522B.14 - NOTIFICATION TO COMMISSIONER OF TERMINATION -- PENALTIES.
522B.14 NOTIFICATION TO COMMISSIONER OF TERMINATION -- PENALTIES. 1. An insurer or authorized representative of the insurer that terminates the appointment, employment, contract, or other insurance business relationship with an insurance producer shall notify the commissioner within thirty days following the effective date of the termination, using a format prescribed by the commissioner, if the reason for termination is one of the reasons set forth in section 522B.11, or the insurer has knowledge the insurance producer was found by a court, government body, or self-regulatory organization authorized by law to have engaged in any of the activities set forth in section 522B.11. Upon request of the commissioner, the insurer or authorized representative of the insurer shall provide additional information, documents, records, or other data pertaining to the termination or activity of the insurance producer. 2. An insurer or authorized representative of the insurer that terminates the appointment, employment, contract, or other insurance business relationship with an insurance producer for any reason not set forth in section 522B.11 shall notify the commissioner within thirty days following the effective date of the termination, using a format prescribed by the commissioner. Upon request of the commissioner, the insurer shall provide additional information, documents, records, or other data pertaining to the termination. 3. The insurer or the authorized representative of the insurer shall promptly notify the commissioner using a format prescribed by the commissioner if, upon further review or investigation, the insurer or authorized representative of the insurer discovers additional information that would have been reportable to the commissioner pursuant to subsection 1, had the insurer then known of its existence. 4. Within fifteen days after making the notification required by this section, the insurer shall mail a copy of the notification to the insurance producer at the insurance producer's last known address. If the insurance producer is terminated for any of the reasons set forth in section 522B.11, the insurer shall provide a copy of the notification to the insurance producer at the insurance producer's last known address by restricted certified mail, as defined in section 618.15, or by overnight delivery using a nationally recognized carrier. 5. Within thirty days after the insurance producer has received the original or additional notification, the insurance producer may file written comments concerning the substance of the notification with the commissioner. The insurance producer, by the same means, shall simultaneously send a copy of the comments to the reporting insurer, and the comments shall become a part of the commissioner's record and accompany every copy of a report distributed or disclosed for any reason about the insurance producer, as permitted under subsection 8. 6. In the absence of actual malice, an insurer, the authorized representative of the insurer, an insurance producer, the commissioner, or an organization of which the commissioner is a member and that compiles the information and makes it available to other commissioners or regulatory or law enforcement agencies shall not be subject to civil liability. A civil cause of action of any nature shall not arise against any of these entities or their respective agents or employees, as a result of any statement or information required by or provided pursuant to this section or any information relating to any statement that may be requested in writing by the commissioner from an insurer or insurance producer; or a statement by a terminating insurer or insurance producer to an insurer or insurance producer limited solely and exclusively to whether a termination for cause under subsection 1 was reported to the commissioner, provided that the propriety of any termination for cause under subsection 1 is certified in writing by an officer or authorized representative of the insurer or insurance producer terminating the relationship. In any action brought against a person that may have immunity under this section for making any statement required by this section or providing any information relating to any statement that may be requested by the commissioner, the party bringing the action shall plead specifically in any allegation that this section does not apply because the person making the statement or providing the information did so with actual malice. This section shall not abrogate or modify any existing statutory or common law privileges or immunities. 7. Any document, material, or other information in the control or possession of the insurance division that is furnished by an insurer, insurance producer, or an employee or agent of such insurer or insurance producer acting on behalf of the insurer or insurance producer, or obtained by the commissioner in an investigation pursuant to this section is considered a confidential record and shall not be subject to subpoena, or subject to discovery, or admissible in evidence in any private civil action. However, the commissioner is authorized to use such document, material, or other information in the furtherance of any regulatory or legal action brought as a part of the commissioner's duties. Neither the commissioner nor any person who received any document, material, or other information while acting under the authority of the commissioner shall be permitted or required to testify in any private civil action concerning any confidential document, material, or information subject to this section. 8. The commissioner may share documents, materials, or other information, including the confidential and privileged documents, materials, or information subject to subsection 7, with other state, federal, and international regulatory agencies, with the national association of insurance commissioners, its affiliates or subsidiaries, and with state, federal, and international law enforcement authorities, provided that the recipient agrees to maintain the confidentiality and privileged status of the document, material, or other information. The commissioner may receive documents, materials, or information, including otherwise confidential and privileged documents, materials, or information, from the national association of insurance commissioners, its affiliates or subsidiaries, and from regulatory and law enforcement officials of other foreign or domestic jurisdictions, and shall maintain as confidential or privileged any document, material, or information received with notice or the understanding that it is confidential or privileged under the laws of the jurisdiction that is the source of the document, material, or information. The commissioner may enter into agreements governing sharing and use of information consistent with this subsection. 9. A waiver of any applicable privilege or claim of confidentiality in the documents, materials, or information shall not occur as a result of disclosure to the commissioner or sharing of information received under this section. 10. Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit the commissioner from releasing information regarding final, adjudicated actions that are considered public records subject to examination and copying under chapter 22 to a database or other clearinghouse service maintained by the national association of insurance commissioners, or an affiliate or subsidiary of the national association of insurance commissioners. 11. An insurer, the authorized representative of the insurer, or an insurance producer that fails to report as required under this section, or that is found to have reported with actual malice by a court of competent jurisdiction, after notice and hearing, may have its license or certificate of authority suspended or revoked and may be penalized as provided in section 522B.17.
Section History: Recent Form 2001 Acts, ch 16, §28, 37; 2001 Acts, ch 176, §72