requires otherwise: (1) “Premium finance agreement” means an agreement by which an insured or prospective insured promises to pay to a premium finance company or to its assignee the amount advanced or to be advanced under the …

In the manner provided in ORS 731.296, the Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services may address inquiries to a premium finance company, and a premium finance company shall reply to such inquiries. [1993 c.265 §11]

ORS 746.405 to 746.530 do not apply to: (1) Any insurer authorized to transact business in this state who finances insurance premiums on domestic risks with a service charge no greater than that provided in ORS 746.485 and 746.495; (2) Any bank, trust company, savings and loan as…

(1) Every premium finance company shall maintain records of its premium finance transactions and the records shall be open to examination and investigation by the Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services. The director may at any time require the company to bri…

No insurer shall interfere in any way with the right of any person soliciting or procuring an application for its insurance policies to recommend to an insured any premium finance company. [1983 c.239 §5]

(1) A premium finance agreement shall: (a) Be dated, signed by the insured or by any person authorized in writing to act in behalf of the insured, and the printed portion thereof shall be in at least eight-point type; (b) Contain the name and place of business of the insurance pr…

(1) A premium finance company shall not charge, contract for, receive, or collect a service charge other than as permitted by ORS 746.405 to 746.530. (2) The service charge is to be computed on the balance of the premiums due (after subtracting the down payment made by the insure…

(1) A premium finance agreement may provide for the payment by the insured of a delinquency charge for any payment that is in default for a period of 10 days or more. Such charge may be made for each month or fraction thereof that the payment is in default. The amount of such cha…

(1) When a premium finance agreement contains a power of attorney enabling the premium finance company to cancel any insurance policy or policies listed in the agreement, the insurance policy or policies shall not be canceled by the premium finance company unless such cancellatio…

(1) Whenever a financed insurance policy is canceled, the insurer who has been notified as provided in ORS 746.475 (4) shall return whatever gross unearned premiums are due under the insurance policy to the premium finance company for the account of the insured or insureds not la…

No filing of the premium finance agreement shall be necessary to perfect the validity of such agreement as a secured transaction as against creditors, subsequent purchasers, pledgees, encumbrancers, successors or assigns. [1969 c.639 §14]

In any action to enforce any right created by ORS 746.405 to 746.530, the prevailing party may be awarded a reasonable amount, to be fixed by the court, as attorney fees. The amount may be taxed as part of the cost of the action and any appeal thereon. [1983 c.239 §6] USE AND DIS…

As used in ORS 746.600 to 746.690: (1)(a) “Adverse underwriting decision” means any of the following actions with respect to insurance transactions involving insurance coverage that is individually underwritten: (A) A declination of insurance coverage. (B) A termination of insura…

The purpose of ORS 746.600 to 746.690 is to: (1) Establish standards for the collection, use and disclosure of personal information gathered in connection with insurance transactions by insurers, insurance producers or insurance-support organizations; (2) Maintain a balance betwe…

ORS 746.607 and 746.608 establish standards for health insurers that are subject to the information privacy provisions of both the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-191) and the federal Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (P.L. 106-102). These stand…

Except as provided in ORS 743B.555, a health insurer: (1) May use or disclose personal information of an individual in a manner that is consistent with an authorization provided by the individual or a personal representative of the individual. (2) May use or disclose protected he…

(1) The Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services shall adopt rules implementing ORS 746.607. In adopting rules under this section, the director shall consider the information privacy provisions of the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act…

ORS 746.620, 746.630, 746.640, 746.645 and 746.665 do not apply to health insurers. [2003 c.87 §5]

(1) Except as otherwise provided in ORS 746.606, 746.607, 746.608 and 746.609, the obligations imposed by ORS 746.600 to 746.690 apply to those insurers, insurance producers and insurance-support organizations that: (a) In the case of life or health insurance: (A) Collect, receiv…

If no person has been appointed as a personal representative under ORS chapter 113 or a person appointed as a personal representative under ORS chapter 113 has been discharged, the personal representative of a deceased individual shall be the first of the following persons, in th…

Nothing in ORS 746.607 may be construed to create a new private right of action against a health insurer. [2003 c.87 §18a]

An insurer, insurance producer or insurance-support organization may not use or authorize the use of pretext interviews to obtain personal information in connection with an insurance transaction. However, a pretext interview may be undertaken to obtain information from a person o…

(1) A licensee must provide a clear and conspicuous notice of personal information practices to individuals in connection with insurance transactions under the following circumstances and at the following times: (a) Except as provided in this paragraph, to a consumer who becomes …

An insurer or insurance producer shall clearly identify those questions that are designed to obtain personal information solely for marketing or research purposes from an individual in connection with an insurance transaction. [1981 c.649 §7; 2003 c.87 §11; 2003 c.364 §156]

(1) Notwithstanding any other law of this state, a licensee or insurance-support organization may not use as its disclosure authorization form in connection with insurance transactions a form or statement that authorizes the disclosure of personal or privileged information about …

(1) Notwithstanding ORS 192.537 (3), a health insurer may retain genetic information of an individual without obtaining an authorization from the individual or a personal representative of the individual if the retention is for treatment, payment or health care operations by the …

(1) No insurer, insurance producer or insurance-support organization may prepare or request an investigative consumer report about an individual in connection with an insurance transaction involving an application for insurance, a policy renewal, a policy reinstatement or a chang…

(1) If any individual, after proper identification, submits a written request to an insurer, insurance producer or insurance-support organization for access to recorded personal information about the individual that is reasonably described by the individual and reasonably locatab…

(1) Within 30 business days from the date of receipt of a written request from an individual to correct, amend or delete any recorded personal information about the individual within its possession, an insurer, insurance producer or insurance-support organization shall either: (a…

Except as otherwise provided in ORS 743B.250, 743B.252, 743B.255 and 743B.422: (1) In the event of an adverse underwriting decision, the insurer or insurance producer responsible for the decision must: (a) Either provide the consumer proposed for coverage with the specific reason…

No insurer, insurance producer or insurance-support organization may seek information in connection with an insurance transaction concerning any previous adverse underwriting decision experienced by an individual, or any previous insurance coverage obtained by an individual throu…

No insurer or insurance producer may base an adverse underwriting decision in whole or in part on: (1) The fact of a previous adverse underwriting decision or on the fact that an individual previously obtained insurance coverage through a residual market mechanism. However, an in…

(1) An insurer that issues personal insurance policies in this state: (a) May not cancel or nonrenew personal insurance that has been in effect for more than 60 days based in whole or in part on a consumer’s credit history or insurance score. (b) May use a consumer’s credit histo…

(1) An insurer may not use credit history to determine personal insurance eligibility, premiums or rates for coverage unless the insurer has filed the insurance scoring models used by the insurer with the Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services. An insurance …

(1) An insurer that issues personal insurance policies in this state may not cancel or nonrenew a policy of personal insurance based in whole or in part on a consumer’s credit history or insurance score. (2) If, prior to January 1, 2004, an insurer has assigned a consumer to a le…

(1) A licensee or insurance-support organization may not disclose any personal or privileged information about an individual collected or received in connection with an insurance transaction unless the disclosure meets one or more of the following conditions: (a) Is with the writ…

Nothing in ORS 746.620, 746.630 or 746.665 may be construed to modify, limit or supersede the operation of the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) and no inference may be drawn on the basis of ORS 746.620, 746.630 or 746.665 regarding whether personal infor…

(1) The Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services may examine and investigate into the affairs of any insurer or insurance producer transacting insurance in this state to determine whether it has been or is engaged in any conduct in violation of ORS 746.600 to …

For the purpose of ORS 746.600 to 746.690 and 750.055, an insurance-support organization transacting business outside this state which has an effect on a person residing in this state shall be considered to have appointed the Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Se…

(1) A person whose rights granted under ORS 746.607 (7), 746.640, 746.645 or 746.650 are violated may apply to the circuit court for the county in which the person resides, or any other court of competent jurisdiction, for appropriate equitable relief if an insurer, insurance pro…

No cause of action in the nature of defamation, invasion of privacy or negligence shall arise against any person for disclosing personal or privileged information in accordance with ORS 746.600 to 746.690 and 750.055, nor shall such a cause of action arise against any person for …

(1) When a consumer applies for a homeowner insurance policy, an insurer may not use: (a) A prior claim of the consumer or a claim relating to the property to be insured, when the date of loss of the claim is more than five years preceding the date of application, to determine wh…

(1) Except as provided in subsection (6) of this section, an insurer may cancel a homeowner insurance policy before the expiration of the policy only for one or more of the following reasons: (a) Nonpayment of premium; (b) Fraud or material misrepresentation affecting the policy …