§ 5908. Notice and registration requirements of purchasing groups. (a) A purchasing group which intends to do business in this state shall, prior to doing such business, furnish notice of such intention to the superintendent. This notice shall include the following information:

Terms Used In N.Y. Insurance Law 5908

  • 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
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • 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
  • Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. Source: OCC
  • Product liability: means liability for damages because of any personal injury, death, emotional harm, consequential economic damage, or property damage (including damages resulting from the loss of use of property) arising out of the manufacture, design, importation, distribution, packaging, labeling, lease, or sale of a product, but does not include the liability of any person for those damages if the product involved was in the possession of such a person when the incident giving rise to the claim occurred. See N.Y. Insurance Law 5902
  • Purchasing group: means any group formed pursuant to the federal liability risk retention act of 1986 which:

    (1) has as one of its purposes the purchase of liability insurance on a group basis;

    (2) purchases such insurance only for its group members and only to cover their similar or related liability exposure, as described in paragraph three of this subsection;

    (3) is composed of members whose businesses or activities are similar or related with respect to the liability to which members are exposed by virtue of any related, similar, or common business, trade, product, services, premises, or operations; and

    (4) is domiciled in any 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

(1) the state in which the group is domiciled;

(2) the principal place of business of the group;

(3) the kinds and classifications of liability insurance which the purchasing group intends to purchase;

(4) the method by which, and the person or persons if any through whom, insurance will be offered to its members whose risks are resident or located in this state;

(5) the name and chartering jurisdiction of the insurer or risk retention group from which the purchasing group intends to purchase its insurance; and

(6) all other states in which the group intends to do business.

(b) A purchasing group shall, as to any subsequent changes in any of the items set forth in subsection (a) of this section, notify the superintendent within ten days of any such change.

(c) Each purchasing group which is required to give notice pursuant to subsection (a) of this section shall also furnish such information as may be required by the superintendent to:

(1) verify that the entity qualifies as a purchasing group; and

(2) determine compliance with any applicable state law.

(d) A purchasing group which does business in this state shall submit to the superintendent a statement of registration, for which a filing fee shall be imposed in accordance with a regulation to be promulgated by the superintendent, which statement of registration shall include a certified power of attorney designating the superintendent as its agent for the purpose of receiving service of legal documents or process.

(1) The power of attorney shall be accompanied by written designation of the name and address of the officer, agent, or other person to whom such legal documents or process shall be forwarded by the superintendent or his deputy on behalf of such purchasing group. In the event such designation is changed, a new certificate of designation shall be filed with the superintendent within ten days of such change.

(2) Service of legal documents or process upon a purchasing group pursuant to this subsection shall be made by serving the superintendent, any deputy superintendent or any salaried employee of the department whom the superintendent designates for such purpose with two copies thereof and the payment of a fee of twenty dollars. The superintendent shall forward a copy of such legal documents or process by registered or certified mail to the purchasing group at the address given in its written certificate of designation, and shall keep a record of all legal documents or process so served upon him. Service of legal documents or process so made shall be deemed made within the territorial jurisdiction of any court in this state.

(3) The registration and designation requirement of this subsection shall not apply in the case of a purchasing group which only purchases insurance that was authorized under the Federal Product Liability Risk Retention Act of 1981; and

(A) was domiciled before April first, nineteen hundred eighty-six and is domiciled on or after October twenty-seventh, nineteen hundred eighty-six in any state;

(B) before October twenty-seventh, nineteen hundred eighty-six, purchased liability insurance only from an insurer licensed in any state and since October twenty-seventh, nineteen hundred eighty-six purchases its liability insurance only from an insurer licensed in any state; and

(C) before October twenty-seventh, nineteen hundred eighty-six, was a purchasing group under the requirements of the federal Product Liability Risk Retention Act of 1981.

(e) Any purchasing group which was doing business in this state prior to the enactment of this article shall, within thirty days after the effective date of this article, furnish notice to the superintendent pursuant to the provisions of subsection (a) of this section and furnish such information as may be required pursuant to subsections (b), (c) and (d) of this section.