fifty ($50.00) dollars each for the next succeeding two years following the approval of this act. SEC. 2. An emergency existing therefor, this act shall take effect and be in full force and effect from and after its passage and approval. Approved February 23, 1923. CHAPTER 47 (S. B. No. 92) AN ACT DECLARING AND CREATING A PORTION OF THE LEWIS AND CLARK HIGHWAY A NEUTRAL ZONE. Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho: SECTION 1. That the unsurveyed portion of the Lewis and Clark highway, lying between Greer, Idaho, and Kamiah, Idaho, the exact boundaries of which shall be determined and designated by the department of public works, is declared to be and is hereby created a neutral zone. Approved February 23, 1923. CHAPTER 48 (S. B. No. 128) AN ACT TO PREVENT MONOPOLY IN THE FIXING OF FIRE INSURANCE RATES AND TO EMPOWER THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE TO REGULATE FIRE INSURANCE RATES; TO PROVIDE FOR THE ORGANIZATION, OPERATION AND SUPERVISION OF FIRE INSURANCE RATE MAKING BUREAUS; TO PROVIDE FOR A REVIEW OF RATES AND RULES FIXED BY SUCH BUREAUS; TO PROHIBIT DISCRIMINATION IN SUCH RATES; TO REGULATE AGREEMENTS BETWEEN FIRE INSURANCE COMPANIES OR THEIR AGENTS AFFECTING SUCH RATES; AND PROVIDING A PENALTY FOR VIOLATION. Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho: SECTION 1. Any person, persons, copartnership, company, companies or insurer legally authorized to transact the business of insurance and a resident within this state, or any person who is a resident of this state and not an officer or employee of any insurance company may organize or maintain a rating bureau, for the purpose of inspecting and surveying the various municipalities and fire hazards in this state, and the means and facilities for preventing, confining and extinguishing fires, for the purpose of estimating and promulgating fair and equitable rates for insurance, and to furnish to municipalities, owners of property, insurance companies or agents, information as to rates and advice as to measures to be adopted for the reduction of fire hazards on property within this state, and lessening the cost of insurance thereon. Every such rating bureau shall establish and maintain an office in this state. The business of conducting a rating bureau in this state is public service in character and shall be conducted without profit to any party, except that fair and reasonable compensation shall be paid for all service actually rendered and necessary to the business. Every rating bureau shall, before publishing or furnishing any rates, file in the office of the director of insurance of the department of finance its rating schedules, and shall not deviate therefrom until amended or corrected rating schedules have been filed in the office of the director of insurance. The services of such rating bureaus shall be available, equally and ratably in proportion to the service rendered, to any and all insurance companies, agents and property owners. The office of rating bureaus shall be open during the regular office hours for the information of the citizens of this state. SEC. 2. Each rating bureau now or hereafter organized and maintained in this state shall keep an accurate and complete record of all work performed by it, in surveying, estimating and promulgating rates and furnishing information in respect thereto, which record must show all receipts and disbursements, and be open during the regular office. hours to the inspection and examination of the director of insurance, his deputy or examiner, who may at any time. review such rate or rates to determine whether the schedule has been properly applied. SEC. 3. The director of insurance of the department of finance may address inquiries to any individual, association or bureau, which is or has been engaged in making rates or estimates for rates for fire insurance upon property in this state, in relation to his or its organization, maintenance or operation, or any other matter connected with his or its transactions and it shall be the duty of every such individual, association or bureau, or some officer thereof, to reply promptly and fully to such inquiries in writing. SEC. 4. The director of insurance of the department of finance shall have the power to examine any such rating bureau as often as he deems it expedient to do so, and shall do so not less than once every three years. A report thereof shall be filed in his office and statement with regard to each such examination shall be made in the annual report of the department of finance. SEC. 5. No fire insurance company or other insurer against the risk of fire or lightning, nor any rating bureau shall fix or charge any rate for insurance in this state which discriminates unfairly between risks of essentially the same physical, climatic or other hazards or which discriminates unfairly in the application of like charges and credits between risks of essentially the same physical, climatic or other hazards, and having substantially the same degree of protection against fire. Whenever it is made to appear to the satisfaction of the director of insurance of the department of finance that such discrimination exists, he may, after full hearing either before himself or before any salaried employee of the department whose report he may adopt, order such discrimination removed; and the insurance companies and/or rating bureau or bureaus affected thereby shall comply with such order within thirty days after service of such order upon them, unless an appeal be taken as hereinafter provided; such insurance companies and/or rating bureau or bureaus, shall not remove such discrimination by increasing the rates on any risk or class of risks affected by such order unless it is made to appear to the satisfaction of the director of insurance that such increase is justifiably based upon conditions existing at the time of the hearing. The insurance companies and/or rating bureau or bureaus charged with discrimination or involved therein shall be given at least five days' written notice of the hearing, which shall set forth with reasonable certainty the discrimination charged. If the director of insurance finds that the discrimination exists, and orders its removal, he shall find and state in his order whether an increase in any rate involved is justified. Any insurance company and/or rating bureau or bureaus affected by such order may appeal therefrom to the district court of the state of Idaho for Ada county within thirty days after service of the order, by serving upon the director of insurance of the department of finance, and filing with the clerk of said court, a notice of appeal, together with a copy of the order appealed from, a copy of the notice of hearing and an undertaking in the sum of $500.00 with one or more qualified sureties, conditioned to pay all costs that may be awarded against the appellant upon the appeal. Such appeal shall suspend the order of the director of insurance until the final decision upon appeal. The appeal shall be heard and tried in the manner provided by law for the trial of suits in equity. The notice of hearing shall be deemed a complaint, and shall be deemed denied, and no other pleading shall be required. If the court sustains the charge of discrimination, it shall determine also by its order or decree whether such discrimination may be removed by increasing any rate involved. Either the director of insurance or any insurance company or rating bureau affected by the order or decree of the court may appeal therefrom to the supreme court of the state of Idaho, in the same manner that appeals may be taken from other final judgments. SEC. 6. Every rating bureau operating under the provisions of this act shall appoint a person with the title of "chief examiner", who shall be experienced in insurance matters, but such pesron shall not in any way be engaged in making rates for the bureau, and shall be held responsible for the examination of all applications and daily reports submitted to such bureau and shall report to the director of insurance of the department of finance any and all cases in which companies or agents discriminate on risks of essentially the same hazard or deviate from the schedules on file in the department, and any and all violations of this act, but he shall not make or keep any copy or copies of such applications or daily reports or record thereof except to indorse his approval thereon if correct or attach such memoranda or entries as may be necessary to show what, if any, errors exist; keeping copies thereof, for the purpose of checking such errors and releasing memoranda thereof when corrected. Upon the failure of such person to report promptly any violation of this law he shall be liable to a penalty of $10.00 for each violation. SEC. 7. All applications for fire insurance and daily reports of policies issued by every fire insurance company holding membership in a rating bureau on risks in this state shall be submitted to the chief examiner of such rating bureau, for the purpose of examination to ascertain if there are any errors in the forms of policy or rate of premium charges therefor, who shall indorse his approval on such application or daily report if correct; withholding his approval if incorrect as to the form used or rate charged, such as to constitute a discrimination in rate, advising the company and the agent submitting same, showing wherein the error exists and if correction thereof is not made within a reasonable time, he shall report the same with the name of the company and the agent to the director of insurance of the department of finance. SEC. 8. Every fire insurance company or other insurer authorized to effect insurance against the risk of damage by fire or lightning in this state shall, before being permitted to write such insurance in this state, file with the director of insurance of the department of finance a schedule of rates, unless such company or other insurer has given notice to the department of its acceptance of the schedule of rates filed by a rating bureau, of which such company or other insurer is a member, and any company or other insurer filing such schedule of rates, or giving notice to the director of insurance of the acceptance of the schedule filed by a rating bureau, shall not deviate therefrom until corrected or amended sehedules shall have been filed in the office of the director of insurance of the department of finance, and every company or other insurer not belonging to a rating bureau and having filed its individual schedule as herein required, shall keep a complete record of all applications and daily reports received by it, showing the same to have been written in conformity with its rating schedule filed with the director of insurance and promptly notify its agents or other representatives of any errors in the applications or daily reports written or submitted by them, and shall report to the director of insurance any failure upon the part of such agents or other representatives to make such corrections in the same manner and with the same penalties for violation as is required of the chief examiner of a rating bureau, which record of its business shall at all times be open to inspection by the director of insurance, his deputy or examiner. No such insurer shall be a member of more than one rating bureau for the purpose of rating the same class or classes of risks, nor file, publish or use the rates or rating schedules of any rating bureau organized or maintained under the provisions of this act, unless such insurer is a member thereof. Every insurer that has given notice to the director of insurance of the department of finance of its acceptance of the schedule of rates filed by a rating bureau of which it is a member shall, thirty days. in advance of any variation by it from the bureau rate, file with the said director of insurance and rating bureau, the variation from the bureau rate, which shall be uniform throughout the territorial classification and every such insurer shall be permitted to make uniform variations from the bureau rate. SEC. 9. Except as contained in the policy and the usual agreement for other insurance, no such insurance company or insurer or rating bureau shall make any contract or agreement with any person insured or to be insured with regard to the time any rate shall remain in effect, or that the whole or any part of any insurance shall be written or |