§ 27-20.7-5. Maintenance of records. (a) Every administrator shall maintain and make available to the insurer complete books and records of all transactions performed on behalf of the insurer. The books and records shall be maintained in accordance with prudent standards of insurance record keeping and must be maintained for a period of not less than five (5) years from the date of their creation.

(b) The commissioner shall have access to books and records maintained by an administrator for the purposes of examination, audit and inspection. Any documents, materials or other information in the possession or control of the department of business regulation that are furnished by a third party administrator, insurer, producer, or an employee or agent acting on behalf of the third party administrator, insurer or producer, or obtained by the commissioner in an investigation, shall be confidential by law and privileged, shall not be subject to chapter 2 of title 38, shall not be subject to subpoena, and shall not be subject to discovery or admissible in evidence in any private civil action. The commissioner is nevertheless authorized to use the documents, materials or other information in the furtherance of any regulatory or legal action brought as a part of the commissioner's official duties.

(c) Neither the commissioner nor any person who received documents, materials or other information while acting under the authority of the commissioner shall be permitted or required to testify in any private civil action concerning any confidential documents, materials or information subject to subsection (b) of this section.

(d) In order to assist in the performance of the commissioner's duties, the commissioner:

(1) May share documents, materials or other information, including the confidential and privileged documents, materials or information subject to subsection (b) of this section, with other state or federal regulatory agencies, with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, its affiliates or subsidiaries, and with state, federal and international law enforcement authorities, provided that the recipient agrees to maintain the confidential and privileged status of the document, material or other information; and

(2) May receive documents, materials or information, including confidential and privileged documents, materials or information, from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, it affiliates or subsidiaries, and from regulatory and law enforcement officials or other foreign or domestic jurisdictions, and shall maintain as confidential or privileged any document, material or information received with notice or the understanding that it is confidential or privileged under the laws of the jurisdiction that is the source of the document, material or information.

(e) No waiver of any applicable privilege or claim of confidentiality in the documents, materials or information shall occur as a result of disclosure to the commissioner under this section or as a result of sharing as authorized in subsection (d) of this section.

(f) Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit the insurance commissioner from releasing final, adjudicated actions including for cause terminations that are open to public inspection pursuant to chapter 2 of title 38 to a database or other clearinghouse service maintained by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, its affiliates or subsidiaries of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

(g) The insurer shall own the records generated by the administrator pertaining to the insurer. The administrator shall retain the right to continuing access to books and records to permit the administrator to fulfill all of its contractual obligations to insured parties, claimants and the insurer.

(h) In the event the insurer and the administrator cancel their agreement, notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, the administrator may, by written agreement with the insurer, transfer all records to a new administrator rather than retain them for five (5) years. In those cases, the new administrator shall acknowledge, in writing, that it is responsible for retaining the records of the prior administrator as required in subsection (a) of this section.

History of Section. (P.L. 2001, ch. 83, § 1; P.L. 2001, ch. 242, § 1.)