CHAPTER 9. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
IC 27-11-9
Chapter 9. Miscellaneous Provisions
IC 27-11-9-1
Appointment of attorney for service of process; method of serving
process
Sec. 1. (a) Every society authorized to do business in Indiana shall
appoint in writing an individual resident of Indiana, a corporate
resident of Indiana, or an authorized Indiana insurer 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
that:
(1) any lawful process against it that is served on the attorney
shall be of the same legal force and validity as if served upon
the society; and
(2) the authority shall continue in force so long as any liability
remains outstanding in this state.
Copies of the appointment, certified by the commissioner, shall be
considered sufficient evidence thereof and shall be admitted in
evidence with the same force and effect as the original might be
admitted.
(b) Service shall only be made upon the attorney or, if absent,
upon the person in charge of the attorney's office. It shall be made in
duplicate and shall constitute sufficient service upon the society.
When legal process against a society is served upon the attorney, the
attorney shall immediately forward one (1) of the duplicate copies by
registered mail, prepaid, directed to the secretary or corresponding
officer. No service shall require a society to file its answer, pleading,
or defense in less than thirty (30) days from the date of mailing the
copy of the service to a society. Legal process shall not be served
upon a society except in the manner provided in this section.
As added by P.L.262-1985, SEC.1. Amended by P.L.130-1994,
SEC.48; P.L.116-1994, SEC.71; P.L.268-1999, SEC.21.
IC 27-11-9-2
Judicial review of decisions and findings of commissioner
Sec. 2. All decisions and findings of the commissioner made
under this article shall be subject to review by proper proceedings in
any court of competent jurisdiction in this state.
As added by P.L.262-1985, SEC.1.
IC 27-11-9-3
Violations
Sec. 3. (a) A person who knowingly makes any false or fraudulent
statement or representation in or with reference to any application for
membership or for the purpose of obtaining money from or benefits
in any society transacting business under this chapter, commits a
Class A misdemeanor.
(b) A person who solicits membership for any fraternal
beneficiary association not licensed to do business in Indiana, or for
any society not authorized to do business in Indiana, commits a Class
C infraction.
(c) Any person who knowingly violates, neglects, or refuses to
comply with a provision of this article for which a penalty is not
otherwise prescribed commits a Class B misdemeanor.
As added by P.L.262-1985, SEC.1.
IC 27-11-9-4
Construction of article
Sec. 4. (a) Nothing contained in this article shall be so construed
as to affect or apply to:
(1) grand or subordinate lodges of societies, orders, or
associations doing business in Indiana that provide benefits
exclusively through local or subordinate lodges;
(2) orders, societies, or associations that admit to membership
only persons engaged in one (1) or more crafts or hazardous
occupations, in the same or similar lines of business, insuring
only their own members and their families, and the ladies'
societies or ladies' auxiliaries to these orders, societies, or
associations;
(3) domestic societies that limit their membership to employees
of a particular city or town, designated firm, business house, or
corporation that provide for a death benefit of not more than
four hundred dollars ($400) or disability benefits of not more
than three hundred fifty dollars ($350) to any person in any one
(1) year, or both; or
(4) domestic societies or associations of a purely religious,
charitable, or benevolent description that provide for a death
benefit of not more than four hundred dollars ($400) or for
disability benefits of not more than three hundred fifty dollars
($350) to any one (1) person in any one (1) year, or both.
(b) Any society or association described in subsection (a)(3) or
(a)(4) that provides for death or disability benefits for which benefit
certificates are issued, and any society or association included in
subsection (a)(4) that has more than one thousand (1,000) members,
shall not be exempted from this article but shall comply with all
requirements of this article.
(c) A society that under this section is exempt from the
requirements of this article, except any society described in
subsection (a)(2), shall not give or allow or promise to give or allow
to any person any compensation for procuring new members.
(d) Every society that provides for benefits in case of death or
disability resulting solely from accident and that does not obligate
itself to pay natural death or sick benefits shall have all of the
privileges and be subject to all the applicable provisions and rules of
this article, except that the provisions relating to medical
examination, valuations of benefit certificates, and incontestability
shall not apply to the society.
(e) The commissioner may require from any society or
association, by examination or otherwise, such information as will
enable the commissioner to determine whether the society or
association is exempt from this article.
(f) Societies exempted under this section shall also be exempt
from all other provisions of this title.
As added by P.L.262-1985, SEC.1.