(a) Any authorized agency may in writing request any insurance company to release information relative to any investigation it has made concerning a loss or potential loss due to fire of suspicious or incendiary origin which shall include but not be limited to: (1) An insurance policy relative to such loss, (2) policy premium records, (3) history of previous claims, and (4) other relevant material relating to such loss or potential loss.

(b) If any insurance company has reason to suspect that a fire loss to its insured's real or personal property was caused by incendiary means, the company shall furnish any authorized agency with all relevant material acquired during its investigation of the fire loss, cooperate with and take such action as may be requested of it by the authorized agency and permit any person ordered by a court to inspect any of its records pertaining to the policy and the loss. Such insurance company may request any authorized agency to release information relative to any investigation it has made concerning any such fire loss of suspicious or incendiary origin.

(c) No insurance company, authorized agency or person who furnished information on behalf of such company or agency, shall be liable for damages in a civil action or subject to criminal prosecution for any oral or written statement made or any other action taken that is necessary to supply information requested pursuant to this section, unless there is fraud, actual malice or conduct relating to the release of such information which constitutes a criminal act.

(d) Except as provided in subsection (h) of this section, any authorized agency receiving any information furnished pursuant to this section shall hold the information in confidence until such time as its release is required pursuant to a criminal or civil proceeding.

(e) Any authorized agency personnel may be required to testify as to any information in the agency's possession regarding the fire loss of real or personal property in any civil action in which any person seeks recovery under a policy against an insurance company for the fire loss.

(f) For the purposes of this section, “authorized agency” means: (1) The State Fire Marshal or the local fire marshal when authorized or charged with the investigation of fires at the place where the fire actually took place; and (2) the Insurance Commissioner.

(g) For the purposes of this section, “insurance company” shall include organizations issuing insurance policies in this state pursuant to the provisions of section 38a-328.

(h) Any authorized agency provided with information pursuant to subsection (a) or (b) of this section, may, in furtherance of its own purposes, release any information in its possession to any other authorized agency.

(i) The provisions of this section shall apply to fire losses occurring on or after October 1, 1979.

(P.A. 77-139, S. 1, 2; P.A. 79-367; P.A. 80-482, S. 3, 345, 348; P.A. 81-425; 81-472, S. 155, 159; P.A. 04-10, S. 5.)

History: P.A. 79-367 inserted new Subsec. (f) defining “authorized agency”, redesignating former Subsec. (f) as (g) and changing applicable date from July 1, 1977, to October 1, 1979, substituted references to authorized agencies for references to state fire marshal, fire officials, etc., and made provisions applicable to potential loss as well as actual loss; P.A. 80-482 made division of insurance an independent department as it was prior to P.A. 77-614, retaining insurance commissioner as its head, and abolished the department of business regulation created by P.A. 77-614; P.A. 81-425 inserted new Subsecs. (g) and (h) adding definition of “insurance company” and permitting any authorized agency to release information in its possession to any other authorized agency and relettered former Subsec. (g) accordingly; P.A. 81-472 made technical changes; Sec. 38-114h transferred to Sec. 38a-318 in 1991; P.A. 04-10 inserted “and” in Subsec. (f).

Private investigators for insurance companies were not agents of the state because of reporting requirement of statute and their entry into defendant's business premises did not constitute an illegal search under federal and state constitutions. 40 CA 789. Defendants were required pursuant to Subsec. (b) to turn over to the authorities all relevant material acquired during their investigation of suspicious fires, and because the record revealed nothing that could be considered malicious in the disclosure by defendants, the protections afforded under Subsec. (c) applied to bar a claim of malicious prosecution against defendants. 118 CA 480.