(a) The Insurance Commissioner may conduct investigations or examinations of providers, administrators, insurers, or other persons to enforce the provisions of this chapter and protect service contract holders in this state.
(b) (1) The commissioner may take any action that is necessary or appropriate to enforce the provisions of this chapter and the commissioner's rules and orders to protect service contract holders in this state.
(2) The commissioner may order a provider to cease and desist from committing violations of this chapter or the commissioner's rules or orders, may issue an order prohibiting a provider from selling or offering a service contract for sale, or may issue an order imposing a civil penalty, or any combination of these, if the provider has violated this chapter or the commissioner's rules or orders.
(3) (A) A person aggrieved by an order issued under this subsection may request a hearing before the commissioner by filing a request with the commissioner within twenty (20) days of the commissioner's order.
(B) Pending the hearing and the decision by the commissioner, the commissioner shall suspend the effective date of the order.
(C) (i) At the hearing, the burden shall be on the commissioner to show why the order is justified.
(ii) The provisions of ยง 23-61-301 et seq. shall apply to a hearing requested under this subsection.
(4) (A) The commissioner may bring an action in the Pulaski County Circuit Court for an injunction or other appropriate relief for threatened or existing violations of this chapter or of the commissioner's rules or orders.
(B) An action filed under subdivision (b)(3)(A) of this section may also seek restitution on behalf of persons aggrieved by a violation of this chapter or a rule or an order of the commissioner.
(5) (A) A person in violation of this chapter or a rule or an order of the commissioner may be assessed a civil penalty not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500) per violation and no more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) in the aggregate for all violations of a similar nature.
(B) For purposes of this subdivision (b)(5), violations shall be of a similar nature if the violation consists of the same or similar course of conduct, action, or practice, irrespective of the number of times the act, conduct, or practice that is determined to be a violation of this chapter has occurred.
(c) The authority of the commissioner under this section is in addition to other authorities of the commissioner.
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