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Public Act 095-0334
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| SB0555 Enrolled |
LRB095 09976 KBJ 30189 b |
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AN ACT concerning insurance.
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Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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represented in the General Assembly:
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Section 5. The Illinois Insurance Code is amended by |
changing Sections 803.1 and 805.1 as follows:
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(215 ILCS 5/803.1)
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Sec. 803.1. Establishment of Fund.
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(a) There is established a fund to be known as the |
"Illinois Mine Subsidence
Insurance Fund". The Fund shall |
operate pursuant to this Article. The Fund is
authorized to |
transact business, provide services, enter into contracts and |
sue
or be sued in its own name.
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(b) The Fund shall provide reinsurance for mine subsidence |
losses to all
insurers writing mine subsidence insurance |
pursuant to this Article.
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(c) The monies in the Fund shall be derived from premiums |
for mine
subsidence
insurance collected on behalf of the Fund |
pursuant to this Article, from
investment income and from |
receipt of Federal or State funds. No insurer shall
have any |
liability to the Fund or to any creditor of the Fund, except as |
may be
set forth in this Article, in the Articles of Governance |
which may be adopted
by the Fund, in a reinsurance agreement |
executed pursuant to Section 810.1,
in
the Plan of Operation |
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established by the Fund, or in the rules and procedures
adopted |
by the Fund as authorized by the reinsurance agreement.
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(d) The Fund shall establish its
the rates, rating |
schedules, deductibles and
retentions, minimum premiums,
and |
classifications, and the maximum amount of reinsurance |
available per residence, commercial building, and living unit |
for mine subsidence insurance which the Fund shall file
with |
the Director. The Director shall have 30 days from the
date of
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receipt to approve or disapprove a rate filing. If no action is |
taken by the
Director within 30 days, the rate is deemed to be |
approved. The
Director
may, in writing, extend the period for |
an additional 30 days if
the
Director
determines that |
additional time is needed.
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(e) The Fund shall establish its rates, rating schedules, |
deductibles and
retentions, minimum premiums,
classifications, |
and the maximum amount of reinsurance available per residence, |
commercial building, and living unit
and classification in such |
a manner as to satisfy all reasonably foreseeable
claims and |
expenses the Fund is likely to incur. The Fund shall give due
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consideration to loss experience and relevant trends, premium |
and other income
and reasonable reserves established for |
contingencies in establishing the mine
subsidence rates.
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(f) The Fund shall compile and publish an annual operating |
report.
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(g) The Fund shall develop at least 2 consumer information |
publications to
aid the public in understanding mine subsidence |
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and mine subsidence insurance
and shall establish a schedule |
for the distribution of the publications
pursuant
to the |
reinsurance agreement. Topics that shall be addressed shall |
include but
are not limited to:
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(1) Descriptive information about mine subsidence, and |
what benefits mine
subsidence insurance provides to the |
property owner.
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(2) Information that will be useful to a policyholder |
who has filed a mine
subsidence claim, such as information |
that explains the claim investigation
process and claim |
handling procedures.
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(h) The Fund shall be empowered to conduct research |
programs in an effort to
improve the administration of the mine |
subsidence insurance program and help
reduce and mitigate mine |
subsidence losses consistent with the public
interest.
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(i) The Fund may enter into reinsurance agreements with any
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intergovernmental cooperative that provides joint |
self-insurance for mine
subsidence losses of its members. These |
reinsurance agreements shall be
substantially similar to |
reinsurance agreements described in Section 810.1.
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(Source: P.A. 90-499, eff. 8-19-97; 91-357, eff. 7-29-99.)
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(215 ILCS 5/805.1)
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Sec. 805.1. Mine Subsidence Coverage.
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(a) Beginning January 1, 1994, every policy issued or |
renewed insuring a
residence on a direct basis shall include, |
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at a separately stated premium,
residential coverage unless |
waived in writing by the insured. Beginning
January 1, 1994, |
every policy issued or renewed insuring a commercial building
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on a direct basis shall include at a separately stated premium, |
commercial
coverage unless waived in writing by the insured. |
Beginning January 1, 1994,
every policy issued or renewed |
insuring a living unit on a direct basis shall
include, at a |
separately stated premium, living unit coverage unless waived |
in
writing by the insured.
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(b) If the insured has previously waived mine subsidence |
coverage in
writing,
the insurer or agent need not offer mine |
subsidence coverage in any renewal or
supplementary policy in |
connection with a policy previously issued to such
insured by |
the same insurer, unless the insured subsequently makes a |
written
request for mine subsidence coverage.
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(c) The premium charged for residential, commercial or |
living unit coverage
shall be the
premium level set by the |
Fund. The loss covered shall be the loss in excess of
the |
deductible or retention established by the Fund and contained |
in a
mine subsidence endorsement to the policy. For all |
policies issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2008, the |
reinsured loss per residence, per commercial building, and per |
living unit shall be the amounts established by the Fund and |
approved by the Director.
For all policies issued
or renewed on |
or after January 1, 1994, the reinsured loss shall not exceed
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$350,000 per residence, $350,000 per commercial building or |
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$15,000 per living
unit.
For all policies issued or renewed on |
or after January 1, 1996, the amount of
reinsurance available |
from the Fund shall not be less than $200,000 per
residence, |
$200,000 per commercial building, or $15,000 per living unit. |
The
Fund may, from time to time, adjust the amount of |
reinsurance available as long
as the minimum set by this |
Section is met.
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(d) The residential coverage provided pursuant to this |
Article may also
cover
the additional living expenses |
reasonably and necessarily incurred by the owner
of a residence |
who has been temporarily displaced as the direct result of
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damage to the residence caused by mine subsidence if the |
underlying policy also
covers this type of loss, provided |
however, that the loss covered under living
unit coverage shall |
be limited to losses to improvements
and betterments, and |
reimbursement of additional living expenses and
assessments |
made against the insured on account of mine subsidence loss.
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(e) The total amount of the loss reimbursable to an insurer |
shall be limited
to the amount of
insurance reinsured by the |
Fund in force at the time when the damage first
becomes |
reasonably observable. All damage caused by a single mine |
subsidence
event or several subsidence events which are |
continuous shall constitute one
occurrence.
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(f) No insurer shall be required to offer mine subsidence |
coverage in
excess of the reinsured limits.
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(Source: P.A. 88-379; 89-206, eff. 7-21-95.)
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