NOTE A consolidation of statutes relating to insurance corporations became law February 17, 1909, as chapter twenty-eight of the Consolidated Laws, being chapter thirty-three of the Laws of 1909. A number of amendments were passed during the 1909 and following sessions of the Legislature and were printed in Part V of that and succeeding years. Following are the statutes affecting insurance matters that were passed during the regular session of 1920 and approved by the Governor. [12] INSURANCE AND RELATED STATUTES OF 1920 Chap. 296 AN ACT to amend the insurance law, in relation to distribution of surplus by life insurance corporations. Became a law April 21, 1920, with the approval of the Governor. Passed, three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: Section 1. Section eighty-three of chapter thirty-three of the laws of nineteen hundred and nine, entitled "An act in relation to insurance corporations, constituting chapter twenty-eight of the consolidated laws," as amended by chapter six hundred and seventeen of the laws of nineteen hundred and fifteen, is hereby amended to read as follows: § 83. Distribution of surplus to policyholders. Except as herein provided, every domestic life insurance corporation heretofore or hereafter organized, whether incorporated by special act or under a general statute, anything in its charter or certificate of incorporation or in such special act or general statute to the contrary notwithstanding, shall provide in every policy issued on or after the first day of January, nineteen hundred and seven, that the proportion of the surplus accruing upon said policy shall be ascertained and distributed annually and not otherwise. Upon the thirty-first day of December of each year, or as soon thereafter as may be practicable, every such corporation shall well and truly ascertain the surplus earned by such corporation during said year. After setting aside from such surplus such sums as may be required for the payment of authorized dividends upon the capital stock, if any, and such sums as may properly be held for account of existing deferred dividend policies and for a contingency reserve not in excess of the amount prescribed in this article, every such corporation shall apportion the remaining surplus equitably to all other policies entitled to share therein. Except in the case of a term or an industrial policy, the share of surplus so apportioned in the case of a policy issued on or after the first day of January, nineteen hundred and seven, shall, at the option of the owner of the policy, be payable in cash, or shall be applicable to the payment of any premium or premiums upon said policy or to the purchase of a paid-up addition thereto or shall be permitted to accumulate to the credit of the policy at such rate of interest as shall be allowed by the company, and with such interest shall be payable upon the maturity of the policy or shall be withdrawable in cash by the owner of the policy on any anniversary of the date of issue thereof. Such corporation may require the owner of the policy to elect the manner in which said dividends shall be applied as above provided by mailing a written notice of the amount of the said dividends and the options available as aforesaid in a sealed envelope in the manner required by the provisions of this chapter for notice of premium payments, and in case the owner shall fail to notify the company in writing of his election within three months after the date of the mailing of said notice, the surplus shall be applied by the company to the purchase of a paid-up addition to the sum insured. In the case of a term policy issued on or after the first day of January, nineteen hundred and seven, the share of surplus so apportioned shall be payable to the owner of the policy in cash or shall be applicable to the payment of any premium or premiums upon said policy, or if so provided in the policy shall be permitted to accumulate to the credit of the policy at such rate of interest as shall be allowed by the company and in such case shall be payable upon the maturity or expiration of the policy or shall be withdrawable in cash by the holder of the policy on any anniversary of the date of issue thereof. In case of industrial policies the share of surplus so apportioned shall be payable annually in such manner as may be determined by the company with approval of the superintendent of insurance. The dividends declared as aforesaid in the case of a policy issued on or after the first day of January, nineteen hundred and seven, shall be payable respectively either upon the anniversary of the policy next after said thirty-first day of December or upon a day certain in the year following said date, according to the rules of the corporation or the terms of the policy, and upon the sole condition that the premium payments for the policy year current upon said thirty-first day of December shall have been completed, except that, as to all policies whose anniversaries shall occur after April thirtieth, nineteen hundred and twenty-one, the company may, in lieu of complying with the foregoing provision relating to time of payment, make such dividends payable thereafter upon the anniversary of the policy next following each thirtieth day of April, and upon the condition that the premium payments for the policy year current upon such thirtieth day of April shall have been completed. This section shall not apply to any stock life insurance corporation which on or after the first day of January, nineteen hundred and seven, shall transact and shall represent itself as transacting its business exclusively upon a nonmutual basis and shall after said date issue only nonparticipating policies. Nor shall this section apply to paid-up or temporary and pure endowment insurance issued or granted in exchange for lapsed or surrendered policies. A foreign life insurance corporation which shall not provide in every participating policy issued or delivered in this state on or after the first day of January, nineteen hundred and seven, that the proportion of the surplus accruing upon said policy shall be ascertained and distributed annually and not otherwise, and which shall not ascertain and distribute the surplus accruing upon said policies annually either by providing for their payment in cash or their application to the payment of premiums or to the purchase of paid-up additions or for their accumulation as above provided in the case of domestic corporations, shall not be permitted to do business within this state. § 2. This act shall take effect immediately. |