Chap. 428.—An ACT to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a new section, num-
bered 4227-b, to require certain kinds of insurance companies and other insurers
to file, with the State Corporation Commission, certain forms, pertaining to the
business of writing certain kinds of insurance in Virginia; to provide for certain
action to be had relative thereto; and to impose penalties. [H B 395]

Approved April 6, 1942

1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia, That the
Code of Virginia be amended by adding a new section, numbered forty-
two hundred and twenty-seven-b, as follows: :

Section 4227-b. (a) The word “person” as used in this section
means, unless the context clearly indicates the contrary, any person, com-
pany, corporation, association or other insurer, whether stock, mutual, or
other type or form of insurance organization, except reciprocal, or inter-
insurers. | a

(b) Every person now authorized to write, and every person here-
after licensed, or applying for a license, to write, in this State, motor
vehicle liability insurance policies or motor vehicle property insurance
policies on risks located in this State insuring (1) against loss or damage
resulting from accident to, or injury suffered by, any person, and for
which the person insured is liable; (2) against loss by liability for damage
to property resulting from the ownership, maintenance, or use of any
motor driven vehicle; (3) against loss of, or damage to, any motor driven
vehicle, shall file, with the commission, in the same manner as rates for
such classes of risks are directed to be filed, and are filed, in pursuance
of the several insurance rating laws of this State, within thirty days from
the effective date of this act, and in case of any change in, or new, filing
thereafter, or in case of filing by any future applicant or licensee, before
use thereof in Virginia can be properly made, copies of all forms of insur-
ance policies, endorsements, riders, clauses, permits, and other forms,
now in use or proposed to be used, by such person in connection with the
insurance of such risks located in this State. sot

(c) The commission, within thirty days from the date of such
filing as hereinbefore provided, shall approve, in writing, such policy
form, endorsement, rider, clause, permit, or other form for use in this
State if it shall find that the filing is not in violation of the laws of Vir-
ginia, or inconsistent with any rules and regulations lawfully made in
pursuance thereof. If the commission shall not so find, it shall disapprove
such filing, provided that, in the case of filings of such forms being so
used in this State on the effective date of this act, such disapproval shall
not become effective until the expiration of a period of thirty days from
the date of forwarding of notice to such effect, and thereafter it shall be
unlawful to use such form in connection with the insuring of risks located
in this State. In the event such filing be disapproved, the commission shall
immediately notify the person filing the form so disapproved to: such
effect by registered mail, return receipt requested, and such notice shall
be accompanied by a brief statement of reasons therefor. However, such
statement of reasons shall not preclude a reliance upon other grounds of
disapproval in event of hearing. The person making such filing, in the
cHs. 428, 429] ACTS OF ASSEMBLY 691

event of disapproval thereof, shall be entitled to a hearing upon request
therefor duly presented to the commission.

. (d) Any person who commits any act hereby declared to be unlaw-
ful, or who fails or refuses to comply with any requirement hereof, shall
be subject to a fine of not less than ten dollars ($10.00) nor more than
one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) for each offense, and each day of such
failure or refusal shall be deemed a separate offense hereunder, such fine
to be imposed by the commission; and the commission shall have the
authority, independent of or cumulative with the imposition of such fine,
to suspend or revoke the license of any person violating any provision of
this act, all after due notice and full hearing.

- (e) This act shall be construed liberally so as to accomplish the
manifest objects hereof and of all existing or future laws under which
the commission has been, or in the future is, empowered to approve or
prescribe insurance rates, rules and regulations; provided that nothing
in this act shall affect any contract of insurance in force on the effective
date hereof. , |