00 CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 115(L&C) 01 "An Act defining portable electronics insurance and authorizing the director of 02 insurance to issue a limited producer license to a person that sells portable electronics 03 insurance." 04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05  * Section 1. AS 21.03.021(e) is amended to read: 06 (e) This title does not apply to a service contract offered, issued for delivery, 07 delivered, or renewed in this state. In this subsection, "service contract" 08 (1) means a service contract or agreement for a separate or additional 09 consideration, for a specific duration, to 10 (A) maintain, service, repair, or replace tangible personal 11 property, or to indemnify for repair, replacement, or maintenance, for an 12 operational or structural failure due to a defect in materials or workmanship or 13 normal wear and tear, with or without additional provision for incidental 14 indemnity payments when service, repair, or replacement is not reasonably or 01 commercially feasible; 02 (B) repair, replace, or maintain tangible personal property 03 damaged as a result of power surges or as a result of accidental damage from 04 the handling of property damaged by power surges; or 05 (C) repair, replace, or maintain household consumer goods, 06 household appliances, and household systems, including damage resulting 07 from operational or structural failure due to a defect in materials or 08 workmanship or normal wear and tear; 09 (2) does not include 10 (A) mechanical breakdown insurance; 11 (B) a contract that requires an indemnity payment per incident 12 and the payment exceeds the purchase price of the property serviced; 13 (C) a contract to provide service on a motor vehicle subject to 14 registration under AS 28.10.011; [OR] 15 (D) a home warranty; in this subparagraph, "home warranty" 16 means a warranty that covers the entire home and does not include a warranty 17 limited to a household system or appliance; or  18 (E) portable electronics insurance as defined under  19 AS 21.36.515(f). 20  * Sec. 2. AS 21.27.060(d) is amended to read: 21 (d) This section does not apply to an applicant 22 (1) for a limited license under AS 21.27.150(a)(1), (4), [OR] (5), or  23 (8); or 24 (2) who, at any time within the one-year period immediately preceding 25 the date the current pending application is received by the division, had been licensed 26 in good standing in this state under a license requiring substantially similar 27 qualifications as required by the license applied for. 28  * Sec. 3. AS 21.27.150(a) is amended to read: 29 (a) The director may issue a 30 (1) travel insurance limited producer license to a person who is 31 appointed under AS 21.27.100 and who sells insurance connected with transportation 01 provided by a common carrier, and limited to a specific trip, that covers 02 (A) trip cancellation; 03 (B) trip interruption; or 04 (C) life, health, disability, or personal effects; 05 (2) title insurance limited producer license to a person whose place of 06 business is located in this state and whose sole purpose is to be appointed by and act 07 on behalf of a title insurer; 08 (3) bail bond limited producer license to a person who is appointed by 09 and acts on behalf of a surety insurer pertaining to bail bonds; 10 (4) motor vehicle rental agency limited producer license to a person 11 and, subject to the approval of the director, to employees of the person licensed that 12 the licensee authorizes to transact the business of insurance on the licensee's behalf if, 13 as to an employee, the licensee complies with (D) of this paragraph and if the licensee 14 (A) rents to others, without operators, 15 (i) private passenger motor vehicles, including 16 passenger vans, minivans, and sport utility vehicles; or 17 (ii) cargo motor vehicles, including cargo vans, pickup 18 trucks, and trucks with a gross vehicle weight of less than 26,000 19 pounds that do not require the operator to possess a commercial driver's 20 license; 21 (B) rents motor vehicles only to persons under rental 22 agreements that do not exceed a term of 90 days; 23 (C) transacts only the following kinds of insurance: 24 (i) motor vehicle liability insurance with respect to 25 liability arising out of the use of a vehicle rented from the licensee 26 during the term of the rental agreement; 27 (ii) uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage, with 28 minimum limits described in AS 21.96.020(c) and (d) arising from the 29 use of a vehicle rented from the licensee during the term of the rental 30 agreement; 31 (iii) insurance against medical, hospital, surgical, and 01 disability benefits to an injured person and funeral and death benefits to 02 dependents, beneficiaries, or personal representatives of a deceased 03 person if the insurance is issued as incidental coverage with or 04 supplemental to liability insurance and arises out of the use of a vehicle 05 rented from the licensee during the term of the rental agreement; 06 (iv) personal effects insurance, including loss of use, 07 with respect to damage to or loss of personal property of a person 08 renting the vehicle and other vehicle occupants while that property is 09 being loaded into, transported by, or unloaded from a vehicle rented 10 from the licensee during the term of the rental agreement; 11 (v) towing and roadside assistance with respect to 12 vehicles rented from the licensee during the term of the rental 13 agreement; and 14 (vi) other insurance as may be authorized by regulation 15 by the director; 16 (D) notifies the director in writing, within 30 days of 17 employment, of the name, date of birth, social security number, location of 18 employment, and home address of an employee authorized by the licensee to 19 transact insurance on the licensee's behalf; and 20 (E) provides other information as required by the director; 21 (5) nonresident limited producer license to a person; a license that the 22 director issues under this paragraph grants the same scope of authority as a limited 23 lines producer license issued to the person by the person's home state; 24 (6) credit insurance limited producer license to a person who sells 25 limited lines credit insurance; 26 (7) miscellaneous limited producer license to a person who transacts 27 insurance in this state that restricts the person's authority to less than the total authority 28 for a line of authority described in AS 21.27.115(1) - (6), (8), and (9);  29 (8) portable electronics limited producer license to a vendor that  30 sells or offers portable electronics insurance as defined in AS 21.36.515; a  31 portable electronics limited producer license issued under this paragraph must  01 authorize an employee or authorized representative of a licensee to transact  02 portable electronics insurance at each location at which a vendor offers portable  03 electronics to customers in this state, and the employee or authorized  04 representative may transact portable electronics insurance and is not required to  05 obtain a limited producer license if  06 (A) the employee or authorized representative is not  07 compensated based primarily on the number of customers enrolled for  08 coverage; however, an employee or authorized representative may receive  09 compensation for activities under the license that is incidental to their  10 overall compensation;  11 (B) the insurer issuing the portable electronics insurance  12 provides a training program for employees and authorized representatives  13 of the portable electronics limited producer licensee that includes  14 instruction about the portable electronics insurance offered to customers  15 and the disclosures required under AS 21.36.515;  16 (C) the portable electronics insurance limited producer  17 licensee maintains a register of each employee or authorized  18 representative of the portable electronics limited producer licensee that  19 includes the name, date of birth, location of employment, and home  20 address of each employee authorized by the licensee to transact insurance  21 on the licensee's behalf, and submits the register within 30 days after the  22 director requests the register; and  23 (D) the portable electronics insurance limited producer  24 licensee certifies that the licensed portable electronics limited producer  25 and its employees or authorized representatives are in compliance with 18  26 U.S.C. 1033. 27  * Sec. 4. AS 21.36 is amended by adding a new section to article 5 to read: 28 Sec. 21.36.515. Portable electronics insurance. (a) Portable electronics 29 insurance may be offered, issued for delivery, issued, or renewed only if the insurer 30 provides customers with written material stating 31 (1) the terms of the insurance, including 01 (A) the identity of the insurer; 02 (B) the identity of the vendor offering or selling the portable 03 electronics insurance; 04 (C) the amount of the premium to be paid by the customer; 05 (D) the time period for which the policy is effective; 06 (E) deductible amounts, and how the deductible is to be paid; 07 (F) the policy terms for terminating or modifying coverage; 08 (G) exclusions, conditions, or limitations to coverage; 09 (H) the process for filing a claim; 10 (I) requirements for returning a device to the vendor or insurer, 11 including related costs; 12 (J) proof of loss requirements; 13 (2) whether the portable electronic device may be repaired or replaced 14 by the insurer in response to a claim; 15 (3) whether reconditioned devices or nonoriginal manufacturer parts 16 and equipment may be used by the insurer in response to a claim; 17 (4) that the insurance offered may duplicate coverage in a 18 homeowner's, renter's, or other similar insurance policy; 19 (5) that the customer is not obligated to purchase insurance to 20 purchase, lease, or service a portable electronic device; 21 (6) that the customer may cancel the insurance policy at any time and 22 receive a refund based on a proration of the premium amount paid by the customer for 23 the time period specified in the policy and the time that the policy was effective; and 24 (7) the benefits of purchasing the insurance. 25 (b) Portable electronics insurance may be offered on a month-to-month or 26 other periodic basis as a group or master policy issued to a vendor under which an 27 individual customer may elect to enroll for coverage. The insurer offering coverage 28 under a group or master policy shall establish eligibility and underwriting standards 29 for customers electing to enroll in coverage for each portable electronics insurance 30 group or master policy. 31 (c) Portable electronics insurance may be offered as commercial inland marine 01 insurance. 02 (d) A premium for portable electronics insurance may be billed and collected 03 by the vendor of portable electronics. A charge to the customer for coverage that is not 04 included in the cost associated with the purchase or lease of portable electronics or 05 related services must be itemized separately from the charges for the purchase, lease, 06 or service of a portable electronics device. If the coverage is included with the 07 purchase or lease of portable electronics or related services, the vendor shall clearly 08 and conspicuously disclose to the consumer that the coverage is included with the 09 portable electronics or related services. Vendors collecting premiums for portable 10 electronics insurance are not required to maintain premiums in a segregated account if 11 the vendor is authorized by the producer or insurer to hold premiums in an alternative 12 manner and pays the premiums to the insurer within 60 days after receipt. Premiums 13 received by a vendor from a customer purchasing portable electronics insurance shall 14 be held in a fiduciary capacity for the benefit of the insurer. A vendor may receive 15 compensation for billing and collection services. 16 (e) A portable electronics insurance policy must set out the terms for 17 termination or modification. 18 (f) In this section, 19 (1) "portable electronics insurance" 20 (A) means insurance offered, issued for delivery, delivered, or 21 renewed by a vendor engaged in the business of selling, leasing, or servicing 22 portable electronic devices to cover the loss, theft, mechanical failure, 23 malfunction, damage, repair, or replacement of a small electronic device, 24 including a cell phone, laptop computer, GPS device, radio, portable music 25 player, or associated accessory; 26 (B) does not include 27 (i) a service contract governed by AS 21.03.021(e); 28 (ii) a policy of insurance covering a seller's or a 29 manufacturer's obligations under a warranty; or 30 (iii) a homeowner's, renter's, private passenger 31 automobile, commercial multiperil, or similar policy that covers loss or 01 theft of portable electronics; 02 (2) "vendor" means a business entity in the business of selling or 03 leasing portable electronics and related services and accessories.