The Vermont Statutes Online

Title 8 : Banking and Insurance

Chapter 105 : Fire and Casualty Insurance

Subchapter 002 : COOPERATIVE FIRE INSURANCE CORPORATIONS

• § 3925. Bylaws; compulsory provisions

  The bylaws of a cooperative insurance corporation to which a certificate of authority is issued shall include substantially the following provisions:

  (1) The corporate powers of such corporation shall be exercised by a board of directors, who shall be not less than five in number. Such directors shall be divided into classes and a portion only elected each year. They shall be elected for a term of not more than four years each and shall choose a president, a secretary, and such other officers as may be deemed necessary. After the first year, the directors shall be chosen at an annual meeting to be held on the second Tuesday of January, unless some other day is designated in such bylaws, at which meeting each person insured shall have one vote and may be entitled to vote by proxy under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the bylaws.

  (2) Such corporation shall keep proper books, including a policy register, in which the secretary shall enter the complete record of all its transactions and those of the board of directors and executive committee. Such books shall at all times show fully and truly the condition, affairs, and business of such corporation and shall be open for inspection by every person insured, each day from nine o’clock in the forenoon to four o’clock in the afternoon, Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays excepted.

  (3) If authorized as an assessment cooperative insurance corporation as outlined in subsection 3920(a) of this title, such corporation may assess for the purposes specified in section 3927 of this title, and the bylaws shall specify the manner of giving notice of such assessments, which may be either personal or by mail, and, if by mail, shall be deemed complete if such notice is deposited, postage prepaid, in the post office at the place where the principal office of the corporation is located, directed to the person insured at his or her last known place of residence or business. A person insured who neglects or refuses to pay his or her assessments, for that reason or for any other reason satisfactory to the board of directors or its executive committee, may be excluded from such corporation and, when thus excluded, the secretary shall cancel or withdraw his or her policy or policies, subject to the cancellation provisions in sections 3879 through 3882 and chapter 113, subchapter 2 of this title, provided that such person shall remain liable for his or her pro rata share of losses and expenses incurred on or before the date of his or her exclusion and for the penalty herein provided, in case an action is brought against him or her. If a member of such corporation is so excluded and his or her policy so canceled, the secretary shall forthwith enter such cancellation and the date thereof on the records kept in the office of the corporation and serve notice of such cancellation on the person so excluded, as provided herein for the service of notice of assessment. However, in such event, the person so excluded or whose policy is so canceled shall be entitled to the repayment of an equitable portion of the unearned paid premium on such policy. The officers of such corporation shall proceed to collect all assessments within 30 days after the expiration of the notice to pay the same. Neglect or refusal on their part so to proceed or to perform any of the duties imposed on them by law shall render them individually liable for the amount lost to any person, due to such neglect or refusal, and an action may be maintained by such person against such officers to collect such amount. An action may be brought by the corporation against a person insured therein to recover all assessments which he or she may neglect or refuse to pay, and there may be recovered from him or her in such action both the amount so assessed, with lawful interest thereon, and, as a penalty for such neglect or refusal, 50 percent of such assessment in addition thereto.

  (4) Any person insured by an assessment cooperative insurance corporation may withdraw therefrom at any time by giving written notice to the corporation, stating the date of withdrawal, paying his or her share of all claims then existing against such corporation, and surrendering his or her policy or policies.

  (5) Any person insured by a nonassessment cooperative insurance corporation may withdraw from it at any time by giving written notice to the corporation stating the date of withdrawal and surrendering his or her policy or policies.

  (6) Persons residing or owning property within any state where the corporation is authorized to do business may be insured upon the same terms and conditions as original members and such other terms as may be prescribed in the bylaws of the corporation.

  (7) The bylaws of such corporation may be amended at any time. (Amended 1981, No. 6, § 7; 1991, No. 184 (Adj. Sess.); 2003, No. 20, § 2; 2017, No. 80, § 8.)