65.2-802 - Requirements for licensure as group self-insurance association; annual assessment.
§ 65.2-802. Requirements for licensure as group self-insurance association;annual assessment.
A. Two or more employers having a common interest may be licensed by theState Corporation Commission as a group self-insurance association andpermitted to enter into agreements to pool their liabilities under thistitle. The members of any such group self-insurance association may alsoenter into agreements to pool their liabilities for workers' compensationbenefits which may arise under the laws of any other jurisdiction and othertypes of employers' liabilities for the death or disablement of, or injuryto, their employees. Benefits payable by any such association for suchmembers' liabilities under the laws of any other jurisdiction shall extendonly to employees otherwise eligible for coverage under the provisions ofthis title.
B. The State Corporation Commission shall not license a group self-insuranceassociation or grant authorization for an employer to become a member of suchgroup unless it receives in such form as it requires satisfactory proof ofthe solvency of any such employer, the financial ability of each to meet hisobligations as a member, and the ability of the group to pay or cause to bepaid the compensation in the amount and manner and when due as provided forin this title and as may be agreed upon with respect to other types ofemployers' liabilities which may be authorized and provided hereunder.
C. Members of a group shall execute a written agreement under which eachagrees to jointly and severally assume and discharge any liability under thistitle of employers party to such agreement. Agreements among the membersshall be subject to approval by the State Corporation Commission; however, nosuch agreement nor membership in a group self-insurance association shallrelieve an employer of the liabilities imposed by this title with respect tohis employees. In addition to the rights of the association under suchagreements, in the event of failure of the association to enforce such rightsafter reasonable notice to the association, the State Corporation Commissionshall have the right independently to enforce on behalf of the associationthe joint and several liability of its members under this title and theliability of members for any unpaid contributions and assessments. The StateCorporation Commission shall be entitled to recover its expenses andattorneys' fees.
D. Any person, firm, or corporation desiring to engage in the business ofproviding services for a group self-insurance association shall satisfy theState Corporation Commission of its ability to perform the services necessaryto fulfill the employer's obligations under this title before it undertakesto provide such services to any group self-insurance association. The StateCorporation Commission may from time to time review and alter any decisionapproving an employer as a member of a group or its approval of a group or ofan agency servicing a group. The State Corporation Commission may in itsdiscretion require the deposit of an acceptable security, indemnity, or bondor the purchase of such excess insurance or the ceding of reinsurance on aspecific or aggregate excess of loss basis as may be required by thecircumstances.
E. The State Corporation Commission may establish reasonable requirements andstandards for the approval of a group self-insurance association and theadministration of such associations including, without limitation, thequality, amount and accounting of security deposits, bonds, excess insuranceand reinsurance, the membership in any group self-insurance association, theamount of advance payments and reserves required of group self-insuranceassociations, the investment of such funds, the form and content of financialinformation to be submitted by a group self-insurance association and thefrequency of such submissions, and the terms of agreements between members ofa group self-insurance association. The State Corporation Commission may,after notice and hearing, embody such requirements and standards and suchother requirements as may be reasonably necessary for the purposes of thissection in regulations; however, any group self-insurance associationentering into a reinsurance transaction pursuant to the provisions of thissection shall be deemed an insurer for purposes of such transaction and shallbe subject to Article 3.1 (§ 38.2-1316.1 et seq.) of Chapter 13 of Title 38.2.
F. Notwithstanding any provision of this title to the contrary, each licensedgroup self-insurance association shall be assessed annually by the StateCorporation Commission in like manner and amount to that provided by Chapter4 (§ 38.2-400 et seq.) of Title 38.2 and shall pay such assessment inaccordance with the aforesaid provisions of law; however, for the purposes ofsuch assessment "direct gross premium income" of a licensed groupself-insurance association shall be the aggregate of the amounts determinedto be subject to the tax imposed by § 65.2-1006 on each employer member ofsuch association.
G. Notwithstanding the provisions of § 49-25, neither the State CorporationCommission nor any other entity or person, as obligee under any surety bondrequired under this section or any regulation adopted hereunder, shall berequired to institute suit against an association as a condition precedent tothe surety's performance under the bond.
(1979, c. 463, § 65.1-104.2; 1988, c. 365; 1990, c. 306; 1991, c. 355; 1994,cc. 333, 408.)