(215 ILCS 107/15)

Sec. 15. Minimum standards.

(a) Controlled insurers and controlling producers must comply with the provisions of this Section no later than 60 days after the effective date of this Act.

(b) Except as provided in subsection (c), this Section shall apply if, in any calendar year, the aggregate of gross written premium on business placed with a controlled insurer by a controlling producer is equal to or greater than 5% of the admitted assets of the controlled insurer as reported in the controlled insurer's annual statement filed as of December 31 of the prior year.

(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (b), this Section shall not apply if the following circumstances exist:

(1) the controlling producer (i) places insurance only with the controlled insurer or only with the controlled insurer and members of the controlled insurer's holding company system or the controlled insurer's parent, affiliate, or subsidiary and receives no compensation upon the amount of premiums written in connection with the insurance and (ii) accepts insurance placements only from nonaffiliated subproducers and not directly from insureds; and

(2) the controlled insurer, except for insurance business written through a residual market facility such as the Illinois Fair Plan, the Illinois Assigned Risk Plan for coverage under the Workers' Compensation Act and Workers' Occupational Diseases Act, and the Illinois Automobile Insurance Plan, accepts insurance business only from a controlling producer, a producer controlled by the controlled insurer, or a producer that is a subsidiary of the controlled insurer.

(d) A controlled insurer shall not accept business from a controlling producer and a controlling producer shall not place business with a controlled insurer unless: (i) there is a written contract between the controlling producer and the insurer specifying the responsibilities of each party, (ii) the contract has been approved by the board of directors of the insurer, and (iii) the contract contains, at a minimum, all of the following provisions:

(1) The controlled insurer may terminate the contract for cause upon written notice to the controlling producer. The controlled insurer must suspend the authority of the controlling producer to write business during the pendency of any dispute regarding the cause for the termination.

(2) The controlling producer must render accounts to the controlled insurer detailing all material transactions, including information necessary to support all commissions, charges, and other fees received by or owing to the controlling producer.

(3) The controlling producer must remit all funds due under the terms of the contract to the controlled insurer on at least a monthly basis. The due date must be fixed so that premiums or installments thereof collected shall be remitted no later than 90 days after the effective date of any policy placed with the controlled insurer.

(4) All funds collected for the controlled insurer's accounts shall be held by the controlling producer in a fiduciary capacity in one or more appropriately identified bank accounts in banks that are members of the Federal Reserve System in accordance with the provisions of the Illinois Insurance Code. However, funds of a controlling producer not required to be licensed in this State shall be maintained in compliance with the requirements of the controlling producer's domiciliary jurisdiction.

(5) The controlling producer must maintain separately identifiable records of business written for the controlled insurer.

(6) The contract may not be assigned in whole or in part by the controlling producer.

(7) The controlled insurer shall provide the controlling producer with its underwriting standards, rules and procedures, manuals setting forth the rates to be charged, and the conditions for the acceptance or rejection of risks. The controlling producer shall adhere to the standards, rules, procedures, rates, and conditions. The standards, rules, procedures, rates, and conditions must be the same as those applicable to comparable business placed with the controlled insurer by a producer other than the controlling producer.

(8) The contract shall establish rates and terms of the controlling producer's commissions, charges, or other fees and the purposes for those charges or fees. The rates of the commissions, charges, and other fees shall be no greater than those applicable to comparable business placed with the controlled insurer by producers other than controlling producers. For purposes of this paragraph and paragraph (7) of this subsection, examples of "comparable business" include the same lines of insurance, same kinds of insurance, same kinds of risks, similar policy limits, and similar quality of business.

(9) If the contract provides that the controlling producer is to be compensated on insurance business placed with the insurer contingent upon the insurer's profits on that business, then the compensation shall not be determined and paid until at least 5 years after the premiums on liability insurance are earned and at least one year after the premiums on any other insurance are earned. In no event shall the commissions be paid until the adequacy of the controlled insurer's reserves on remaining claims has been independently verified under subsection (e) of this Section.

(10) The contract shall establish a limit on the controlling producer's writings in relation to the controlled insurer's surplus and total writings. The insurer may establish a different limit for each line or sub-line of business. The controlled insurer shall notify the controlling producer when the applicable limit is approached and may not accept business from the controlling producer if the limit is reached. The controlling producer may not place business with the controlled insurer if it has been notified by the controlled insurer that the limit has been reached.

(11) The controlling producer may negotiate, but shall not bind, reinsurance on behalf of the controlled insurer on business the controlling producer places with the controlled insurer, except that the controlling producer may bind facultative reinsurance contracts under obligatory facultative agreements if the contract with the controlled insurer contains underwriting guidelines including, for both reinsurance assumed and ceded, a list of reinsurers with which those automatic agreements are in effect, the coverages and amounts or percentage that may be reinsured, and commission schedules.

(e) Every controlled insurer shall have an audit committee of the board of directors composed of independent directors. The audit committee shall meet annually with management, the insurer's independent certified public accountants, and an independent casualty actuary or other independent loss reserve specialist acceptable to the Director to review the adequacy of the insurer's loss reserves.

(f) In addition to any other required loss reserve certification, on April 1 of each year the controlled insurer shall file with the Director an opinion of an independent casualty actuary or another independent loss reserve specialist acceptable to the Director reporting loss ratios for each line of business written and attesting to the adequacy of loss reserves established for losses incurred and outstanding as of the end of the previous year including, but not limited to, losses incurred but not reported on business placed by the controlling producer. On April 1 of each year the insurer shall report to the Director (i) the amount of commissions paid to the controlling producer and the percentage of the net premiums written that amount represents and (ii) the amount of commissions paid to noncontrolling producers for placements of the same kinds of insurance and the percentage of the net premiums written that amount represents.

(Source: P.A. 87-1090.)