GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1999

 

 

SESSION LAW 1999-365

SENATE BILL 394

 

 

AN ACT TO ALLOW PREMIUMS FOR INSURANCE COVERAGE TO BE PAID BY CREDIT CARD.

 

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

 

Section 1.  G.S. 58-3-145 reads as rewritten:

"§ 58-3-145.  Solicitation, negotiation or payment of premiums on insurance policies through credit card facilities prohibited; exceptions. policies.

Except as otherwise provided herein, no authorized insurer and no representative of such insurer or insurance broker shall employ or avail itself of the facilities of any person, firm or corporation engaged in the credit card business to solicit or negotiate any contract of insurance upon any life or risk within the State of North Carolina, or accept the payment of premiums upon a policy of insurance, insuring any life or risk in the State of North Carolina, through the use of any credit card facility.  Except as otherwise provided herein, no person, firm or corporation engaged in the business of extending credit through a credit card system shall, on behalf of any insurer, its representative or any insurance broker, utilize his or its credit card facilities to solicit for, negotiate contracts of insurance or accept the payment of premiums upon any contract of insurance from credit card holders or prospective credit card holders who reside in this State.  The solicitation for and the negotiation of policies of insurance prohibited by this section shall include, but shall not be limited to, the transmittal of applications for insurance, premium rate schedules, circulars, letters or sales literature pertaining to insurance to credit card holders or prospective credit card holders who reside in this State.  Credit card business as used in this section shall mean the business of extending credit to persons who are holders of credit cards issued by the credit card facility or organization entitling the holder to pay charges for purchases or other transactions through the use of credit card facilities.

Nothing in this section shall prohibit an authorized insurer, the representative of such insurer, or an insurance broker from accepting payment of an insurance premium through a credit card facility provided and operated by a banking corporation principally domiciled in this State and doing business under the laws of the State of North Carolina or the United States.  No such bank shall be prohibited from making such credit card facility available for this limited purpose, provided, that all records relating to the payment of insurance premiums through such credit card facility are maintained within the State of North Carolina.

Nothing in this section shall prohibit an authorized insurer, the representative of such insurer, or an insurance broker from notifying its or his customers or prospective customers through means other than credit card facilities of the availability of credit card facilities for the payment of insurance premiums.

Nothing in this section shall prohibit any authorized insurer qualified to do business in the State of North Carolina pursuant to the provisions of Articles 1 through 64 of this Chapter, and any representative of such insurer or insurance broker, from employing or availing itself of the facilities of any person, firm or corporation engaged in the business of extending credit through a credit card system for the limited purposes of soliciting for or negotiating any contract of travel accident insurance upon any life or risk within the State of North Carolina arising from travel, including but not limited to airline flight insurance, or accepting the payment of premiums thereon, through the use of any credit card facility.  Nor shall anything in this section prohibit any person, firm or corporation engaged in the business of extending credit through a credit card system on behalf of any insurer, its representative or any insurance broker, from utilizing his or its credit card facilities for the limited purposes of soliciting for or negotiating contracts of travel accident insurance, including but not limited to airline flight insurance, or accepting the payment of premiums thereon, from credit card holders or prospective credit card holders who reside in this State.

An insurer, agent, or broker may accept payment of an insurance premium by credit card if the insurer accepting payment by credit card meets the following conditions:

(1)       The insurer makes payment by credit card available to all existing and prospective insureds and does not limit the use of credit card payments to certain persons.

(2)       The insurer pays the fees charged by the credit card company for the payment of premiums by credit card."

Section 2.  G.S. 58-57-105(a) reads as rewritten:

"(a)      Notwithstanding G.S. 58-3-145, credit Credit card facilities may be used for the solicitation, negotiation, or payment of premiums for credit insurance on the unpaid balance of any credit card account. account pursuant to G.S. 58-3-145.  Solicitation or negotiation for credit insurance on credit card account balances may not be made by unsolicited telephone calls or facsimile transmissions."

Section 3.  This act becomes effective October 1, 1999.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 19th day of July, 1999.

 

 

s/   Dennis A. Wicker

President of the Senate

 

 

s/   James B. Black

Speaker of the House of Representatives

 

 

s/   James B. Hunt, Jr.

Governor

 

 

Approved 8:29 p.m. this 4th day of August, 1999