(a) There shall be no liability on the part of, and no cause of action of any nature shall arise against, the surplus line advisory organization, or its members, officers, committee members, agents, or employees, or the Department of Insurance, the commissioner, or employees or representatives of the Department of Insurance, for any action taken or omitted by any of them in the performance of their duties or the exercise of their authority under this chapter, unless it can be shown that any of the parties specified in this subdivision acted in bad faith. The performance of any duty to the advisory organization delegated by the commissioner under this chapter or the exercise of any authority incidental thereto is an official duty of the advisory organization. Nothing in this subdivision shall be deemed or construed to grant any immunity, or any defense to liability, to a surplus line broker for that broker’s failure to comply with the surplus line law or the regulations pertaining thereto.

(b) The advisory organization’s communications with the commissioner and other appropriate authorities pursuant to its performance of the duties delegated by the commissioner under this chapter or its exercise of the authority incidental thereto shall be considered communications by an interested person to another interested person under the provisions of subdivision (c) of § 47 of the Civil Code and shall be deemed confidential communications as defined in Section 12919.

(c) The immunities and privileges afforded by this section shall not affect the availability of any other immunities or privileges afforded by law and shall not affect any of the rights of hearing and review under, or any other provisions of, this chapter.

(Added by Stats. 1993, Ch. 1007, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 1994.)