§ 23-100-102. Insurers’ payment extensions — Penalties for non-compliance — Insurance Commissioner’s waiver for impaired or insolvent insurers

(a)

1. (1) The Insurance Commissioner may grant any licensed insurer an extension for payment of the antifraud assessment for good cause shown, upon written application of the licensed insurer received at the State Insurance Department on or before each annual due date.

2. (2) Absent the commissioner’s approval of such an extension for good cause, licensed insurers failing timely to pay the antifraud assessment shall be subject to a penalty of one hundred dollars ($100) per day for each day of delinquency, payable to the State Insurance Department Criminal Investigation Division Trust Fund.

3. (3)

   1. (A) The commissioner may pursue any appropriate legal remedies to collect the antifraud assessments and penalties due and unpaid from any insurer.

   2. (B) Further, the commissioner in his or her discretion may order suspension of the delinquent insurer’s Arkansas certificate of authority after notice and hearing until the payment of all such antifraud assessments and penalties is remitted to the fund.

   3. (C) Absent grant of the commissioner’s waiver for good cause shown, the commissioner may revoke the Arkansas certificate of authority of any delinquent insurer consistently refusing and failing without good cause to remit payment of these antifraud assessments and penalties to the fund pursuant to this section.

(b)

1. (1) The commissioner in his or her discretion may waive all or any part of the antifraud assessment due annually from a licensed insurer upon the:

   1. (A) Suspension or revocation of the insurer’s Arkansas certificate of authority;

   2. (B) Issuance of a court order placing the company into conservation, rehabilitation, or liquidation in any state; or

   3. (C) Commissioner’s finding that the insurer is impaired or insolvent.

2. (2) Upon the reinstatement or activation of the insurer’s certificate of authority in good standing, the commissioner’s waiver automatically terminates, and the insurer shall be liable for payment of the assessment on the next succeeding March 1 without retroactive reimbursement for the amount of the antifraud assessments which would normally have accrued during the waiver period.