23 CAR Part 122 — Prepaid Funeral Benefits Contracts Recovery Fund Fees

Chapter I

Subchapter B

Subpart 1

23 CAR § 122-101 Purpose {#sec-23-car-122-101 omnilex-key=us-ar-regs-official--title-23-part-122--23 CAR § 122-101}

23 CAR § 122-101. Purpose.

(a) The purpose of this part is to increase the five-dollar per-contract fee charged on the sale of each prepaid funeral benefits contract to ten dollars ($10.00) per contract.

(b) Pursuant to Arkansas Code § 23-40-119(d)(2)(A)(i), the Insurance Commissioner may by rule eliminate, reduce, suspend, or increase the per-contract fee or the portion of the per-contract fee allotted to the Prepaid Funeral Contracts Recovery Program Fund.

(c) The per-contract fees fund the Prepaid Funeral Contracts Recovery Program, established under Arkansas Code § 23-40-119(d), to provide reparations to consumers in the event a prepaid funeral organization becomes insolvent or has significant trust fund shortages.

(d) The commissioner has chosen to increase the per-contract fee an additional five dollars ($5.00) to increase the reserves of the fund to adequately safeguard against future, significant trust fund shortages or insolvencies by prepaid funeral benefit organizations.

(e) The commissioner desires to impose a ten-dollar fee for five (5) years from the effective date of this part to meet current and anticipated requests for potential reparation claims for purchasers from organizations declared insolvent or found deficient under Arkansas Code § 23-40-119(f)(1)(A) or § 23-40-119(f)(1)(B).

23 CAR § 122-102 Applicability and scope {#sec-23-car-122-102 omnilex-key=us-ar-regs-official--title-23-part-122--23 CAR § 122-102}

23 CAR § 122-102. Applicability and scope.

This part shall apply to all persons engaged in the business of selling prepaid funeral benefits contracts under the Arkansas Prepaid Funeral Benefits Law, Arkansas Code § 23-40-101 et seq., as amended by Acts 1995, No. 852.

23 CAR § 122-103 Per-contract fee amounts {#sec-23-car-122-103 omnilex-key=us-ar-regs-official--title-23-part-122--23 CAR § 122-103}

23 CAR § 122-103. Per-contract fee amounts.

(a) Effective for all prepaid funeral benefits contracts executed on and after January 1, 2013, until January 1, 2018, each licensee selling a prepaid funeral benefits contract shall remit to the State Insurance Department a one-time per-contract fee of not less than ten dollars ($10.00) for each prepaid funeral benefits contract, including any amendments thereto, entered into by the licensee, whether cash or trust funded or funded by an insurance policy or annuity contract.

(b) A five-dollar increase in the per-contract fees is needed during the above described period, from January 1, 2013, to January 1, 2018, to increase funds in the Prepaid Funeral Contracts Recovery Program to safely meet potential reparation claims for purchasers from organizations declared insolvent or found deficient under Arkansas Code § 23-40-119(f)(1)(A) or § 23-40-119(f)(1)(B).

(c) For prepaid funeral benefit contracts executed after January 1, 2018, the one-time per­contract fee shall revert to a fee of five dollars ($5.00) per contract.