Arizona Revised Statutes Title 20. Insurance § 20-666. Assessments; notification; exemptions; setoffs; refunds

A. The board shall assess each member insurer, as a condition of such insurer's authority to transact insurance in this state, in such amounts as are necessary to pay the obligations of the fund pursuant to § 20-667 subsequent to an insolvency, the expenses of handling covered claims subsequent to an insolvency, the cost of examinations and other expenses authorized pursuant to this article.

B. The assessment of each member insurer shall be in the proportion that the net direct written premiums of the member insurer for the preceding calendar year on the kinds of insurance in the account bears to the net direct written premiums of all member insurers for the preceding calendar year on the kinds of insurance in the account. The board shall notify each member insurer of the assessment not later than thirty days before it is due. No member insurer may be assessed in any year on any account an amount greater than one per cent of such member insurer's net direct written premiums for the preceding calendar year on the kinds of insurance in the account.

C. Except for the workers' compensation insurance account, if the maximum assessment, together with the other assets of the fund in any account, does not provide in any one year in any account an amount sufficient to make all necessary payments from such account, the funds available may be prorated and the unpaid portion shall be paid as soon as funds become available. The board shall pay claims in any order which it may deem reasonable, including the payment of claims as such claims are received from the claimants or in groups or categories of claims.

D. The board may exempt or defer, in whole or in part, the assessment of any member insurer, if the assessment would cause the member insurer's financial statement to reflect amounts of capital or surplus less than the minimum amounts required for a certificate of authority by any jurisdiction in which the member insurer is authorized to transact insurance.

E. Each member insurer serving as a servicing facility may set off against any assessment, authorized payments made on covered claims and expenses incurred in the payment of such claims by the member insurer if they are chargeable to the account for which the assessment is made.

F. In addition to all other assessments, the board may assess each member insurer in an amount not to exceed two hundred dollars per year for the purpose of paying for operating expenses of the board and employees of the board.

G. If, at the end of any calendar year, the board finds that the assets of the fund in any account exceed the liabilities of such account as estimated by the board for the coming year, the board may refund to the member insurers in proportion to the contribution of each member insurer to such account the amount by which the assets of the account exceed the liabilities. All refunds will be contingent upon the return of a member insurer's certificate(s) of contribution and will be in an amount equal to the premium tax offset value of the relinquished certificate.