Colorado § 10-3-903 - Definition of transacting insurance business.

§ 10-3-903. Definition of transacting insurance business.

(1) Any of the following acts in this state, effected by mail or otherwise, by an unauthorized insurer constitute transacting insurance business in this state as the term is used in section 10-3-105:

(a) The making of, or proposing to make, as an insurer, an insurance contract;

(b) The making of, or proposing to make, as guarantor or surety, any contract of guaranty or suretyship as a vocation and not merely incidental to any other legitimate business or activity of the guarantor or surety;

(c) The taking or receiving of any application for insurance;

(d) The receiving or collection of any premium, commission, membership fees, assessments, dues, or other consideration for any insurance or any part thereof;

(e) The issuance or delivery of contracts of insurance to residents of this state or to persons authorized to do business in this state;

(f) Directly or indirectly acting as an agent for or otherwise representing, or aiding on behalf of another, any person or insurer in the solicitation, negotiation, procurement, or effectuation of insurance or renewals thereof; or in the dissemination of information as to coverage or rates; or in the forwarding of applications; or in the delivery of policies or contracts; or in the inspection of risks; or in the fixing of rates; or in the investigation or adjustment of claims or losses; or in the transaction of matters subsequent to the effectuation of the contract and arising out of it; or in any other manner representing or assisting a person or insurer in the transaction of insurance with respect to subjects of insurance resident, located, or to be performed in this state. The provisions of this paragraph (f) shall not operate to prohibit full-time salaried employees of a corporate insured from acting in the capacity of an insurance manager or buyer in placing insurance on behalf of such employer.

(g) The doing of any kind of insurance business specifically recognized as constituting the doing of an insurance business within the meaning of the statutes relating to insurance;

(h) The doing, or proposing to do, any insurance business in substance equivalent to any of the foregoing in a manner designed to evade the provisions of the statutes;

(i) Any other transactions of business in this state by an insurer;

(j) Funding, either directly or indirectly, the cash qualification bond of a cash-bonding agent or professional cash-bail agent when the means do not constitute an arm's-length transaction under reasonable commercial standards or where the agreement to repay is contingent on the volume or value of the bonds posted;

(k) Except for payments from the defendant or a third-party indemnitor who applied for the bond, paying, either directly or indirectly, for the forfeiture of a bail bond posted by a cash-bonding agent or professional cash-bail agent when the payment is made by a person other than the cash-bonding agent or professional cash-bail agent that posted the bail bond.

(2) This section does not apply to:

(a) The lawful transaction of surplus lines insurance;

(b) The lawful transaction of reinsurance by insurers;

(c) Transactions in this state involving a policy lawfully solicited, written, and delivered outside of this state covering only subjects of insurance not resident, located, or expressly to be performed in this state at the time of issuance, and which transactions are subsequent to the issuance of such policy;

(d) Transactions involving contracts of insurance independently procured through negotiations occurring entirely outside of this state which are reported and on which premium tax is paid;

(e) Attorneys acting in the ordinary relation of attorney and client in the adjustment of claims or losses;

(f) Transactions in this state involving group life or group annuities where the master policy of such groups was lawfully issued and delivered in a state in which the company was authorized to do an insurance business;

(g) The transaction of business by a home warranty service company pursuant to part 9 of article 10 of title 12;

(h) Transactions in this state involving group sickness and accident or blanket sickness and accident insurance where the master policy was lawfully issued and delivered to a single employer in another state in which the company was authorized to do an insurance business, when a master policy which covers residents of this state includes mammography benefits at a level at least as comprehensive as those required by section 10-16-104 (18)(b.5);

(i) Any transaction in this state involving the issuance of a charitable gift annuity, as defined in section 10-1-102 (4);

(j) The sale of authorized insurance by agents of a motor vehicle rental company if such sale complies with the limitations set forth in section 10-2-105 (2)(g);

(k) Repealed.

(l) A person licensed as a cash-bonding agent or professional cash-bail agent under article 23 of this title, unless the person engages in conduct described in subsection (1) of this section.

Source: L. 67: p. 868, § 2. C.R.S. 1963: § 72-25-2. L. 79: (2)(g) added, p. 582, § 2, effective June 7. L. 91: (2)(f) amended and (2)(h) added, p. 1213, § 6, effective July 1. L. 92: (2)(h) amended, p. 1750, § 1, effective May 29; (2)(h) amended, p. 1750, § 2, effective July 1. L. 95: (2)(i) added, p. 218, § 2, effective April 17. L. 98: (2)(j) added, p. 234, § 4, effective April 10. L. 2001: (2)(j) amended, p. 1213, § 37, effective January 1, 2002. L. 2003: (2)(i) amended, p. 617, § 11, effective July 1; (2)(k) added, p. 1784, § 15, effective July 1. L. 2006: (2)(k) amended, p. 1998, § 31, effective July 1. L. 2009: (2)(h) amended, (HB 09-1204), ch. 344, p. 1806, § 3, effective January 1, 2010. L. 2012: IP(1) amended and (1)(j), (1)(k), and (2)(l) added, (HB 12-1266), ch. 280, p. 1507, § 36, effective July 1. L. 2015: IP(2) and (2)(g) amended, (HB 15-1223), ch. 81, p. 235, § 6, effective August 5. L. 2018: (2)(k) repealed, (HB 18-1431), ch. 313, p. 1891, § 7, effective August 8. L. 2019: (2)(g) amended, (HB 19-1172), ch. 136, p. 1651, § 32, effective October 1. L. 2020: (2)(h) amended, (HB 20-1402), ch. 216, p. 1042, § 11, effective June 30.

Cross references: (1) For reinsurance, see part 7 of this article 3; for surplus line insurance, see article 5 of this title 10.

(2) For the legislative declaration contained in the 1998 act enacting subsection (2)(j), see section 1 of chapter 88, Session Laws of Colorado 1998. For the legislative declaration contained in the 2009 act amending subsection (2)(h), see section 1 of chapter 344, Session Laws of Colorado 2009.