Section 206.10  Authority

 

Part 206 is promulgated by the Director of Insurance pursuant to Sections 14.1, 29, 44, 57, 68, 80 and 401 of the Illinois Insurance Code, which empower the Director to make reasonable rules and regulations as may be necessary for making effective the insurance laws of the State.

 

Section 206.20  Purpose

 

This Part sets forth the method and procedure by which domestic insurance companies designate either a registered agent with a registered Illinois address and/or any officer or director of the insurance company to accept service of process in Illinois.

 

Section 206.30  Definitions

 

For the purposes of this Part, the following definitions apply:

 

"Articles of Incorporation" means the basic instrument of an incorporated company and all amendments to that instrument and includes "Charter", "Articles of Organization", "Articles of Reorganization", "Articles of Association", "Deed of Settlement", and "Declaration of Organization".

 

"Code" means the Illinois Insurance Code [215 ILCS 5].

 

"Department" means the Illinois Department of Insurance.

 

"Director" means the Director of the Department of Insurance of the State of Illinois or anyone to whom the Director's responsibilities and authority are lawfully delegated.

 

"Director of the Insurance Company" means an individual who leads or supervises a particular area of the insurance company.

 

"Domestic Insurance Company" means a company incorporated or organized under the laws of this State.

"Officer of the Insurance Company", when used to refer to an officer of a company, includes an attorney-in-fact for a reciprocal or Lloyds.

 

"Service of Process" means any lawful process in any action or legal proceeding against the domestic insurance company.

 

"Registered Agent" means either a natural person or a domestic (licensed to transact business in this State) artificial legal entity (corporation, LLC, LP or LLP).

 

Section 206.40  Service of Process Requirements

 

a)         Every domestic insurance company desiring to transact business in Illinois may designate a registered agent to accept all lawful service of process in Illinois by:

 

1)         Specific designations within the company's initial filing of its Articles of Incorporation with the Department; or

 

2)         Amending the domestic insurance company's Articles of Incorporation pursuant to Section 29, 57 or 80 of the Code. 

 

b)         Registered Office

 

1)         The registered agent designated by a domestic insurance company must have a registered office within the State of Illinois.  The registered office must be located at a street address (a P.O. Box alone is not acceptable) within the State of Illinois.

 

2)         The address of the registered office must be provided in the insurance company's Articles of Incorporation or amended Articles of Incorporation.

 

c)         If a domestic insurance company chooses not to designate a registered agent, service of process may be made on any officer or director of the company pursuant to Section 2-204 of the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure [735 ILCS 5].