408.280. Insurance purchased to secure retail time contract, regulation.
Insurance purchased to secure retail time contract, regulation.
408.280. 1. The amount, if any, included for insurance, if a separateidentified charge is made for the insurance, which insurance may be purchasedby the seller or other person holding a retail time contract or account undera retail charge agreement, shall not exceed the applicable premium chargeablein accordance with the rates approved by the department of insurance,financial institutions and professional registration of this state where suchrates are required by law to be approved by such department. All insuranceshall be written by an insurance company authorized to do business in thisstate and all policies written in this state shall be countersigned by a dulylicensed resident agent authorized to engage in the insurance business in thisstate, unless otherwise provided by law. A buyer may be required to provideinsurance on the goods at his own cost for the protection of the seller orother person holding a retail time contract or account under a retail chargeagreement, as well as the buyer, but such insurance shall be subject tolimitations provided for in regulations promulgated and issued by the directorof finance pursuant to the provisions of subsection 3 of this section. Anadditional charge may be made for insurance written in connection with theretail time contract which provides involuntary unemployment coverage.
2. The seller or other person holding a retail time contract or accountunder a retail charge agreement shall, within thirty days after provision forany insurance is agreed to by the buyer, send or cause to be sent to the buyera policy or policies or certificate or certificates of insurance, clearlysetting forth the amount of the premium, the kind or kinds of insurance, thecoverage and, if a policy, all the terms, exceptions, limitations,restrictions and conditions of the contract or contracts of insurance, or, ifa certificate, a summary of the certificate.
3. The amount of any life insurance shall not exceed the amount of thetotal unpaid balance from time to time under a retail time contract or under aretail charge agreement, except that where the buyer's obligation under aretail time contract is repayable in payments which are not substantiallyequal in amount, such insurance may be level term insurance in an amount whichshall not exceed by more than five dollars the time balance as determinedunder subsection 5 of section 408.260. The director of finance, or suchagency or agencies as may exercise the powers and duties now performed by suchdirector, shall issue regulations providing for and governing the types andlimits of all other insurance and the issuance of policies in connection withretail time transactions. Nothing in this section shall alter or amend thestatutes of this state relating to insurance or affect the powers of thedirector of the department of insurance, financial institutions andprofessional registration under such statutes.
4. The seller shall not decline existing insurance written by aninsurance company authorized to do business in this state and the buyer shallhave the privilege of purchasing insurance from an agent or broker of his ownselection and of selecting his insurance company, except that the insurancecompany shall be acceptable to the holder, which acceptance shall not beunreasonably or arbitrarily withheld, and further, that the inclusion of thecost of the insurance premium in the retail time contract when the buyerselects his agent, broker or company shall be optional with the seller.
5. If any insurance is canceled, or the premium adjusted, any refund ofthe insurance premium received by the holder shall be credited to the finalmaturing payments of the contract except to the extent applied toward paymentfor similar insurance protecting the interests of the buyer and the holder oreither of them.
(L. 1961 p. 638 § 5, A.L. 1989 H.B. 615 & 563)