Free Kansas Casualty practice questions

Answer: B. Whether the commissioner has approved it as expanding the agent's insurance skills and knowledge

K.S.A. 40-4902(a) defines an approved subject or approved course as an educational presentation on topics that include insurance fundamentals, insurance law, policies and coverage, risk management and agency management, delivered through a class, a seminar, computer based training, interactive internet training or something similar, and approved by the commissioner as expanding or developing relevant skills and knowledge. Internet training and agency management are both named in the definition, so neither disqualifies the program, and the definition does not require a classroom. What the definition does require is approval by the commissioner.

Answer: C. When a party who was subpoenaed to appear asks that they be observed

K.S.A. 40-281(b) gives all interested parties a chance to be heard and to present material the commissioner considers relevant, and it relieves the hearing of formal rules of pleading or evidence unless a party subpoenaed to appear requests them. The request must come from a subpoenaed party, so an objection from an interested party who was not subpoenaed does not trigger formal rules. Formality is not automatic, and the commissioner's power to adjourn a hearing by announcement has no bearing on which rules apply.

Answer: A. Lee has violated the Act by permitting an uninsured vehicle to be operated on a highway.

K.S.A. 40-3104(b) bars the owner of an uninsured motor vehicle from permitting it to be operated on a highway or on property open to public use, unless the vehicle is expressly exempt. The owner's violation is the permission itself, so Lee need not be driving and no accident has to occur. The prohibition contains no exception based on the purpose of the trip; its only exception is for an expressly exempt vehicle, and the stem rules that out.

Answer: C. Endowment and annuity benefits, accidental death or dismemberment, and disability income

Under K.S.A. 40-4903(a)(1), the life line covers insurance on human lives, including endowment and annuity benefits, and it may also include benefits for death or dismemberment by accident and for disability income. Liability coverage for injury to others or damage to their property belongs to the casualty line in the same list. Baggage, trip cancellation and evacuation coverage belongs to the travel insurance limited line, and damage to crops from weather, insects or disease belongs to the crop insurance limited line. None of those appears in the life line's definition.

Answer: A. Elected at a general election, for a four-year term

Kan. Stat. Ann. Sec. 40-106(a) provides for electing a commissioner of insurance at the general election held in 1978 and every four years after that, with a four-year term starting on the second Monday in January after the election. The governor's role under that subsection is limited to a vacancy: the governor appoints one of three persons recommended under the referenced vacancy procedure, and the appointee serves only the unexpired term until a successor is elected and qualified. No two-year or six-year term of office appears in the section.

Answer: C. Every insurer writing that liability business in Kansas and every rating organization filing its rates

Every insurer that undertakes to transact automobile and motor vehicle bodily injury and property damage liability insurance in Kansas, and every rating organization that files rates for that insurance, must cooperate in preparing and submitting the apportionment plan. The duty is placed on all such insurers, so it is not limited to volunteers or to Kansas-organized companies. The commissioner appoints the plan's governing board and reviews the plan once it is filed, but the duty to prepare and submit it falls on the insurers and rating organizations.

Answer: C. An apportionment plan submitted to the commissioner by workers compensation insurers

Every insurer that writes workers compensation or employer's liability insurance in Kansas, together with every rating organization filing rates for it, must cooperate in preparing and submitting to the commissioner a plan that equitably apportions among insurers the applicants who in good faith qualify for that coverage but cannot get it through ordinary methods. That plan is the mechanism for this employer. The guaranty association deals with covered claims left unpaid when an insurer becomes insolvent, the automobile insurance plan deals with motor vehicle liability applicants, and a reparations act self-insurance certificate covers motor vehicles, so none of them places workers compensation coverage.

Answer: C. Notice of possible eligibility for coverage through the Kansas automobile insurance plan

When an insurer cancels or, as here, nonrenews a private passenger auto liability policy for underwriting reasons, Kansas requires it to tell the named insured that coverage may be available through the Kansas automobile insurance plan. That notice must accompany or be part of the cancellation or nonrenewal notice and must state that it is given under the statute. The section requires no list of competing insurers, no surcharge offer and no refund schedule.

Answer: D. Independent action by insurers and reasonable price competition among them

Among its stated purposes, the act sets out to encourage independent action and reasonable price competition among insurers, which it calls the most effective way to produce rates meeting its standard against excessive, inadequate or unfairly discriminatory rates. Formal regulatory controls appear in the act's purposes as a backstop for use if independent action and price competition fail, not as the starting point. The act authorizes cooperative action among insurers in rate making and regulates that cooperation to prevent practices tending toward monopoly, but its purpose section does not name compulsory rating organization membership or a single commissioner-set rate as its favored method.

Answer: B. The name and address of a Kansas resident to accept service

K.S.A. 40-956(a)(1) allows a corporation, association, partnership or individual, whether located inside or outside Kansas, to apply for a rating organization license. The application must include its governing documents and rules, a list of its members and subscribers, the name and address of a Kansas resident who will accept service of process and the commissioner's orders under an irrevocable agreement, and a statement of its qualifications. Because out-of-state applicants are expressly allowed, a Kansas office is not a condition. A surety bond and an annual financial statement are not among the items the statute lists.