The commissioner shall require the payment in advance of a fee for copying microfilm records in the amount of thirty cents ($0.30) per page.

In addition to all other fees required for furnishing copies of instruments or documents filed in his office, the commissioner shall require the payment, in lawful money of the United States, of an amount approximately equal to the postage or other delivery charges he must pay for delivery of the copies so furnished if at the request of the person ordering them they are delivered by any more expensive means than ordinary first-class United States mail.

The commissioner shall require the payment of one dollar ($1), in advance, as a fee for attaching the commissioner’s seal of office to any paper or document not specified in this code.

The commissioner shall require, in advance, as a fee for issuing certificates when the fee is not otherwise specified, the following amounts:

The commissioner shall charge and collect, in advance, the following fees:

($72).

If a check in payment of a tax, fee, or penalty is not paid by the bank on which it is drawn on its first presentation, the commissioner shall charge and collect an additional fee of fourteen dollars ($14).

Where provision for fees or charges for documents, transcripts, or other materials which may be furnished by the commissioner is not specifically made in this code, the commissioner may fix and collect fees therefor not in excess of reasonable cost. All publications and other printed matter shall be distributed and sold by the Department of General Services.

Whenever by the provisions of this code a form of policy or certificate and any endorsement, rider, application, amendment, fill-in material, classification of rates, certificate or premium to be used therewith, is required to be filed with, submitted to, or approved by the commissioner, fees as provided for by this section shall be paid to the commissioner to cover the expenses of processing and indexing the same and maintaining copies of the same.

The required fee shall be prescribed by the commissioner for each type document submitted, depending on its nature and the kind of processing required. The

commissioner may prescribe different fees for different types of documents, and in the case of documents submitted for approval or authorization of use, shall prescribe a fee only for the final approval or authorization for use, if any. The commissioner shall determine the fee, or fees, by estimating in advance the commissioner’s total costs of performing these services for all types of documents for a specified period of time, estimating the total number of documents of various kinds which will be submitted for processing during such time and equitably distributing the total cost on a per document basis. The commissioner shall, after notice and hearing, promulgate such reasonable rules and regulations as are necessary to establish the standard or standards by which the commissioner shall determine the original fee schedule or any amended fee schedule. Any rule or regulation shall be promulgated in accordance with the procedure provided in Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3

of Title 2 of the Government Code and shall be effective 90 days after adoption by the commissioner, except the first fee schedule adopted by the commissioner under such regulation may be retroactive to the effective date of this section.

All fees received by the commissioner under this section shall be remitted to the credit of the Insurance Fund pursuant to the provisions of Section 12975.7.

Without in any manner affecting the applicability of this section to any other provisions of this code, it is expressly provided herein that the provisions of this section apply to the forms required to be filed, submitted, or approved under the following sections of this code: 779.8, 795.5, 1320, 9080.1, 10205, 10225, 10270, 10270.1, 10270.5, 10270.57, 10270.9, 10270.93, 10290, 10292, 10506, 11027, 11029, 11066, 11069, 11513, 11522, 11658, 12250, and 12640.18.

Whenever, by the provisions of this code a duty, right, privilege, or power is imposed or conferred upon the commissioner, but it is provided that the expense of performance of that duty or exercise of that right, privilege, or power is to be paid in advance or otherwise out of sources other than the Insurance Fund, the commissioner may defray that expense, or any portion thereof, out of the appropriation for the support of the Department of Insurance without regard to prospect of repayment. The repayment of those moneys, not to exceed one thousand one hundred twenty-one dollars ($1,121) shall be a debt of and a lien against the assets of every person otherwise chargeable with that payment and shall constitute a preferred claim in all proceedings in bankruptcy or insolvency to the same extent as claims for

compensation due employees for wages and salaries and claims for expenses of conservatorship or liquidation in proceedings under Article 14 (commencing with Section 1010) of Chapter 1 of Part 2 of Division 1.

All examination expense moneys collected by the Department of Insurance under the provisions of Sections 736, 1061, and 1857.4 are hereby appropriated to the department and shall be deposited in the Insurance Fund to the credit of the support appropriation for the department current at the time of the deposit.

The commissioner may, in any investigation or hearing the commissioner conducts, take or cause to be taken the deposition of any witness residing within or without this state and may pay the expense thereof out of the current support appropriation of the department. The commissioner may pay out of the appropriation to any witness subpoenaed by the commissioner the necessary and reasonable traveling expenses of any witness, to the place of hearing or investigation and return and a per diem of twelve dollars ($12) for each day that the witness is in attendance at or en route to and from the place of hearing or investigation in obedience to the subpoena. The provisions of this section shall not apply to proceedings conducted in accordance with Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 11500) of Part 1 of Division 3 of

Title 2 of the Government Code, and those proceedings shall be governed solely by that chapter.

in the Insurance Fund received from the commissioner pursuant to this section is hereby appropriated to pay the refunds authorized by this code.

balance remaining in the Insurance Fund at the end of the fiscal year, whether the moneys received are from an appropriation, fees, or from reimbursements for services rendered.

shall be transferred to the Seismic Safety Commission. The second half of the appropriated amount shall be transferred to the Seismic Safety Commission from the Seismic Safety Account on or before December 31 of each year. This loan shall be repaid by revenues collected pursuant to Section 12975.9.

previous calendar year. The annual assessment shall be set at fifteen cents ($0.15) per earned property exposure for the first three years of the implementation of this section. Each year thereafter, the annual assessment shall be based upon the number of earned property exposures from both commercial and residential insurance policies, the amount required for the support of the Alfred E. Alquist Seismic Safety Commission, the actual collection and administrative costs of the department, and the maintenance of an adequate reserve, but shall not exceed fifteen cents ($0.15) per earned property exposure.

insured as part of its billing statement. The insurer is not required to refund any portion of an assessment because the policy or coverage is terminated prior to the expiration date of the policy or coverage. Any deficiency or excess in the amount collected in relation to the appropriation authority for the commission and the department shall be accounted for in the subsequent annual fee calculation. Any balance remaining in the Seismic Safety Account at the end of each fiscal year shall be retained in the account and carried forward to the next fiscal year.

insured that has not been remitted to the department shall be a debt owed to the state by the insurer. This part does not impose any obligation upon an insurer to take any legal action to enforce the collection of the assessment imposed by this section.

All fines, forfeitures, taxes, assessments, restitution, and penalties provided for in this code shall be due and payable on the demand of the commissioner. If payment is not made within 10 days after that demand, then the commissioner shall institute an action in the name of the people of the State of California for the purpose of recovering that moneys due. All such actions shall be subject to all the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure which may be applicable thereto.

deemed complete on the date the electronic funds transfer is initiated, if settlement to the state’s demand account occurs on or before the banking day following the date the transfer is initiated. If settlement to the state’s demand account does not occur on or before the banking day following the date the transfer is initiated, payment is deemed to occur on the date settlement occurs.

beyond the insurer’s control, and occurred notwithstanding the exercise of ordinary care and in the absence of willful neglect, that insurer shall be relieved of the penalty provided in paragraph (1).

The commissioner may authorize the refund of money received or collected by the department in payment for the filing of applications for licenses, permits or certificates, or for the rendering of other services:

paid and for which reason the application for the license, permit or certificate cannot be filed or the other service cannot be rendered.

This section does not exclude the making of refunds under other appropriate provisions of law requiring the approval of the Director of General Services before such refunds may be made.

Insurance and the Senate Committee on Insurance. That fee increase or decrease may be rescinded by a majority vote of both houses of the Legislature not later than 60 days after the issuance of the bulletin announcing the increase or decrease.

effect February 1 of the following year unless rescinded by a majority vote of both houses of the Legislature by that date, rather than 60 days after issuance of the bulletin.

during the then current fiscal year, an amount necessary to meet that appropriation and consistent with that projected workload.

Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 12978, the commissioner shall establish a schedule of filing fees to be paid by insurers to cover any administrative or operational costs arising from the provisions of Article 10 (commencing with Section 1861.01) of Chapter 9 of Part 2 of Division 1.

The Financial Responsibility Penalty Account is hereby created in the General Fund. Moneys in the account shall be expended, upon appropriation therefor, for matters including, but not limited to, automobile insurance and financial responsibility of vehicle owners and operators.