§ 4502. Exemption of certain societies
(a) Nothing contained in this chapter shall be so construed as to affect or apply to:
(1) grand or subordinate lodges of societies, orders, or associations now doing business
in this State that provide benefits exclusively through local or subordinate lodges;
(2) orders, societies, or associations that admit to membership only persons engaged in
one or more crafts or hazardous occupations, in the same or similar lines of business,
insuring only their own members, their families, and descendants of members, and the
ladies’ societies, or ladies’ auxiliaries to the orders, societies, or associations;
(3) domestic societies that limit their membership to employees of a particular city or
town, designated firm, business house, or corporation that provide for a death benefit
of not more than $400.00 or disability benefits of not more than $350.00 to any person
in any one year, or both; or
(4) domestic societies or associations of a purely religious, charitable, or benevolent
description, which provide for a death benefit of not more than $400.00 or for disability
benefits of not more than $350.00 to any one person in any one year, or both.
(b) A society or association described in subdivision (a)(3) or (4) of this section that
provides for death or disability benefits for which benefit certificates are issued,
and society or association included in subdivision (a)(4) that has more than 1,000
members, is not exempted from the provisions of this chapter but shall comply with
all its requirements.
(c) No society that, by the provisions of this section, is exempt from the requirements
of this chapter, except any society described in subdivision (a)(2) of this section,
shall give or allow, or promise to give or allow to any person any compensation for
procuring new members.
(d) A society that provides for benefits in case of death or disability resulting solely
from accident and that does not obligate itself to pay natural death or sick benefits
has all of the privileges and is subject to all the applicable provisions and rules
of this chapter, except that the provisions of this chapter relating to medical examination,
valuations of benefit certificates, and incontestability do not apply to the society.
(e) The Commissioner of Financial Regulation may require from any society or association,
by examination or otherwise, such information as will enable him or her to determine
whether the society or association is exempt from the provisions of this chapter.
(f) Societies, exempted under the provisions of this section, shall also be exempt from
all other provisions of the insurance laws of this State. (Added 1959, No. 197, § 42, eff. Nov. 22, 1959; amended 1989, No. 225 (Adj. Sess.), § 25(b); 1995, No. 180 (Adj. Sess.), § 38(a); 2011, No. 78 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. April 2, 2012; 2021, No. 105 (Adj. Sess.), § 203, eff. July 1, 2022.)