Chap. 516.—An ACT to amend and reenact Section 4222 of the Code of Virginia
2 , relating to certain. insurance companies doing business iS atl
tate.

Approved April 5, 1948

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That section forty-two hundred twenty-two of the Code of
Virginia, as amended, be amended and reenacted as follows:

Section 4222. Insurance companies not to do business in Virginia
except through resident agents or agencies; countersignature; excep-
tion; discriminations prohibited; agents not to make agreements not
expressed in contracts; notice to companies to refrain from making
discrimination ; exceptions.—

- (a) Insurance companies, legally. authorized to do business in this
State, except life, title and ocean marine insurance companies, and except
any mutual fire insurance company conducting business exclusively in
this State and on a strictly mutual plan which pays its losses wholly from
assessments upon its members and makes no division or distribution of its.
earnings or profits among its members, shall not make contracts of
insurance or surety on persons or property herein except through regu-
larly constituted and registered resident agents or agencies of such
companies; no contract of insurance or surety covering persons or pro-
perty in this State, except contracts of life, title and ocean marine
insurance and except temporary binders covering other forms of insur-
ance shall be written, issued or delivered by any such authorized insur-
ance company, or any of its representatives, unless such contract is duly.
countersigned in writing by a resident agent or agency of such company ;
provided, however, that the countersignature of an insurance agency
shall not be considered valid unless such countersignature be attested to
in writing by a regularly constituted and registered resident agent of
such company; and provided further that nothing herein shall prevent
the use of a facsimile signature of a resident agent when used solely in
connection with personal accident insurance covering travel on a common
carrier issued through the medium of policy dispensing machines.

No State agent, special agent, company representative, salaried officer,
manager or other salaried representative of any legally authorized
insurance company, except a mutual insurance company, shall counter-
sign any contract of insurance or surety, or any renewal thereof, covering
persons or property in this State, except contracts of life, title and ocean
marine insurance; provided that this section shall not apply to railroad
companies and other common carriers engaged in interstate commerce.
Except in case of a mutual insurance company, no person shall con-
currently hold license as a special agent, State agent, or company repre-
sentative and as resident agent for the same company or for different
companies.

(b) No life insurance company doing business in this State shall
make any discrimination in favor of individuals of the same class or of
the same expectation of life, either in the amount of premium charged or
in any return of premium, dividends or other advantages. No policy of
life insurance shall be issued or delivered in this State if it shall purport
to be issued or to take effect, at an age lower than the actual age nearest
birthday of the applicant at the time of the original written application;
provided, however, that neither this provision nor any other provision
of general law shall prohibit the conversion of any existing life insurance
policy, or any deferred annuity contract purchased by a consideration
payable in annual or more frequent installments and under which no
annuity payments have yet been made, to some form of life insurance
dated back to become effective as at an age not lower than the age,
nearest birthday, of the applicant at the date of the written application
for such existing policy or contract, in amount not to exceed the greater
of (1) the amount of insurance under such existing policy or (2) the
amount of insurance which the premium or consideration paid for the
existing policy or contract would have purchased at the age, nearest
birthday, of the applicant at the date of the original written application
for such existing policy or contract.

(c) No agent, agency or company representative of any insurance
company shall make any contract for insurance or surety or agreement
as to such contract other than that which is plainly expressed in the
contract issued. No insurance company or agent thereof shall pay, or
allow or offer to pay, or allow as an inducement to any person to have
issued any contract of insurance or surety, any rebate of premium, or
any special favor or advantage whatever in the dividends to accrue
thereon, or any inducement whatever not specified in the contract.

(d) <A person who is authorized by any company to solicit insurance
or applications therefor shall in any controversy between the insured or
his beneficiary and the company be held to be the agent of the company
which issued the insurance solicited or so applied for, anything in the
application or policy to the contrary notwithstanding.

(e) Nothing in this chapter shall be so construed as to forbid a com-
pany transacting industrial insurance on a weekly payment plan with
weekly collections of premiums at the homes of the insured, from return-
ing to policyholders who have made premium payments directly to the
company at its home office or district offices, the savings which the com-
pany effects through such direct payment, or to forbid a life insurance
company from allowing its bona fide employees to reccive a commission
on the premiums paid by them on policies on their own lives.

(f) This section shall not apply to railroad companies and other
common carriers engaged in interstate commerce.