(a) If a domiciliary liquidator has not been appointed, the director or his designee may apply to the circuit court by verified petition for an order directing him to act as conservator to conserve the property of an alien insurer not domiciled in this State or a foreign insurer on any one or more of the following grounds:

(1) Any of the grounds in Section 38-27-310.

(2) That any of its property has been sequestered by official action in its domiciliary state or in any other state.

(3) That enough of its property has been sequestered in a foreign country to give reasonable cause to fear that the insurer is or may become insolvent.

(4)(i) That its certificate of authority to do business in this State has been revoked or that none was ever issued; and

(ii) That there are residents of this State with outstanding claims or outstanding policies.

(b) When an order is sought under subsection (a) of this section, the court shall cause the insurer to be given reasonable notice and time to respond.

(c) The court may issue the order in whatever terms it considers appropriate. The filing or recording of the order with the clerk of court or the register of deeds of the county in which the principal business of the company is located or the county in which its principal office or place of business is located imparts the same notice which a deed, bill of sale, or other evidence of title duly filed or recorded with that office would have imparted.

(d) The conservator may at any time petition for, and the court may grant, an order under Section 38-27-920 to liquidate assets of a foreign or alien insurer under conservation or, if appropriate, for an order under Section 38-27-940, to be appointed ancillary receiver.

(e) The conservator may at any time petition the court for an order terminating conservation of an insurer. If the court finds that the conservation is no longer necessary, it shall order that the insurer be restored to possession of its property and the control of its business. The court may also make that finding and issue the order at any time upon motion of any interested party, but, if the motion is denied, all costs must be assessed against the interested party.

HISTORY: Former 1976 Code Section 38-5-2410 [1982 Act No. 384, Section 50] recodified as Section 38-27-910 by 1987 Act No. 155, Section 1; 1993 Act No. 181, Section 626; 1997 Act No. 34, Section 1.