PART VI | Payment of policy claims without probate |
| 28. For the purposes of section 61 of the Act, $150,000 is prescribed as the amount of life and personal accident policy moneys which may be paid without probate or letters of administration or without having been included in a schedule or certificate under section 44(2) of the Estate Duty Act (Cap. 96). [S 466/2002 wef 01/10/2002] |
| Payment of surrender value of policies |
| 29.—(1) Where a life policy is purchased with any provident or pension fund moneys, section 60(1) of the Act shall have effect. [S 466/2002 wef 01/10/2002] | (2) Where the policy owner, at the time of giving notice under section 60(1) of the Act, is below the age of 55 years or other normal age of retirement, the moneys that become payable in respect of the surrender value of the life policy shall, at the option of the policy owner, be paid into the Central Provident Fund or any pension or provident fund approved by the Comptroller of Income Tax for the credit of the person entitled to such moneys. [S 466/2002 wef 01/10/2002] |
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| Free look for life policies |
29A.—(1) No registered insurer shall, in the course of carrying on insurance business in Singapore, issue a life policy (other than an investment-linked life insurance policy) without a clause providing that the policy owner —| (a) | shall have 14 days from the date of receipt of the policy to examine the terms and conditions of the policy; and | | (b) | may terminate the policy within the 14 day period referred to sub-paragraph (a). |
| (2) Where a policy is terminated under paragraph (1)(b) any sum which the policy owner had paid in connection with the policy (whether by way of premium or otherwise) shall be returned by the insurer to the policy owner except any expenses incurred by the insurer in underwriting the policy. |
| (3) In this regulation, "investment-linked life insurance policy" has the same meaning as in regulation 2 of the Insurance (Investment-Linked Life Insurance) Regulations (Rg 4). |
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| 30. [Deleted by S 583/99 wef 31/12/1999] |
| Particulars to be advertised in connection with transfer of business |
31. Where an application is to be made to the High Court for confirmation of a scheme under section 47 of the Act, the notice to be published under section 48(1)(b) of the Act shall give the following particulars in addition to stating the intention to apply to the High Court for confirmation of the scheme: | (a) | the names of the insurers and the general nature and effect of the scheme; | | (b) | the addresses at which, and the period during which, the insurers concerned would keep copies of the scheme available for inspection in Singapore by members and policy owners of those insurers and, if they are not available for inspection by all members and policy owners, the members and policy owners for whose inspection they are available; and | | (c) | the policy owners (if any) who would have copies of the scheme transmitted to them by the insurers and the policy owners (if any) who, under any direction of the High Court applied for or to be applied for, would not have copies so transmitted to them. |
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32.—(1) Except as provided in paragraph (4), a registered insurer, other than a captive insurer or a Protection and Indemnity Club, shall pay to the Authority the following annual fees:| (a) | for carrying on life insurance business, other than life reinsurance business —| (i) | in the case of an insurer with total assets not exceeding $2 billion, a fee of $75,000; and | | (ii) | in the case of an insurer with total assets exceeding $2 billion, a fee of $120,000; |
| | (b) | for carrying on general insurance business, other than general reinsurance business —| (i) | in the case of an insurer with gross premiums not exceeding $100 million, a fee of $60,000; and | | (ii) | in the case of an insurer with gross premiums exceeding $100 million, a fee of $80,000; |
| | (c) | for carrying on life reinsurance business —| (i) | in the case of a reinsurer with gross premiums not exceeding $100 million, a fee of $30,000; and | | (ii) | in the case of a reinsurer with gross premiums exceeding $100 million, a fee of $40,000; |
| | (d) | for carrying on general reinsurance business —| (i) | in the case of a reinsurer with gross premiums not exceeding $100 million, a fee of $30,000; and | | (ii) | in the case of a reinsurer with gross premiums exceeding $100 million, a fee of $40,000; and |
| | (e) | for carrying on any combination of the insurance business referred to in sub-paragraphs (a) to (d), the aggregate of the respective fees. |
| (2) A captive insurer shall pay to the Authority an annual fee of $5,000. |
| (3) A Protection and Indemnity Club shall pay to the Authority an annual fee of $50,000. |
(4) A registered insurer, other than a captive insurer or a Protection and Indemnity Club, which has not carried on the relevant type of insurance business in Singapore referred to in paragraph (1) previously, or which has carried on the relevant type of insurance business referred to in paragraph (1) for less than one accounting period, and has not lodged the relevant statements relating to total assets or gross premiums under section 36 of the Act, shall pay the following fees:| (a) | for carrying on life insurance business, other than life reinsurance business, a fee of $75,000; | | (b) | for carrying on general insurance business, other than general reinsurance business, a fee of $60,000; | | (c) | for carrying on life reinsurance business, a fee of $30,000; | | (d) | for carrying on general reinsurance business, a fee of $30,000; | | (e) | for carrying on any combination of the insurance business referred to in sub-paragraphs (a) to (d), the aggregate of the respective fees. |
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| (5) Except as provided in paragraph (6), the fees payable under paragraphs (1) to (4) shall be paid to the Authority on or before 1st January of each year. |
| (6) Where an insurer has not previously carried on insurance business in Singapore, or has not previously carried on the relevant type of insurance business in Singapore, the fees payable under paragraphs (1) to (4) shall be paid to the Authority before the insurer commences carrying on insurance business in Singapore or before the insurer commences carrying on the relevant type of insurance business in Singapore, as the case may be. |
| (7) For the purposes of paragraph (1), the total assets or gross premiums of any registered insurer shall include the total assets or gross premiums, as the case may be, of any other registered insurer (other than captive insurers or Protection and Indemnity Clubs) which insurance business had been totally acquired by the registered insurer before 1st January of the year for which the fees are to be paid. |
| (8) Where a registered insurer enters into an agreement to purchase the whole of the insurance business of one or more registered insurers (referred to in this regulation as the potential constituent insurer), but the agreement is only to take effect on or after 1st January of the next year, the registered insurer may, before the date that the agreement is to take effect, apply to the Authority for the exemption of part of the fees to be paid by the registered insurer and the potential constituent insurers under paragraph (1). |
(9) Where, upon an application under paragraph (8), the Authority agrees to exempt part of the fees to be paid by the registered insurer and the potential constituent insurers under paragraph (1), the fees payable by the registered insurer and the potential constituent insurers shall be in accordance with the following formulae:| (a) | fees payable by the registered insurer — | | (b) | fees payable by the constituent potential insurer — | | is the total assets or total premiums, as the case may be, of the registered insurer; |
| | | is the total assets or total premiums, as the case may be, of the potential constituent insurer; |
| | | is the total assets or total premiums, as the case may be, of the registered insurer and all potential constituent insurers; and |
| | | is the fee payable under paragraph (1) based on the combined total assets or gross premiums, as the case may be, of the registered insurer and all potential constituent insurers. |
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(10) In this regulation —“gross premiums” means —| (a) | in relation to a direct general insurer or general reinsurer, the aggregate of the gross premiums for the Singapore Insurance Funds and the Offshore Insurance Fund specified in the statement of premiums, claims and underwriting results in Form 7 in the First Schedule to the Insurance (Accounts and Statements) Regulations (Rg 2) lodged by the insurer or reinsurer, as the case may be, in the year immediately preceding the year for which the fees are to be paid; | | (b) | in relation to a life reinsurer —| (i) | for fees payable on or before 1st January 2003, the aggregate of the gross premiums for the Singapore Insurance Fund and the Offshore Insurance Fund specified in the statement of individual life insurance policies and statement of group life insurance policies in Forms 3 and 4, respectively, in the First Schedule to the Insurance (Accounts and Statements) Regulations lodged by the reinsurer in the year immediately preceding the year for which the fees are to be paid; | | (ii) | for fees payable after 1st January 2003, the aggregate of the gross premiums for the Singapore Insurance Fund and the Offshore Insurance Fund specified in the statement of life reinsurance policies (group and individual) in Form 3A in the First Schedule to the Insurance (Accounts and Statements) Regulations (Rg 2) lodged by the reinsurer in the year immediately preceding the year for which the fees are to be paid; |
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| “Protection and Indemnity Club” means an insurer registered under section 8 of the Act as a direct insurer to carry on general class of insurance business who is permitted under his licence to carry on protection and indemnity insurance business only; |
| “protection and indemnity insurance business” means the business of insuring against third party liabilities and expenses arising from owning, or operating, ships as principals; |
| “total assets”, in relation to a direct life insurer, means the aggregate of the total assets for the Singapore Insurance Fund and the Offshore Insurance Fund specified in the fund balance-sheet in Form 1 in the First Schedule to the Insurance (Accounts and Statements) Regulations lodged by the insurer in the year immediately preceding the year for which the fees are to be paid. |
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[S 586/2002 wef 21/11/2002] |
| 33. [Deleted by S 583/99 wef 31/12/1999] |
| 34. The fee for the inspection of documents under section 39(3) of the Act shall be $5 for the documents of each insurer inspected. [S 466/2002 wef 01/10/2002] |
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