New Law Amends the Insurance Code to ‘Put Kids First’
NewHouse Bill 1406 (“HEA 1406”) provides a boost to child support advocates through amendments to the insurance code and expanded powers of the Commissioner of the Indiana Department of Insurance. HEA 1406 amends I.C. 27-1-15.6-29 and I.C. 27-10-3-20, effective July 1, 2018, to require the Commissioner of Insurance to place the license of an insurance producer, bail agent or recovery agent on “probationary status” when an Order from the Child Support Bureau is received which shows outstanding child support. The person’s license will be suspended by the Commissioner if notice is not received by the Child Support Bureau under I.C. 31-25-4-32(m) or I.C. 31-25-4-34(g) within twenty (20) days after the date of the notice. The Commissioner may not reinstate any license placed on probationary status or suspended until the Commissioner receives notice from the Child Support Bureau that the person has addressed the delinquency. The amended Indiana code 27-1-15.6-29 reads as follows:
- IC 31-25-4-32(i) or IC 31-25-4-34(d), the commissioner shall place on probationary status any license issued under this article and held by the person who is the subject of the order. The commissioner shall send the person a notice that does the following:
(1) States that the person's license has been placed on probationary status.
(2) States that the person's license will be suspended if the commissioner has not received notice from the bureau under IC 31-25-4-32(m) or IC 31-25-4-34(g) within twenty (20) days after the date of the notice.
(3) Describes the amount of child support that the person is in arrears.
(4) Explains the procedures to:
(A) pay the person's child support arrearage in full;and
(B) establish a payment plan with the bureau to pay the arrearage, which must include an income withholding order under IC 31-16-15-2 or IC 31-16-15-2.5.
(b) If the commissioner has not received notice from the bureau under IC 31-25-4-32(m) or IC 31-25-4-34(g) within twenty (20) days after the date of the notice in subsection (a), the commissioner shall suspend the license issued to the person under this article.
(c) The commissioner may not reinstate any license placed on probationary status or suspended under this section until the commissioner receives a notice from the bureau under IC 31-25-4-32(m) or IC 31-25-4-34(g) that the person has addressed the delinquency.
In all, this new law expands the power of the Commissioner of the Indiana Department of Insurance and encourages the payment of child support by insurance producers.
