(1) If an insurance company has reason to believe that a fire loss to its assured’s real or personal property was caused by incendiary means, the company shall immediately make a report to the Department of the State Fire Marshal. The report shall indicate the name of the assured, the date of the fire, location, occupancy, and facts and circumstances coming to the company’s knowledge, tending to establish the cause or origin of the fire.
(2) Any federal, state or local public official or authorized agent thereof having legal authority to investigate a fire loss of real or personal property may request any insurance company to provide relevant information in its possession pertaining to that loss. Upon request, the company shall release such information to the official who requests it. For purposes of this subsection, “relevant information” means information having any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the investigation more probable or less probable.
(3) In the absence of fraud or malice, no insurance company or its authorized representative shall be liable for damages in a civil action or subject to criminal prosecution for the release of information required by subsections (1) and (2) of this section.