SB 115: "An Act defining portable electronics insurance and authorizing the director of insurance to issue a limited producer license to a person that sells portable electronics insurance."
00 SENATE BILL NO. 115 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 21.12 is amended by adding a new section to read: 06 Sec. 21.12.140. Portable electronics insurance defined. (a) Portable 07 electronics insurance is insurance offered, issued for delivery, delivered, or renewed 08 by a vendor engaged in the business of selling, leasing, or servicing portable electronic 09 devices to cover the loss, theft, mechanical failure, malfunction, damage, repair, or 10 replacement of a small electronic device, including a cell phone, laptop computer, 11 GPS device, radio, portable music player, or associated accessory. 12 (b) Portable electronics insurance may be offered, issued for delivery, issued, 13 or renewed only if the insurer provides customers with written material stating 14 (1) the terms of the insurance, including
01 (A) the cost of the insurance; 02 (B) the identity of the insurer; 03 (C) the identity of the seller, lessor, or servicer offering or 04 selling the portable electronics insurance; 05 (D) the amount of the premium; 06 (E) the time period for which the policy is effective; 07 (F) deductible amounts, and how the deductible is to be paid; 08 (G) the policy terms for terminating or modifying coverage; 09 (H) exclusions, conditions, or limitations to coverage; 10 (I) the process for filing a claim; 11 (J) requirements for returning a device to the vendor or insurer, 12 including related costs; 13 (K) proof of loss requirements; 14 (2) under what conditions the portable electronic device may be 15 repaired or replaced by the insurer in response to a claim; 16 (3) under what conditions reconditioned devices or nonoriginal 17 manufacturer parts and equipment may be used by the insurer in response to a claim; 18 (4) that the insurance offered may duplicate coverage in a 19 homeowner's, renter's, or other similar insurance policy; 20 (5) that the customer is not obligated to purchase insurance to 21 purchase, lease, or service a portable electronic device; 22 (6) that the customer may cancel the insurance policy at any time and 23 receive a refund based on a proration of the premium amount for the time period 24 specified in the policy and the time that the policy was effective; and 25 (7) the benefits of purchasing the insurance. 26 (c) Portable electronics insurance may be offered as a group or master policy 27 issued to a seller, lessor, or servicer under which an individual customer may elect to 28 enroll for coverage. The insurer offering coverage under a group or master policy shall 29 establish eligibility and underwriting standards for customers electing to enroll in 30 coverage for each portable electronics insurance group or master policy. 31 (d) Portable electronics insurance may be offered as commercial inland marine
01 insurance. 02 (e) A premium for portable electronics insurance may be billed and collected 03 by the seller, lessor, or servicer of portable electronics. The premium must be itemized 04 separately from the charges for the purchase, lease, or service of a portable electronics 05 device. Sellers, lessors, or servicers collecting premiums for portable electronics 06 insurance are not required to maintain premiums in a segregated account if the seller, 07 lessor, or servicer is authorized by the producer or insurer to hold premiums in an 08 alternative manner and pays the premiums to the insurer within 60 days after receipt. 09 Premiums received by a seller, lessor, or servicer from a customer purchasing portable 10 electronics insurance shall be held in a fiduciary capacity for the benefit of the insurer. 11 A seller, lessor, or servicer may receive compensation for billing and collection 12 services. 13 (f) In this section, "portable electronics insurance" does not include 14 (1) a service contract governed by AS 21.03.021(e); 15 (2) a policy of insurance covering a seller's or a manufacturer's 16 obligations under a warranty; or 17 (3) a homeowner's, renter's, private passenger automobile, commercial 18 multiperil, or similar policy that covers loss or theft of portable electronics. 19 * Sec. 2. AS 21.27.060(d) is amended to read: 20 (d) This section does not apply to an applicant 21 (1) for a limited license under AS 21.27.150(a)(1), (4), [OR] (5), or 22 (8); or 23 (2) who, at any time within the one-year period immediately preceding 24 the date the current pending application is received by the division, had been licensed 25 in good standing in this state under a license requiring substantially similar 26 qualifications as required by the license applied for. 27 * Sec. 3. AS 21.27.150(a) is amended to read: 28 (a) The director may issue a 29 (1) travel insurance limited producer license to a person who is 30 appointed under AS 21.27.100 and who sells insurance connected with transportation 31 provided by a common carrier, and limited to a specific trip, that covers
01 (A) trip cancellation; 02 (B) trip interruption; or 03 (C) life, health, disability, or personal effects; 04 (2) title insurance limited producer license to a person whose place of 05 business is located in this state and whose sole purpose is to be appointed by and act 06 on behalf of a title insurer; 07 (3) bail bond limited producer license to a person who is appointed by 08 and acts on behalf of a surety insurer pertaining to bail bonds; 09 (4) motor vehicle rental agency limited producer license to a person 10 and, subject to the approval of the director, to employees of the person licensed that 11 the licensee authorizes to transact the business of insurance on the licensee's behalf if, 12 as to an employee, the licensee complies with (D) of this paragraph and if the licensee 13 (A) rents to others, without operators, 14 (i) private passenger motor vehicles, including 15 passenger vans, minivans, and sport utility vehicles; or 16 (ii) cargo motor vehicles, including cargo vans, pickup 17 trucks, and trucks with a gross vehicle weight of less than 26,000 18 pounds that do not require the operator to possess a commercial driver's 19 license; 20 (B) rents motor vehicles only to persons under rental 21 agreements that do not exceed a term of 90 days; 22 (C) transacts only the following kinds of insurance: 23 (i) motor vehicle liability insurance with respect to 24 liability arising out of the use of a vehicle rented from the licensee 25 during the term of the rental agreement; 26 (ii) uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage, with 27 minimum limits described in AS 21.96.020(c) and (d) arising from the 28 use of a vehicle rented from the licensee during the term of the rental 29 agreement; 30 (iii) insurance against medical, hospital, surgical, and 31 disability benefits to an injured person and funeral and death benefits to
01 dependents, beneficiaries, or personal representatives of a deceased 02 person if the insurance is issued as incidental coverage with or 03 supplemental to liability insurance and arises out of the use of a vehicle 04 rented from the licensee during the term of the rental agreement; 05 (iv) personal effects insurance, including loss of use, 06 with respect to damage to or loss of personal property of a person 07 renting the vehicle and other vehicle occupants while that property is 08 being loaded into, transported by, or unloaded from a vehicle rented 09 from the licensee during the term of the rental agreement; 10 (v) towing and roadside assistance with respect to 11 vehicles rented from the licensee during the term of the rental 12 agreement; and 13 (vi) other insurance as may be authorized by regulation 14 by the director; 15 (D) notifies the director in writing, within 30 days of 16 employment, of the name, date of birth, social security number, location of 17 employment, and home address of an employee authorized by the licensee to 18 transact insurance on the licensee's behalf; and 19 (E) provides other information as required by the director; 20 (5) nonresident limited producer license to a person; a license that the 21 director issues under this paragraph grants the same scope of authority as a limited 22 lines producer license issued to the person by the person's home state; 23 (6) credit insurance limited producer license to a person who sells 24 limited lines credit insurance; 25 (7) miscellaneous limited producer license to a person who transacts 26 insurance in this state that restricts the person's authority to less than the total authority 27 for a line of authority described in AS 21.27.115(1) - (6), (8), and (9); 28 (8) portable electronics limited producer license to a person or 29 vendor that sells or offers portable electronics insurance as defined in 30 AS 21.12.140; a person holding a portable electronics limited producer license 31 issued under this paragraph may authorize an employee or authorized
01 representative of a seller, lessor, or servicer of portable electronics to transact 02 portable electronics insurance, and the employee or authorized representative 03 may transact portable electronics insurance and is not required to obtain a 04 limited producer license if 05 (A) the seller's, lessor's, or servicer's business obtains a 06 limited lines license to authorize its employees or authorized 07 representatives to sell or offer portable electronics insurance; 08 (B) the insurer issuing the portable electronics insurance 09 provides a training program for employees and authorized representatives 10 of the portable electronics limited producer licensee that includes 11 instruction about the portable electronics insurance offered to customers 12 and the disclosures required under AS 21.12.140; 13 (C) the portable electronics insurance limited producer 14 licensee maintains a register of each employee or authorized 15 representative of the portable electronics limited producer licensee that 16 includes the name, date of birth, location of employment, and home 17 address of each employee authorized by the licensee to transact insurance 18 on the licensee's behalf, and submits the register within 30 days after the 19 director requests the register; and 20 (D) the portable electronics insurance limited producer 21 licensee certifies that the licensed portable electronics limited producer 22 and its employees or authorized representatives are in compliance with 18 23 U.S.C. 1033.