(a) Unless the court otherwise directs, the liquidator shall give or cause to be given notice of the liquidation order as soon as possible: (1) By first class mail and electronic communication to the Insurance Commissioner of each jurisdiction in which the insurer is doing business; (2) by first class mail to any guaranty association which is or may become obligated as a result of the liquidation; (3) by first class mail to all the insurer's agents, brokers or producers of record, with current appointments or current licenses to represent the insurer, and to all other agents, brokers or producers as the liquidator deems appropriate at their last-known address; (4) by first class mail to all persons known or reasonably expected to have claims against the insurer, including all policyholders and reinsurers, at their last-known addresses as indicated by the records of the insurer; and (5) by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the town in which the insurer has its principal place of business and in such other locations as the liquidator deems appropriate.

(b) Whenever the Insurance Commissioner of this state is appointed receiver for an insurer domiciled in another state, the notice of the liquidation order given by the domiciliary liquidator in compliance with the laws of that state shall be sufficient notice, and the ancillary receiver shall not be required to give any notice unless the domiciliary liquidator fails to give notice. The ancillary receiver may request that the domiciliary liquidator's notice mention the existence of any applicable guaranty association laws in this state, and inform claimants that any claims which the guaranty association of this state may cover may be filed with the domiciliary liquidator and will be forwarded to the applicable guaranty association. If notice by the domiciliary liquidator in another state does not mention the possibility of guaranty association coverage in this state, then the ancillary receiver shall arrange to give notice to those who may have rights under applicable guaranty association laws in this state, together with a citation to the guaranty association statute in this state. The notice may include a brief summary of claimant's rights under the guaranty association laws in this state and any other information deemed appropriate.

(c) Except as otherwise established by the liquidator with the approval of the court, notice to potential claimants under subsection (a) of this section shall require claimants to file with the liquidator their claims together with proper proofs specified in section 38a-938, on or before a date the liquidator shall specify in the notice. The liquidator need not require persons claiming cash surrender values or other investment values in life insurance and annuities to file a claim. All claimants shall have a duty to keep the liquidator informed of any changes of address.

(d) (1) Notice under subsection (a) to agents of the insurer and to potential claimants who are policyholders shall include, where applicable, notice that coverage by state guaranty associations may be available for all or part of policy benefits in accordance with applicable state guaranty laws.

(2) The liquidator shall promptly provide to the guaranty associations such information concerning the identities and addresses of such policyholders and their policy coverages as may be within the liquidator's possession or control, and otherwise cooperate with guaranty associations to assist them in providing to such policyholders timely notice of the guaranty associations' coverage of policy benefits, including, as applicable, coverage of claims and continuation or termination of coverages.

(e) If notice is given in accordance with this section, the distribution of assets of the insurer under sections 38a-903 to 38a-961, inclusive, shall be conclusive with respect to all claimants, whether or not they received notice.

(f) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (a) to (e), inclusive, of this section, the liquidator shall have no duty to locate any person if no address is found in the records of the insurer, or if mailings are returned to the liquidator because of an inability to deliver at the address shown in the company's books and records. In such circumstances the notice by publication as required by this chapter, or actual notice received shall be sufficient notice. Written certification by the liquidator or other knowledgeable person acting for the liquidator, that the notices were deposited in the United States mail, postage prepaid, shall be prima facie evidence of mailing and receipt.

(g) Upon application of the liquidator and for good cause shown, the court may find that notice by publication as required in this section is sufficient notice to those persons holding an occurrence policy which expired more than four years prior to the entry of the order of liquidation, and under which there are no pending claims; or the court may order such notice to those persons as it deems appropriate.

(P.A. 79-382, S. 22; P.A. 92-93, S. 17; P.A. 98-214, S. 14.)

History: Sec. 38-442 transferred to Sec. 38a-924 in 1991; P.A. 92-93 inserted new Subsec. (c) re notice requirements and guaranty association involvement and relettered former Subsec. (c) as (d); P.A. 98-214 amended Subdiv. (a)(1) to substitute “electronic communication” for “either by telegram or telephone”, deleted “foreign guaranty association” in Subdiv. (2), replaced “all insurance agents of the insurer” with list of agents, brokers or producers of records, et al., and amended Subdiv. (a)(4) to include reinsurers, inserted new Subsec. (b) re notice when the Insurance Commissioner is appointed receiver for an insurer domiciled in another state, redesignated existing Subsecs. (b), (c) and (d) as Subsecs. (c), (d) and (e), respectively, amending newly designated Subsec. (c) to allow exception as otherwise established by liquidator with the approval of the court and substitute “proofs specified in” for “proofs thereof pursuant to”, added new Subsec. (f) notwithstanding Subsecs. (a) to (e) re liquidator's duty to locate persons, and added new Subsec. (g) re court authority to find that notice by publication is sufficient notice in certain events.