612.36(1)(1)
General. Except as provided in
sub. (2), town mutuals are subject to
ch. 620 but shall be restricted as provided in
s. 620.03 (1) unless individually exempted by the commissioner under
s. 620.03 (2). In applying the restrictions of
ch. 620 all assets of town mutuals shall be treated as if they were required to satisfy the compulsory surplus requirement, except to the extent that the commissioner by rule determines otherwise.
612.36(2)
(2) Real estate. Section 620.23 (1) (c) does not apply to town mutuals. Except under
s. 620.21 (2), no town mutual may own real estate that in the aggregate exceeds, in value measured at cost, one mill on the dollar of the insurance in force.
612.36 History
History: 1973 c. 22;
1977 c. 339.
612.36 Annotation
Legislative Council Note, 1977: Sub. (2) continues in effect that portion of s. 201.24 (2) that applies to town mutuals. [Bill 258-S]
612.51(1)(1)
Approval required. No town mutual may use any policy form, including a rider, endorsement or special clause, nor any application form, unless it has been approved by the commissioner. The commissioner shall approve the form unless he or she finds:
612.51(1)(a)
(a) That it is inequitable, unfairly discriminatory, misleading, deceptive, obscure or encourages misrepresentation, including cases where the form:
612.51(1)(a)1.
1. Is misleading because its benefits are too restricted to achieve the purposes for which the policy is sold;
612.51(1)(a)2.
2. Contains provisions whose natural consequence is to obscure or lessen competition;
612.51(1)(a)4.
4. Is misleading, deceptive or obscure because of such physical aspects as format, typography, style, color, material or organization.
612.51(1)(b)
(b) That it provides benefits or contains other provisions that would endanger the solidity of the insurer;
612.51(1)(c)
(c) That in the case of the policy, though not of riders and endorsements, it fails to provide the exact name of the insurer and the full address of its home office; or
612.51(1)(d)
(d) That it violates a statute or a rule promulgated by the commissioner, or is otherwise contrary to law.
612.51(2)
(2) Rules. The commissioner may by rule prescribe forms to be used for policies, applications or for particular clauses.
612.51(3)
(3) Articles and bylaws. The articles and bylaws shall be attached to or clearly incorporated by reference in every policy issued by a town mutual. They may be incorporated by reference only if each new member is supplied a copy of them and each policy specifies how additional copies may be obtained.
612.51(4)
(4) Limited coverage. Recovery as to any or all items of personal property insured under a policy may be limited to a percentage of the value at the time of the loss, by a clearly expressed statement to that effect in that policy.
612.52
612.52
Undertaking to pay premiums and assessments. An applicant for insurance shall sign an undertaking agreeing to pay the advance premiums for any insurance on the applicant's behalf and any assessment which may be levied in accordance with the terms of the policy, the articles, the bylaws, the statutes, and the reasonable expenses of collecting the assessment and any reasonable penalties for nonpayment. The undertaking may provide that for such collection the applicant shall waive any exemptions otherwise applicable to the property covered by the policy.
612.53
612.53
Loss adjustment. 612.53(1)(1)
Rules. The commissioner may promulgate rules for loss adjustment procedures.
612.53(2)
(2) Administration of oaths by secretary. The secretary of a town mutual may, without compensation, administer oaths and take acknowledgments necessary to adjust claims against the town mutual.
612.53 History
History: 1973 c. 22.
612.54(1)(1)
Conditions for levying assessments. 612.54(1)(a)(a)
Mandatory assessments. The board of a town mutual shall levy an assessment whenever the amount of any loss or expense that is due exceeds the assets or whenever any required surplus is impaired.
612.54(1)(b)
(b)
Optional assessments. The board may at any time levy assessments as provided in the articles, for the purpose of paying losses or expenses, repaying borrowed money or creating a reasonable surplus.
612.54(2)
(2) Limitations on assessability. The commissioner may by order authorize a town mutual to limit assessability of policies to a multiple of the advance premium if the town mutual's surplus and business practices satisfy the commissioner of its solidity even with the limited assessability.
612.54(3)
(3) Classification. Assessments may be levied at the same rate on all members or according to a classification plan approved under
s. 612.34 (2). Assessments not exceeding the annual premium of the terminated policy may also be levied on persons whose membership has terminated within 4 months before the assessment, to pay losses incurred before the end of the month of termination of membership, to repay money borrowed to pay those losses and to pay other expenses.
612.54(4)
(4) Notice. Notice of any assessment shall be sent by mail to each person subject to it, at least 30 days prior to the date it is payable. The notice shall state:
612.54(4)(a)
(a) The rate of the assessment and the class of business or coverage to which it applies;
612.54(4)(c)
(c) The amount to be paid by the individual person;
612.54(4)(e)
(e) The person to whom payment is to be made; and
612.54(4)(f)
(f) The consequences of failure to pay, as provided in
sub. (5).
612.54(5)(a)(a)
Penalty. Every person who fails to pay his or her assessment within the time specified in the notice under
sub. (4) shall pay to the town mutual a penalty of 2% of the assessment for each week or part thereof during which the assessment remains unpaid, until the accumulated penalty equals 100% of the assessment. Thereafter the amount of the assessment and accumulated penalty shall bear interest at the legal rate.
612.54(5)(b)
(b)
Termination of coverage. If, at the time of a loss, any assessment any part of which is to cover losses or expenses already incurred under the same policy or under a previous policy covering the same property and the same insureds has remained unpaid in any part for 30 days after it is due, the loss shall not be paid except to a mortgagee under a mortgagee clause that provides for payment despite policy defenses. The policy shall also terminate after the loss. This paragraph shall apply only to any assessment some part of which is to cover incurred losses or expenses.
612.54(5)(c)
(c)
Enforcement. An assessment shall constitute a personal obligation of each member and payment may be enforced by appropriate action.
612.54(6)
(6) Notice to mortgagee. If losses under any policy are payable to a mortgagee despite default on an assessment and the assessment on the policy is not paid within the time specified in the notice to the member, the secretary shall, within 30 days after the expiration of such time, give like notice to the mortgagee. If the mortgagee pays the assessment within 20 days from the date of notice, the policy shall continue in force, as to the mortgagee's interest only, until the expiration of its regular term, subject to subsequent assessments of which the mortgagee is notified, and to cancellation by either party.
612.61
612.61
Licensing of agents. Persons soliciting insurance for town mutuals shall comply with
s. 628.05.
612.61 History
History: 1973 c. 22;
1975 c. 371.
612.61 Annotation
Legislative Council Note, 1975: Present s. 612.61 is replaced by s. 628.05, which is part of this act. The terms remain the same. It is preserved only as a cross reference to s. 628.05. [Bill 16-S]
612.70
612.70
Waiver of notice and informal action. Sections 181.0704,
181.0706,
181.0821 and
181.0823 apply to town mutuals.
Section 181.0821 applies to a committee of the board except that references to "board" shall be read as "committee".
612.70 History
History: 1973 c. 22;
1997 a. 79.
612.71
612.71
Organization of reinsurance corporations. 612.71(1)(1)
Town mutual reinsurance corporations. 612.71(1)(a)(a)
Organization. Fifteen or more town mutuals which together carry fire insurance with face amounts aggregating at least $200 million may, without complying with the requirements of
ch. 611, organize a mutual reinsurance corporation under this chapter. The provisions of this chapter relating to town mutuals shall apply to the reinsurance corporation except as otherwise provided or implied by the context.
612.71(1)(b)
(b)
Termination. Failure of a corporation organized under this section or already in existence on May 24, 1973 to continue compliance with the requirements of
par. (a) is a ground for liquidation under
s. 645.41.
612.71(2)
(2) Membership permitted. Any town mutual may apply for membership in any reinsurance corporation organized under this section.
612.71(3)
(3) Authorized business. A town mutual reinsurance corporation organized under
sub. (1) or already in existence may not do any business except reinsurance for town mutuals and business incidental thereto. It may only reinsure business required to be reinsured under
s. 612.33 (2) (b) if it satisfies the requirements of
ch. 611 for a corporation doing such business.
612.71 History
History: 1973 c. 22.
612.81
612.81
Register of deeds. No town mutual need file any corporate documents with any register of deeds for corporation law or regulatory purposes. All such documents held by registers of deeds on May 24, 1973, may be disposed of under
s. 59.43 (12) (b).
612.81 History
History: 1973 c. 22;
1995 a. 201.
