§ 5903. Domestic risk retention groups. (a) A domestic risk retention group shall, pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, be chartered and licensed as a domestic property/casualty insurer to write only liability insurance pursuant to this article and, except as provided elsewhere in this article, shall comply with all of the laws, regulations and orders applicable to property/casualty insurers organized and licensed in this state.

Terms Used In N.Y. Insurance Law 5903

  • Insurance: means primary insurance, excess insurance, reinsurance, excess line insurance, and any other arrangement for shifting and distributing risk which is determined to be insurance under the laws of this state. See N.Y. Insurance Law 5902
  • Liability: means legal liability for damages (including costs of defense, legal costs and fees, and other claims expenses) because of injuries to other persons, damage to their property, or other damage or loss to such other persons resulting from or arising out of:

    (1) (A) any business (whether profit or nonprofit), trade, product, services (including professional services), premises, or operations; or

    (B) any activity of any state or local government, or any agency or political subdivision thereof; and

    (2) does not include personal risk liability and an employer's liability with respect to its employees other than legal liability under the Federal Employers' Liability Act (45 U. See N.Y. Insurance Law 5902
  • Plan of operation or feasibility study: means an analysis which presents the expected activities and results of a risk retention group making application to become chartered and licensed as a domestic property/casualty insurer in this state, including at least the following:

    (1) information sufficient to verify that its members are engaged in businesses or activities similar or related with respect to the liability to which such members are exposed by virtue of any related, similar, or common business, trade, product, services, premises or operations;

    (2) for each state in which it intends to operate, the coverages, deductibles, coverage limits, rates, and rating classification systems for each kind of insurance the group intends to offer;

    (3) historical and expected loss experience of the proposed members and national experience of similar exposures to the extent that this experience is reasonably available;

    (4) pro forma financial statements and projections;

    (5) appropriate opinions by a qualified, independent casualty actuary, including a determination of minimum premium or participation levels required to commence operations and to prevent the development of a hazardous financial condition;

    (6) identification of management, underwriting and claims procedures, marketing methods, managerial oversight methods, investment policies and reinsurance agreements;

    (7) identification of each state in which the risk retention group has obtained, or sought to obtain, a charter and license, and a description of its status in each state; and

    (8) such other matters as may be prescribed by the commissioner of the state in which the risk retention group is chartered for liability insurance companies authorized by the insurance laws of the state. See N.Y. Insurance Law 5902
  • Risk retention group: means any corporation or other limited liability association formed pursuant to the federal liability risk retention act of 1986:

    (1) whose primary activity consists of assuming and spreading all, or any portion, of the liability exposure of its group members;

    (2) which is organized for the primary purpose of conducting the activity described under paragraph one of this subsection;

    (3) which:

    (A) is chartered and licensed as a liability insurance company and authorized to engage in the business of insurance under the laws of any state; or

    (B) before January first, nineteen hundred eighty-five, was chartered or licensed and authorized to engage in the business of insurance under the laws of Bermuda or the Cayman Islands and, before such date, had certified to the insurance commissioner of at least one state that it satisfied the capitalization requirements of such state, except that any such group shall be considered to be a risk retention group only if it has been engaged in business continuously since such date and only for the purpose of continuing to provide insurance to cover product liability or completed operations liability;

    (4) which does not exclude any person from membership in the group solely to provide for members of such a group a competitive advantage over such a person;

    (5) which:

    (A) has as its owners only persons who comprise the membership of the risk retention group and who are provided insurance by such group; or

    (B) has as its sole owner an organization which has as its members only persons who comprise the membership of the risk retention group and which organization has as its owners only persons who comprise the membership of the risk retention group and who are provided insurance by the risk retention group;

    (6) whose members are engaged in businesses or activities similar or related with respect to the liability of which such members are exposed by virtue of any related, similar, or common business trade, product, services, premises or operations;

    (7) whose activities do not include the provision of insurance other than:

    (A) liability insurance for assuming and spreading all or any portion of the liability of its group members; and

    (B) reinsurance with respect to the liability of any other risk retention group (or any member of such other risk retention group) which is engaged in businesses or activities which meet the requirement described in paragraph six of this subsection for membership in the risk retention group which provides such reinsurance; and

    (8) the name of which includes the phrase "risk retention group". See N.Y. Insurance Law 5902
  • State: means any state of the United States or the District of Columbia. See N.Y. Insurance Law 5902
  • Superintendent: means the superintendent of financial services of this state. See N.Y. Insurance Law 5902

(b) Before it may offer insurance in any state, each domestic risk retention group shall submit to the superintendent for approval a plan of operation or feasibility study, and shall also submit a completed National Association of Insurance Commissioners risk retention report form to the superintendent. Such group shall submit an appropriate revision in the event of any subsequent material change in any item of the plan of operation or feasibility study within ten days of any such change. Such group shall not offer any additional kinds of liability insurance in any state until a revision of the plan or study has been approved by the superintendent.

(c) The submission of a plan of operation or feasibility study shall not be required with respect to any kind or classification of liability insurance which was:

(1) defined in the federal Product Liability Risk Retention Act of 1981 (Public Law 97-45) before October twenty-seventh, nineteen hundred eighty-six; and

(2) offered before such date by any risk retention group which had been chartered and operating for not less than three years before such date.

(d) Immediately upon receipt of any application for licensing as a domestic risk retention group, the superintendent shall provide summary information concerning the filing to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

(e) The name under which a domestic risk retention group may be chartered and licensed shall be a brief description of its membership followed by the phrase "Risk Retention Group", and, unless its membership consists solely of insurers, shall not include the use of the terms "insurance", "insurance company", "mutual", "reciprocal", or any similar terms.