The Oklahoma Property and Casualty Insurance Guaranty Act defines an "insolvent insurer" as an insurer who has been determined to be insolvent and ordered liquidated by a court of competent jurisdiction. Only when the liquidation order has been entered may the Association begin to pay claims or handle a claim on behalf of a policyholder.
All insurers defined as "member insurers" are required to be members of the Association as a condition to transact business within the State of Oklahoma. A "member insurer" is defined by the Oklahoma Property and Casualty Insurance Guaranty Act.
Publically available financial information, including assessment and refund history, can be found on the NCIGF website at ncigf.org/assessment
An insurance company that is the subject of a court's order placing them in liquidation has been found, after examination of it's financial records, to be insolvent. The court's order usually names a "liquidator" or "receiver" to take over the insolvent insurer's assets and records, including all claim files and documents, and to begin the process of liquidating the insolvent insurer's estate. This is similar to bankruptcy. When a insolvent insurer is placed into liquidation, the court appointed "receiver" or "liquidator" collects the claim related documents and files (open claims only) and forwards those to the guaranty association located in the state of residency of the insured policyholder or, in the case of a workers' compensation claim, the state of residency of the injured worker on the date of injury. You may contact the guaranty association in your state to find out the status of your claim.
The length of time to transfer claims from an insolvent insurer to a guaranty association varies with each insolvency. You may contact your guaranty association at any time to find out the status of your claim.
Your policy with the insolvent insurer, if still in effect on the date of liquidation, will be automatically cancelled no later than the date specified in the court's liquidation order. This is typically 30 days after the date of liquidation. If the policy expiration date is earlier, the coverage will not be extended beyond the expiration date. You may cancel your policy earlier than the automatic cancellation date by contacting your insurance agent. We recommend that you obtain coverage from another insurance company as soon as possible.
The state law which empowers the Oklahoma Property and Casualty Insurance Guaranty Association to pay covered claims under certain policies also specifies certain caps and exclusions. In many cases, claims covered under the policy issued by the insolvent insurer will be covered by the Association. However, only the Association claims examiner, after receiving and reviewing the claim records from the insolvent insurance company, can tell you whether your claim will be paid.
The state law which empowers the Oklahoma Property and Casualty Insurance Guaranty Association to pay covered claims under certain policies also specifies certain caps and exclusions. While the Association has the right to review and contest settlements, releases, compromises, waivers and judgments entered prior to the liquidation, we will consider documented acceptance pre-liquidation of settlement offers that were not paid prior to the liquidation.
In a matter of weeks/months, you will receive an official letter from the court appointed receiver/liquidator with a notice of deadline to file claims against the insolvent carrier estate. If your claim has not been paid by the deadline, we suggest you follow the directions provided in the notice to file a claim against the insolvent estate.
The court appointed receiver/liquidator will begin reviewing policies for unearned premium after they have concluded the transfer of open claims to the guaranty associations. The receiver/liquidator will notify the guaranty association of policies wherein a premium refund may be due. Upon receipt of this information, the guaranty association will contact the policyholder.
