Sec. 185.15. Prohibited practices

(a) No insurer, parent or subsidiary, officer, agent, broker, solicitor or representative thereof shall engage in any of the following practices:

(1) deposit of premiums to the account of the insurer in the financial institution when such account is controlled by the creditor and pays no interest, or a rate of interest less than customary;

(2) allowing the remittance of premiums to the insurer after the expiry of the grace period on a regular basis;

(3) the retention of premiums by an agent or broker to whom the creditor remits premiums for a period of time which is not reasonably related to the time normally expected to be needed for the agent or broker to remit the premiums to the insurer, if such delay is a continuing feature of the premium paying process; or

(4) any other practice which unduly delays receipt of premiums by the insurer on a regular basis.

(b) The foregoing criteria apply regardless of whether premiums are due the insurer on the single premium advance system or on the monthly outstanding balance system. Nothing herein shall be construed to prevent the insurer from making deposits in a financial institution which is a creditor in an amount of up to three months' expected claims for purposes of drawing drafts for claim payments, provided such procedure is available to all creditors of a given minimum size. Nothing herein shall prevent an insurer from making deposits, in a financial institution, which are unrelated to a credit insurance program and which are reasonably necessary for use in the ordinary course of business of the insurer.