Pennsylvania Statutes Title 40 P.S. Insurance § 477b. Approval of policies, contracts, etc.; prohibiting the use thereof unless approved; judicial review; penalty

It shall be unlawful for any insurance company, association, or exchange, including domestic mutual fire insurance companies, doing business in this Commonwealth, to issue, sell, or dispose of any policy, contract, or certificate, covering life, health, accident, personal liability, fire, marine, title, and all forms of casualty insurance, or contracts pertaining to pure endowments or annuities, or any other contracts of insurance, or use applications, riders, or endorsements, in connection therewith, until the forms of the same have been submitted to and formally approved by the Insurance Commissioner, and copies filed in the Insurance Department, except riders and endorsements relating to the manner of distribution of benefits, and to the reservation of rights and benefits under any such policy, and used at the request of the individual policyholder, and except any forms which, in the opinion of the Insurance Commissioner, do not require his approval.

Forms so filed, forms filed under the act, approved the eleventh day of May, one thousand nine hundred forty-nine (Pamphlet Laws 1210),  1 or any amendments thereof, or filed under any other section of this law, shall be deemed approved at the expiration of thirty (30) days after filing, unless earlier approved or disapproved by the Insurance Commissioner. The Insurance Commissioner by written notice to the insurer may, within such thirty-day period, extend the period for approval or disapproval for an additional thirty (30) days.

Such approval shall become void upon any subsequent notice of disapproval from the Insurance Commissioner, or upon any subsequent withdrawal of license or refusal of the Insurance Commissioner to relicense any such company, association, or exchange, or upon the subsequent passage of an act which would no longer make such contracts or related forms a fit subject for approval, except that this provision shall not affect contracts issued prior thereto.

Upon any disapproval, the Insurance Commissioner shall notify the insurer in writing, specifying the reason for such disapproval; and within thirty (30) days from the date of mailing of such notice to the insurer, such insurer may make written application to the Insurance Commissioner for a hearing thereon, and such hearing shall be held within thirty (30) days after receipt of such application. The procedure before the Insurance Commissioner shall be in accordance with the adjudication procedure set forth in the “Administrative Agency Law,” and the insurer shall be entitled to the judicial review as provided for in said law.

Any person, corporation, insurance company, exchange, order, or society that shall, either as principal or agent, issue, or cause to be issued, any policy or contract of insurance within the Commonwealth, contrary to this section, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be sentenced to pay a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500.00).

Upon satisfactory evidence of the violation of this section by any such person, corporation, insurance company, exchange, order, or society, the Insurance Commissioner may, in his discretion, pursue any one or more of the following courses of action: (1) Suspend or revoke the license of such offending person, corporation, insurance company, exchange, order or society; (2) refuse, for a period of not to exceed one year thereafter, to issue a new license to such person, corporation, insurance company, exchange, order, or society; (3) impose a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) for each and every act in violation of this act.