This chapter shall be known and may be cited as "The Insurance Premium Finance Company Act".

As used in this chapter:

(1) "Insurance premium finance company" means a person engaged in the business of entering into insurance premium finance agreements.

(2) "Premium finance agreement" means an agreement by which an insured or prospective insured promises to pay to a premium finance company the amount advanced or to be advanced under the agreement to an insurer or to an insurance producer in payment of premiums on an insurance contract together with a service charge as authorized and limited by this chapter and as security therefor the insurance premium finance company receives an assignment of the unearned premium.

(3) "Licensee" means a premium finance company holding a license issued by the insurance commissioner under this chapter.

Severability—Effective date—2008 c 217: See notes following RCW 48.03.020.

(1) No person shall engage in the business of financing insurance premiums in the state without first having obtained a license as a premium finance company from the commissioner. Any person who shall engage in the business of financing insurance premiums in the state without obtaining a license as provided hereunder shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be subject to the penalties provided in this chapter.

(2)(a) Application to the commissioner for the license shall be made on forms furnished by the commissioner. As part of, or in connection with, this application, the applicant and, at the commissioner's discretion, any or all stockholders, directors, partners, officers, and employees of the business shall furnish information concerning his or her identity, including fingerprints for submission to the Washington state patrol, the federal bureau of investigation, and any governmental agency or entity authorized to receive this information for a state and national criminal history background check; personal history; experience; business records; purposes; and other pertinent information, as the commissioner may reasonably require.

(b) The annual license fee shall be one hundred dollars. Licenses may be renewed from year to year as of the first day of May of each year upon payment of the fee of one hundred dollars. The fee for the license shall be paid to the insurance commissioner.

(3) The person to whom the license or the renewal may be issued shall file sworn answers, subject to the penalties of perjury, to such interrogatories as the commissioner may require. The commissioner shall have authority, at any time, to require the applicant to disclose fully the identity of all stockholders, directors, partners, officers, and employees and may, in his or her discretion, refuse to issue or renew a license in the name of any firm, partnership, or corporation if he or she finds that any officer, employee, stockholder, or partner who may materially influence the applicant's conduct does not meet the standards of this chapter.

(4) This section shall not apply to any savings and loan association, bank, trust company, consumer loan company, industrial loan company or credit union authorized to do business in this state but RCW 48.56.080 through 48.56.130 and any rules adopted by the commissioner pertaining to such sections shall be applicable to such organizations, if otherwise eligible, under all premium finance transactions wherein an insurance policy, other than a life or disability insurance policy, or any rights thereunder is made the security or collateral for the repayment of the debt, however, neither this section nor the provisions of this chapter shall be applicable to the inclusion of insurance in a retail installment transaction or to insurance purchased in connection with a real estate transaction, mortgage, deed of trust, or other security instrument or an insurance company authorized to do business in this state unless the insurance company elects to become a licensee.

(5) If in the process of verifying fingerprints under subsection (2) of this section, business records, or other information the commissioner's office incurs fees or charges from another governmental agency or from a business firm, the amount of the fees or charges shall be paid to the commissioner's office by the applicant.

Effective date—2002 c 227: See note following RCW 48.06.040.

(1) Upon the filing of an application and the payment of the license fee the commissioner shall make an investigation of each applicant and shall issue a license if the applicant is qualified in accordance with this chapter. If the commissioner does not so find, he or she shall, within thirty days after he or she has received such application, at the request of the applicant, give the applicant a full hearing.

(2) The commissioner shall issue or renew a license as may be applied for when he or she is satisfied that the person to be licensed—

(a) is competent and trustworthy and intends to act in good faith in the capacity involved by the license applied for,

(b) has a good business reputation and has had experience, training, or education so as to be qualified in the business for which the license is applied for, and

(c) if a corporation, is a corporation incorporated under the laws of the state or a foreign corporation authorized to transact business in the state.

(1) The commissioner may revoke or suspend the license of any premium finance company when and if after investigation it appears to the commissioner that—

(a) any license issued to such company was obtained by fraud,

(b) there was any misrepresentation in the application for the license,

(c) the holder of such license has otherwise shown himself or herself untrustworthy or incompetent to act as a premium finance company, or

(d) such company has violated any of the provisions of this chapter.

(2) Before the commissioner shall revoke, suspend, or refuse to renew the license of any premium finance company, he or she shall give to such person an opportunity to be fully heard and to introduce evidence in his or her behalf. In lieu of revoking or suspending the license for any of the causes enumerated in this section, after hearing as herein provided, the commissioner may subject such company to a penalty of not more than two hundred dollars for each offense when in his or her judgment he or she finds that the public interest would not be harmed by the continued operation of such company. The amount of any such penalty shall be paid by such company through the office of the commissioner to the state treasurer. At any hearing provided by this section, the commissioner shall have authority to administer oaths to witnesses. Anyone testifying falsely, after having been administered such oath, shall be subject to the penalty of perjury.

(3) If the commissioner refuses to issue or renew any license or if any applicant or licensee is aggrieved by any action of the commissioner, said applicant or licensee shall have the right to a hearing and court proceeding as provided by statute.

(1) Every licensee shall maintain records of its premium finance transactions and the said records shall be open to examination and investigation by the commissioner. The commissioner may at any time require any licensee to bring such records as he or she may direct to the commissioner's office for examination.

(2) Every licensee shall preserve its records of such premium finance transactions, including cards used in a card system, for at least three years after making the final entry in respect to any premium finance agreement. The preservation of records in photographic form shall constitute compliance with this requirement.

The commissioner shall have authority to make and enforce such reasonable rules and regulations as may be necessary in making effective the provisions of this chapter, but such rules and regulations shall not be contrary to nor inconsistent with the provisions of this chapter.

(1) A premium finance agreement shall:

(a) Be dated, signed by or on behalf of the insured, and the printed portion thereof shall be in at least eight point type;

(b) Contain the name and place of business of the insurance producer negotiating the related insurance contract, the name and residence or the place of business of the premium finance company to which payments are to be made, a description of the insurance contracts involved and the amount of the premium therefor; and

(c) Set forth the following items where applicable:

(i) The total amount of the premiums;

(ii) The amount of the down payment;

(iii) The principal balance (the difference between items (i) and (ii));

(iv) The amount of the service charge;

(v) The balance payable by the insured (sum of items (iii) and (iv)); and

(vi) The number of installments required, the amount of each installment expressed in dollars, and the due date or period thereof.

(2) The items set out in subsection (1)(c) of this section need not be stated in the sequence or order in which they appear in that subsection, and additional items may be included to explain the computations made in determining the amount to be paid by the insured.

(3) The information required by subsection (1) of this section shall only be required in the initial agreement where the premium finance company and the insured enter into an open end credit transaction, which is defined as follows: A plan prescribing the terms of credit transactions which may be made thereunder from time to time and under the terms of which a finance charge may be computed on the outstanding unpaid balance from time to time thereunder.

(4) A copy of the premium finance agreement shall be given to the insured at the time or within ten days of its execution, except where the application has been signed by the insured and all the finance charges are one dollar or less per payment. In addition, the premium finance company shall deliver or mail a copy of the premium finance agreement or notice identifying policy, insured, and insurance producer to each insurer that has premiums involved in the transaction, within thirty days of the execution of the premium finance agreement.

(5) It shall be illegal for a premium finance company to offset funds of an insurance producer with funds belonging to an insured. Premiums advanced by a premium finance company are funds belonging to the insured and shall be held in a fiduciary relationship.

Severability—Effective date—2008 c 217: See notes following RCW 48.03.020.

(1) A premium finance company shall not charge, contract for, receive, or collect a service charge other than as permitted by this chapter.

(2) The service charge is to be computed on the balance of the premiums due (after subtracting the down payment made by the insured in accordance with the premium finance agreement) from the effective date of the insurance coverage, for which the premiums are being advanced, to and including the date when the final installment of the premium finance agreement is payable.

(3) The service charge shall be a maximum of ten dollars per one hundred dollars per year plus an acquisition charge of ten dollars per premium finance agreement which need not be refunded upon cancellation or prepayment.

A premium finance agreement may provide for the payment by the insured of a delinquency charge of one dollar to a maximum of five percent of the delinquent installment that is in default for a period of five days or more except that if the loan is primarily for personal, family, or household purposes the delinquency charge shall not exceed five dollars.

If the default results in the cancellation of any insurance contract listed in the agreement, the agreement may provide for the payment by the insured of a cancellation charge equal to the difference between any delinquency charge imposed with respect to the installment in default and five dollars.

(1) When a premium finance agreement contains a power of attorney enabling the premium finance company to cancel any insurance contract or contracts listed in the agreement, the insurance contract or contracts shall not be canceled by the premium finance company unless such cancellation is effectuated in accordance with this section.

(2) Not less than ten days' written notice shall be mailed to the insured of the intent of the premium finance company to cancel the insurance contract unless the default is cured within such ten-day period.

(3) After expiration of such ten-day period, the premium finance company may thereafter request in the name of the insured, cancellation of such insurance contract or contracts by mailing to the insurer a notice of cancellation, and the insurance contract shall be canceled as if such notice of cancellation had been submitted by the insured himself or herself, but without requiring the return of the insurance contract or contracts. The premium finance company shall also mail a notice of cancellation to the insured at his or her last known address.

(4) All statutory, regulatory, and contractual restrictions providing that the insurance contract may not be canceled unless notice is given to a governmental agency, mortgagee, or other third party shall apply where cancellation is effected under the provisions of this section. The insurer shall give the prescribed notice in behalf of itself or the insured to any governmental agency, mortgagee, or other third party on or before the second business day after the day it receives the notice of cancellation from the premium finance company and shall determine the effective date of cancellation taking into consideration the number of days notice required to complete the cancellation.

(1) Whenever a financed insurance contract is canceled, the insurer shall return whatever gross unearned premiums are due under the insurance contract to the premium finance company for the account of the insured or insureds.

(2) In the event that the crediting of return premiums to the account of the insured results in a surplus over the amount due from the insured, the premium finance company shall refund such excess to the insured: PROVIDED, That no such refund shall be required if it amounts to less than one dollar.

No filing of the premium finance agreement shall be necessary to perfect the validity of such agreement as a secured transaction as against creditors, subsequent purchasers, pledgees, encumbrancers, successors, or assigns.

This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health and safety, the support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and shall take effect on the sixtieth day following passage by the legislature and submission to the governor for action.