Insurance Act - Singapore Statutes Online

Insurance Act

(CHAPTER 142)

(Original Enactment: Act 46 of 1966)

REVISED EDITION 2002

(31st December 2002)

An Act for the regulation of insurance business and insurance intermediaries in Singapore, and for other purposes relating thereto or connected therewith.

[1st January 1967]

PART I

PRELIMINARY

Short title

1. This Act may be cited as the Insurance Act.

Interpretation

1A. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —

“accounting period”, relation to any insurer, means the period beginning from the commencement of its business in Singapore or 1st January of any year, as the case may be, and ending on 31st December of that year for which accounts relating to the insurance business carried on by the insurer in Singapore are kept and for which an insurance fund has been established under this Act, unless otherwise allowed by the Authority.

“actuary” means a Fellow of any prescribed professional body or institute;

“advocate and solicitor” means an advocate and solicitor of the Supreme Court or a foreign lawyer as defined in section 130A of the Legal Profession Act (Cap. 161);

“authorised reinsurer” means an insurer which is for the time being authorised under section 8A;

[23/2003 wef 01/01/2004]

“Authority” means the Monetary Authority of Singapore established under the Monetary Authority of Singapore Act (Cap. 186);

“captive insurer” means an insurer whose registration is restricted to the carrying on of business which consists principally of risks of its related corporations, and includes a rent-a-captive insurer;

“company” has the same meaning as in section 4(1) of the Companies Act (Cap. 50);

[23/2003 wef 01/01/2004]

“corporation” has the same meaning as in section 4(1) of the Companies Act;

[23/2003 wef 01/01/2004]

“direct insurance broker” means a person who is for the time being registered under section 35X in respect of insurance policies relating to general business and long-term accident and health policies, other than insurance policies relating to reinsurance business;

[23/2003 wef 01/01/2004]

“direct insurer” means any insurer other than a reinsurer , an authorised reinsurer or a captive insurer;

“director” has the same meaning as in section 4(1) of the Companies Act (Cap. 50);

“directions” includes directives and notices;

[23/2003 wef 01/01/2004]

“exempt financial adviser” has the same meaning as in the Financial Advisers Act (Cap. 110);

“financial advisory service” has the same meaning as in section 2(1) of the Financial Advisers Act;

[23/2003 wef 01/01/2004]

“financial year” has the same meaning as in section 4(1) of the Companies Act;

“general reinsurance broker” means a person who is for the time being registered under section 35X in respect of reinsurance of liabilities under insurance policies relating to general business;

“insurance agent” means a person who is or has been carrying on insurance business in Singapore as an agent for one or more insurers and includes an agent of a foreign insurer carrying on insurance business in Singapore under a foreign insurer scheme under Part IIA.

“insurance broker” means a person who is or has been carrying on insurance business in Singapore as an agent for insureds or intending insureds in respect of —

(a)

insurance policies relating to general business and long-term accident and health policies, other than insurance policies relating to reinsurance business; or

(b)

reinsurance of liabilities under insurance policies relating to —

(i)	life business; or
(ii)	general business; [23/2003 wef 01/01/2004]

“insurance intermediary” means a person who, as an agent for one or more insurers or as an agent for insureds or intending insureds, arranges contracts of insurance in Singapore;

“insured” includes reinsured and “insurer” includes reinsurer;

“licensed financial adviser” means a holder of a financial adviser’s licence under the Financial Advisers Act;

“life reinsurance broker” means a person who is for the time being registered under section 35X in respect of reinsurance of liabilities under insurance policies relating to life business;

“registered insurance broker” means an insurance broker who is for the time being registered under section 35X;

“reinsurer” means an insurer whose registration is restricted to the carrying on of reinsurance business;

“related corporation” has the same meaning as in section 4(1) of the Companies Act (Cap. 50);

[23/2003 wef 01/01/2004]

“representative”, in relation to a licensed financial adviser or exempt financial adviser, has the same meaning as in the Financial Advisers Act (Cap. 110);

“registered insurer” means an insurer which is for the time being registered under section 8;

“statutory balance-sheet” and “statutory valuation” mean respectively a balance-sheet lodged with the Authority in order to comply with section 36(1), and a valuation of which the results are shown in a valuation balance-sheet lodged with it on an actuarial investigation made in order to comply with section 37(1).

[65

[32/93]

Classification of insurance business and construction of references to matters connected with insurance

2.—(1) For the purposes of this Act, insurance business shall be divided into 2 classes —

(a)

life business, which means all insurance business concerned with life policies, long-term accident and health policies, or both; and

[23/2003 wef 01/01/2004]

(b)

general business, that is to say, all insurance business which is not life business, and shall include the effecting and carrying out by any person, not being a person licensed under the Monetary Authority of Singapore Act (Cap. 186), Banking Act (Cap. 19), Finance Companies Act (Cap. 108) or Securities and Futures Act (Cap. 289); of contracts for fidelity bonds, performance bonds, administration bonds, bail bonds or customs bonds or similar contracts of guarantee, being contracts effected by way of business (and not merely incidental to some other business carried on by the person effecting them) in return for the payment of one or more premiums.

[32/93; 41/2001]

(2) For the purposes of this Act, the reinsurance of liabilities under insurance policies shall be treated as insurance business of the class and type to which the policies would have belonged if they had been issued by the reinsurer or authorised reinsurer.

(3) Notwithstanding anything in subsections (1) and (2), if the Authority is satisfied that any part of an insurer’s business which belongs to a particular class or type of insurance business ought in the insurer’s case to be treated as belonging to another class or type, the Authority may direct that it shall be so treated for the purposes of this Act.

[11/86]

(4) For the purposes of this Act, references to carrying on insurance business include the carrying it on through an agent, or as agent; but “insurer” does not include an insurance agent as such nor, in the case of a person who is both insurer and insurance agent, have reference to business done as an insurance agent.

(5) For the purposes of this Act and subject to subsection (5A), “Singapore insurer” means a person who is or has been carrying on insurance business in Singapore as an insurer; and references to carrying on insurance business, or any class of insurance business, in Singapore mean the receipt of proposals for, or issuing of, policies in Singapore or the collection or receipt in Singapore of premiums on insurance policies.

[11/86; 30/99]

(5A) A person shall not be treated as carrying on insurance business, or any class of insurance business, in Singapore as an insurer if, apart from the collection or receipt of premiums in Singapore, he —

(a)	carries out all activities in relation to his reinsurance business outside Singapore; and
(b)	does not have any commercial or physical presence in Singapore for the purpose of carrying on such reinsurance business. [23/2003 wef 01/01/2004]

(6) The operation, otherwise than for profit, of a scheme or arrangement relating to service in particular offices or employments, and having for its object or one of its objects to make provision in respect of persons serving therein against future retirement or partial retirement, or against future termination of service through death or disability, or against similar matters, shall not be treated for the purposes of this Act as carrying on the business of insurance.

(7) For the purposes of this Act, no society registered under the Societies Act (Cap. 311) or organisation registered under the Mutual Benefit Organisations Act (Cap. 191) shall be deemed to be an insurer, and no agent for such a society, organisation or company shall as such be deemed to be an insurance agent; nor shall references in this Act to a policy or contract of insurance apply to any policy or contract whereby an insurance is effected with such a society or organisation.

[50/75; 41/2001]

(8) For the purposes of this Act —

(a)	any reference to the last statutory balance-sheet or to the last statutory valuation shall be construed as referring to that last prepared or made and not superseded by the arrival of the date as at which another is to be prepared or made; and
(b)	any reference to there being shown in a statutory balance-sheet or on a statutory valuation a surplus of assets over liabilities of an insurance fund shall be construed accordingly by reference to the prescribed form of balance-sheet or valuation balance-sheet and to the rules to be followed under this Act and the regulations in preparing it.

(9) The definitions set out in the First Schedule shall have effect for the construction of references in this Act to policies of insurance, policy owners and policy moneys.

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