An insurer continues the same deceptive advertising practice after the Colorado Commissioner of Insurance has served a cease and desist order prohibiting it. Under C.R.S. § 10-3-1109, what penalty may be imposed on the insurer for violating the existing order?

Why C is correct

C.R.S. § 10-3-1109(1) provides that violating an existing cease and desist order exposes an insurer to a penalty of not more than $10,000 per act, and an individual to not more than $500 per act, with suspension or revocation added on top. The statute is deliberately separate from § 10-3-1108: once the Division has already ordered conduct to stop, defiance is punished more severely than the underlying violation. Practically, a Colorado producer who ignores a cease and desist order faces personal per-act exposure at the $500 level plus loss of license.

Why the other options are wrong

• A) That is the base C.R.S. § 10-3-1108 penalty for the original violation, not the penalty for defying an order that is already in force.
• B) $30,000 per act with a $750,000 annual cap is the § 10-3-1108 enhanced tier for a knowing insurer; it does not govern order violations.
• D) $500 per act is the § 10-3-1109 penalty for an INDIVIDUAL violating an order; the insurer's figure is $10,000 per act, and revocation is a possible consequence rather than automatic.

Memory hook

Defying the order stings more: $10,000 for companies, $500 for people.