26-12-202 shall be made in accordance with W.S. 26-3-122, and

26-12-202 shall be made in accordance with W.S. 26-3-122, and service of process is sufficient if it complies with that section.

(b) Service of process in any such action, suit or proceeding, in addition to the manner provided in subsection (a) of this section, is valid if:

(i) Served upon any person within this state, who in this state on behalf of the insurer, is:

(A) Soliciting insurance;

(B) Making any contract of insurance or issuing or delivering any policies or written contracts of insurance; or

(C) Collecting or receiving any premium for insurance; and

(ii) Otherwise complies with W.S. 26-3-122(d).

(c) No plaintiff or complainant is entitled to a judgment by default under this section until the expiration of thirty (30) days from the date of the filing of the affidavit of compliance.

(d) Nothing in this section limits or abridges the right to serve any process, notice or demand upon any insurer in any other manner permitted by law.

26-12-204. Exemptions from service of process provisions.

(a) W.S. 26-12-202 and 26-12-203 do not apply to surplus line insurance lawfully carried out under chapter 11, or to reinsurance, or to any action or proceeding against an unauthorized insurer arising out of any of the following if the policy or contract contains a provision designating the commissioner as its attorney for the acceptance of service of lawful process in any action or proceeding instituted by or on behalf of an insured or beneficiary arising out of that policy, or if the insurer enters a general appearance in any such action:

(i) Wet marine and transportation insurance;

(ii) Insurance on subjects located, resident or to be performed wholly outside this state, or on vehicles or aircraft owned and principally garaged outside this state;

(iii) Insurance on property or operations of railroads engaged in interstate commerce; or

(iv) Insurance on aircraft or cargo of that aircraft, or against liability, other than employer's liability, arising out of the ownership, maintenance or use of that aircraft.

26-12-205. Defense of action by unauthorized insurer.

(a) Before an unauthorized insurer files or causes to be filed any pleading in any action or proceeding instituted against it under W.S. 26-12-202 and 26-12-203, that insurer shall:

(i) Procure a certificate of authority to transact insurance in this state; or

(ii) Deposit with the clerk of the court in which the action or proceeding is pending cash or securities, or file with the clerk a bond with good and sufficient sureties, to be approved by the court, in an amount the court fixes sufficient to secure the payment of any final judgment which may be rendered in the action, except that the court may make an order dispensing with the deposit or bond if the insurer shows to the court's satisfaction that it:

(A) Maintains in a state of the United States funds or securities sufficient and available to satisfy any final judgment which may be entered in the action or proceeding; and

(B) Will pay any final judgment entered therein without requiring suit to be brought on the judgment in the state where the funds or securities are located.  (b) The court in any action or proceeding in which service is made in the manner provided in W.S. 26-12-203 may order a postponement as necessary to afford the defendant reasonable opportunity to comply with the provisions of subsection (a) of this section and to defend the action.

(c) Nothing in subsection (a) of this section prevents an unauthorized insurer from filing a motion to quash or to set aside the service of any process made in the manner provided in W.S. 26-12-203 on the ground either:

(i) That the unauthorized insurer did not engage in any of the acts enumerated in W.S. 26-12-202; or

(ii) That the person on whom service was made pursuant to W.S. 26-12-203 was not engaged in any of the acts enumerated in W.S. 26-12-202.

26-12-206. Attorney fees in actions against unauthorized insurer.

In any action against an unauthorized insurer, if the insurer fails for thirty (30) days after demand prior to the commencement of the action to make payment in accordance with the terms of the contract, and it appears to the court that the refusal is without reasonable cause, the court shall allow to the plaintiff a reasonable attorney fee and include that fee in any judgment that may be rendered in the action. The fee shall not be less than one hundred dollars ($100.00). Failure of an insurer to defend any such action is prima facie evidence that its failure to make payment was without reasonable cause.

ARTICLE 3 UNAUTHORIZED INSURERS FALSE ADVERTISING PROCESS ACT

26-12-301. Short title.

This article constitutes and may be cited as the "Unauthorized Insurers False Advertising Process Act".

26-12-302. False advertising prohibited; notification by commissioner of misrepresentation.

No unauthorized insurer, in any manner, shall misrepresent to any person in this state as to its financial condition or the terms of any contract issued or to be issued by it or the advantages thereof, or the dividends or share of the surplus to be received thereon. If the commissioner believes that any unauthorized insurer is misrepresenting any of the items specified in this section, he shall notify the insurer and the insurance supervisory official of the insurer's domiciliary state or province by registered or certified mail.

26-12-303. Enforcement by commissioner; penalty for violation.

(a) If within thirty (30) days following the giving of the notice specified in W.S. 26-12-302 the insurer has not ceased dissemination of any false advertising, and if the commissioner believes that the insurer is soliciting, issuing or delivering contracts of insurance to residents of this state or collecting premiums on those contracts or performing any other transaction in connection with that insurance, and that a proceeding by him in respect to those matters would be in the public interest, he shall take action against the insurer under W.S. 26-13-117.

(b) If pursuant to the proceeding the commissioner finds that the dissemination of false advertising is continuing, he shall order the insurer to desist therefrom and shall mail a copy of the order by certified or registered mail to the insurer at its principal place of business last of record with the commissioner and to the insurance supervisory official of the insurer's domiciliary state or province. Each violation after mailing of the desist order subjects the insurer to a penalty of two thousand dollars ($2,000.00), to be recovered by a civil action the commissioner brings against the insurer. Service of process upon the insurer in the action may be made upon the commissioner pursuant to W.S. 26-12-202 and 26-12-203 or in any other lawful manner.

CHAPTER 13 - TRADE PRACTICES AND FRAUDS

ARTICLE 1 UNFAIR TRADE PRACTICES ACT

26-13-101. Short title.

This article constitutes and may be cited as the "Unfair Trade Practices Act".

26-13-102. Unfair methods and deceptive acts prohibited. No person shall engage in this state in any trade practice which is defined in this article as or is determined pursuant to this article to be an unfair method of competition or an unfair or deceptive act or practice in the business of insurance.

26-13-103. Misrepresentations and false advertising prohibited.

(a) No person shall:

(i) Make, issue, circulate, or cause to be made, issued or circulated, any estimate, circular or statement misrepresenting the terms of any policy issued or to be issued or the benefits or advantages promised thereby or the dividends or share of the surplus to be received thereon;

(ii) Make any false or misleading statement as to the dividends or share of surplus previously paid on similar policies;

(iii) Make any misleading representation or any misrepresentation as to the financial condition of any insurer or as to the legal reserve system upon which any life insurer operates; or

(iv) Use any name or title of any policy or class of policies misrepresenting the true nature thereof.

26-13-104. Home office false advertising prohibited.

No person shall make in any manner in any advertising or other communication medium any advertisement, announcement or statement containing any assertion, representation or statement with respect to the business of insurance or with respect to any person in the conduct of his insurance business, which is untrue, deceptive or misleading.

26-13-105. "Twisting" prohibited.

No person shall make or issue, nor cause to be made or issued, any written or oral statement misrepresenting or making incomplete comparisons as to the terms, conditions or benefits contained in any policy for the purpose of inducing or attempting to induce the policyholder to lapse, forfeit, surrender, retain, exchange or convert any insurance policy.  26-13-106. False or misleading financial statements prohibited.

(a) No person shall:

(i) File with any supervisory or other public official or in any manner place or cause to be placed before any other person, any false statement of financial condition of an insurer with intent to deceive;

(ii) Make any false entry in any book, report or statement of any insurer with intent to deceive:

(A) Any agent or examiner lawfully appointed to examine into its condition or into any of its affairs; or

(B) Any public official to whom the insurer is required by law to report, or who has authority by law to examine into its condition or into any of its affairs.

(iii) With intent to deceive, willfully omit a true entry of any material fact pertaining to the insurer's business in any book, report or statement of the insurer; or

(iv) Advertise the capital or assets of an insurer without in the same advertisement setting forth the amount of the insurer's liabilities in equal prominence to the statement of capital and assets.

26-13-107. Defamation prohibited.

No person shall make or aid, abet or encourage the making in any manner in any communication medium of any oral or written statement which is false or maliciously critical of or derogatory to an insurer's financial condition, or of an organization proposing to become an insurer, and which is made to injure any person engaged or proposing to engage in the insurance business.

26-13-108. Boycott, coercion and intimidation prohibited; exception.

No person shall enter into any agreement to commit, or by any concerted action commit, any act of boycott, coercion or intimidation resulting in unreasonable restraint of or any monopoly in any business of insurance, except that an insurer owned or controlled by an association or organization may refuse to renew a casualty or liability policy because of nonpayment of dues to the association or organization if payment of dues is a prerequisite to obtaining or continuing the insurance.

26-13-109. Unfair discrimination prohibited.

(a) No person shall make or permit any unfair discrimination between current or prospective insureds or insured risks:

(i) Repealed by Laws 2023, ch. 32, § 2.

(ii) Of the same class, having similar insuring or risk characteristics and of essentially the same hazard in:

(A) The amount of premium, policy fees or rates charged for any policy or contract of insurance;

(B) The dividends or benefits payable thereunder;

(C) Any of the terms or conditions of the contract; or

(D) Any other manner.

(b) Repealed by Laws 2023, ch. 32, § 2.

26-13-110. Rebates.

(a) Except as otherwise provided by law, no person shall:

(i) Authorize, offer to make or make any contract of insurance or agreement as to that contract other than as expressed in the contract issued thereon;

(ii) Pay, allow or give or offer to pay, allow, give, receive or accept in any manner as inducement to the purchase of insurance or renewal of insurance:

(A) Any rebate, discount, credit or reduction of premiums payable on the contract;

(B) Any special favor or advantage in the dividends or other benefits thereon;  (C) Any paid employment or contract for services of any kind; or

(D) Any valuable consideration or inducement not specified in the contract.

(iii) In any manner give, sell or purchase or offer or agree to give, sell, purchase or allow as inducement to the insurance or in connection therewith, and whether or not to be specified in the policy or contract, any agreement of any form or nature promising:

(A) Returns and profits;

(B) Any stocks, bonds or other securities, or interest present or contingent therein or as measured thereby, of any insurer or other corporation, association or partnership; or

(C) Any dividends or profits accrued or to accrue thereon.

(iv) Offer or provide insurance as an inducement to the purchase of another policy or use the words "free", "no cost" or similar wording in an advertisement;

(v) Unfairly discriminate against a customer when offering or declining to offer any of the items authorized by subsection (c) of this section.

(b) Nothing in W.S. 26-13-109 or subsection (a) of this section shall prohibit any of the following practices:

(i) Paying bonuses to customers or abating their premiums in whole or in part out of surplus accumulated from nonparticipating insurance, provided that any bonuses or abatement of premiums are fair and equitable to customers and are in the insurer and its customers' best interests;

(ii) Making allowances to customers who have continuously made premium payments directly to the office of an insurer in an amount which fairly represents the saving in collection expense;

(iii) Readjustment of the premium rate for a group insurance policy based on the loss or expense experienced by the insurer, which may be made retroactive only for that policy year;

(iv) Reduction of premium rates for policies of large amount, but not exceeding savings in issuance and administration expenses reasonably attributable to those policies as compared with policies of a similar plan issued in smaller amounts;

(v) Reduction in premium rates for life or disability insurance policies on annuity contracts on salary savings, payroll deduction, preauthorized check, bank draft or similar plans in amounts reasonably commensurate with the savings made by the use of those plans;

(vi) Allowing or returning to an insurer's participating customers, members or subscribers dividends, savings or unabsorbed premium deposits;

(vii) The payment of commissions or other compensation to licensed producers;

(viii) The selling or offering for sale, contemporaneously with life insurance, of mutual fund shares or face amount certificates of regulated investment companies under offerings with the securities and exchange commission if the shares or face amount certificates and the life insurance may be purchased independently, at the same price as and upon the same terms and conditions as if purchased contemporaneously;

(ix) The offer or provision by insurers, producers or their affiliates of a product or service at no cost or a reduced cost when the product or service is not specified in the policy of insurance and the product or service:

(A) Relates to the insurance coverage;

(B) Is primarily designed to satisfy one (1) or more of the following:

(I) Provide loss mitigation or loss control;

(II) Reduce claim costs or claim settlement costs;

(III) Provide education about liability risks or risk of loss to persons or property;  (IV) Monitor or assess risk, identify sources of risk or develop strategies for eliminating or reducing risk;

(V) Enhance health;

(VI) Enhance financial wellness through items such as education or financial planning services;

(VII) Provide post-loss services;

(VIII) Incentivize behavioral changes to improve the health or reduce the risk of death or disability of a customer; or

(IX) Assist in the administration of retirement benefit insurance coverage.

(C) The cost to the insurer or producer offering the product or service to any given customer is reasonable in comparison to that customer's premiums or insurance coverage for the policy class;

(D) The insurer or producer ensures that the customer is provided with contact information to assist the customer with questions regarding the product or service;

(E) The availability of offered products or services shall be based on documented objective criteria, which shall by maintained by the insurer or producer and produced upon request by the department. If the insurer or producer does not have sufficient evidence, but has a good-faith belief that the offered products or services meet the criteria, the insurer or producer may provide the products or services as part of a pilot or testing program for no more than one (1) year. The department shall be notified of any pilot or testing program prior to launching. The program may proceed unless the department objects within thirty (30) days of notice.

(c) Unless prohibited by paragraphs (a)(ii) and (iii) of this section, an insurer or producer may:

(i) Offer or give non-cash gifts, items or services to customers in connection with the marketing, sale, purchase or retention of contracts of insurance, provided that the cost of the gifts, items or services are not included in any amounts charged to another person or entity. The customer shall not be required to purchase, continue to purchase or renew a policy in exchange for the gift, item or service. The total value of the gift, item or service per customer per calendar year shall not exceed:

(A) One hundred dollars ($100.00) or five percent (5%), but not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000.00), of the written premium for current customers; or

(B) One hundred dollars ($100.00) or five percent (5%), but not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000.00), of the quoted premium for prospective customers.

(ii) Conduct raffles or drawings for prizes to the extent permitted by state law at no cost to entrants. The drawing or raffle shall not obligate participants to purchase insurance and shall be open to the public. The customer shall not be required to purchase or renew a policy in exchange for entrance into the raffle or drawing. The total value of each raffle or drawing shall not exceed one hundred dollars ($100.00).

(d) Any person who provides any gift, item, service or prize under subsection (c) of this section shall retain records which shall be considered records of transactions under W.S. 26- 9-228 and which shall be provided for inspection upon request of the commissioner. These records shall include but are not limited to receipts of purchase, dates of transaction and names of customers.

(e) The commissioner may adopt rules and regulations when implementing the permitted practices set forth in this section to ensure consumer protection.

(f) As used in this section:

(i) "Insurance" means as defined by W.S. 26-1- 102(a)(xv) and also includes suretyship;

(ii) "Policy" means as defined by W.S. 26-1- 102(a)(xxi) and also includes bond;

(iii) "Customer" means a policyholder, potential policyholder, certificate holder, potential certificate holder, insured, potential insured or applicant.  26-13-111. Repealed by Laws 2023, ch. 32, § 2.

26-13-112. Repealed by Laws 2023, ch. 32, § 2.

26-13-113. Deductible amount of collision coverage; subrogation; right to deductible.

(a) If an insurer pays a loss claim to its insured and the insurer decides to subrogate to the insured's loss claim, the deductible amount shall be included in the subrogated loss claim and the insurance carrier shall pay the deductible amount to its insured, without any deduction for expenses of collection, out of any recovery on the subrogated claim, before any part of the recovery is applied to any other use. If the amount of the deductible exceeds the recovery, the insurer shall pay only the amount of the recovery to the insured.

(b) If in any arbitration of the subrogated claim two (2) or more insurers agree to offset the claims of their insureds, the right of any insured to the return of his full deductible amount shall not be abridged.

26-13-114. Securities operations and advisory board contracts as insurance inducement prohibited.

No insurer or other person shall offer, issue or deliver or permit its agents, officers or employees to offer, issue or deliver, in this or any other state, agency company stock or other capital stock, benefit certificates, shares in any common-law corporation or any advisory board contract promising returns and profits as an inducement to insurance.

26-13-115. Desist orders by commissioner; appeal; violation of order.

(a) If the commissioner finds that any person in this state, after a hearing in which the person is notified of the hearing and the charges against him, has engaged or is engaging in any act or practice defined in or prohibited under this chapter, the commissioner shall order the person to desist from the acts or practices.

(b) The desist order is final upon expiration of the time allowed for appeals from the commissioner's orders, if no appeal is taken, or, if there is an appeal, upon final decision of the court if the court affirms the commissioner's order or dismisses the appeal. An intervenor in the hearing may appeal as provided in W.S. 26-2-129.

(c) If there is an appeal, to the extent that the commissioner's order is affirmed, the court shall issue its own order commanding obedience to the terms of the commissioner's order.

(d) No order of the commissioner pursuant to this section or order of the court to enforce it in any way relieves or absolves any person affected by the order from any other liability, penalty or forfeiture under law.

(e) Violation of any desist order is punishable as a violation of this code.

(f) This section does not affect or prevent the imposition of any penalty provided by this code or by other law for violation of any other provision of this chapter, whether or not any hearing is called or held or any desist order issued.

26-13-116. Procedures for undefined deceptive practices.

(a) If the commissioner believes that any person in conducting an insurance business in this state is engaging in any method of competition or in any act or practice, not defined in this chapter, which is unfair or deceptive and that a proceeding by him in respect thereto would be in the public interest, after a hearing in which the person charged receives a notice of the hearing and of the charges against him, the commissioner shall make a written report of his findings of fact relative to the charges and serve a copy thereof upon the person and any intervenor at the hearing.

(b) If the commissioner's report charges a violation of this chapter and if the method of competition, act or practice is not discontinued, the commissioner, through the attorney general, at any time after service of the report, may cause an action to be instituted to enjoin and restrain the person from engaging in the method, act or practice. In the action the court may grant a restraining order or injunction upon any just terms, but the people of this state are not required to give security before the issuance of the order or injunction. If a stenographic record of the proceedings in the hearing before the commissioner is made, a certified transcript thereof including all evidence taken and the report and findings shall be received in evidence in the action.  (c) If the commissioner's report made under subsection (a) of this section or order on hearing made under W.S. 26-2-128 does not charge a violation of this chapter, then any intervenor in the proceedings may appeal within the time and in the manner provided in W.S. 26-2-129(b).

26-13-117. Service of process upon unauthorized insurers.

(a) Service of all process, statements of charges and notices under this chapter upon unauthorized insurers shall be made in accordance with W.S. 26-3-122.

(b) The commissioner shall forward all process, statements of charges and notices to the insurer in the manner provided in W.S. 26-3-122.

(c) No default shall be taken against any unauthorized insurer until expiration of thirty (30) days after the date of forwarding by the commissioner under subsection (b) of this section, or date of service of process if under W.S.