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Terms Used In Utah Code 31A-21-105

  • Application: means a document:
         (10)(a)
              (10)(a)(i) completed by an applicant to provide information about the risk to be insured; and
              (10)(a)(ii) that contains information that is used by the insurer to evaluate risk and decide whether to:
                   (10)(a)(ii)(A) insure the risk under:
                        (10)(a)(ii)(A)(I) the coverage as originally offered; or
                        (10)(a)(ii)(A)(II) a modification of the coverage as originally offered; or
                   (10)(a)(ii)(B) decline to insure the risk; or
         (10)(b) used by the insurer to gather information from the applicant before issuance of an annuity contract. See Utah Code 31A-1-301
  • Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
  • Certificate: means evidence of insurance given to:
         (23)(a) an insured under a group insurance policy; or
         (23)(b) a third party. See Utah Code 31A-1-301
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Individual: means a natural person. See Utah Code 31A-1-301
  • Insurance: includes :
              (96)(b)(i) a risk distributing arrangement providing for compensation or replacement for damages or loss through the provision of a service or a benefit in kind;
              (96)(b)(ii) a contract of guaranty or suretyship entered into by the guarantor or surety as a business and not as merely incidental to a business transaction; and
              (96)(b)(iii) a plan in which the risk does not rest upon the person who makes an arrangement, but with a class of persons who have agreed to share the risk. See Utah Code 31A-1-301
  • Insured: means a person to whom or for whose benefit an insurer makes a promise in an insurance policy and includes:
              (103)(a)(i) a policyholder;
              (103)(a)(ii) a subscriber;
              (103)(a)(iii) a member; and
              (103)(a)(iv) a beneficiary. See Utah Code 31A-1-301
  • Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
  • Order: means an order of the commissioner. See Utah Code 31A-1-301
  • Person: includes :
         (146)(a) an individual;
         (146)(b) a partnership;
         (146)(c) a corporation;
         (146)(d) an incorporated or unincorporated association;
         (146)(e) a joint stock company;
         (146)(f) a trust;
         (146)(g) a limited liability company;
         (146)(h) a reciprocal;
         (146)(i) a syndicate; or
         (146)(j) another similar entity or combination of entities acting in concert. See Utah Code 31A-1-301
  • Policy: includes a service contract issued by:
              (150)(b)(i) a motor club under Chapter 11, Motor Clubs;
              (150)(b)(ii) a service contract provided under Chapter 6a, Service Contracts; and
              (150)(b)(iii) a corporation licensed under:
                   (150)(b)(iii)(A) Chapter 7, Nonprofit Health Service Insurance Corporations; or
                   (150)(b)(iii)(B) Chapter 8, Health Maintenance Organizations and Limited Health Plans. See Utah Code 31A-1-301
  • Policyholder: means a person who controls a policy, binder, or oral contract by ownership, premium payment, or otherwise. See Utah Code 31A-1-301
  • Premium: includes , however designated:
              (156)(b)(i) an assessment;
              (156)(b)(ii) a membership fee;
              (156)(b)(iii) a required contribution; or
              (156)(b)(iv) monetary consideration. See Utah Code 31A-1-301
  • Property insurance: means insurance against loss or damage to real or personal property of every kind and any interest in that property:
              (160)(a)(i) from all hazards or causes; and
              (160)(a)(ii) against loss consequential upon the loss or damage including vehicle comprehensive and vehicle physical damage coverages. See Utah Code 31A-1-301
  • Rate: means :
              (163)(a)(i) the cost of a given unit of insurance; or
              (163)(a)(ii) for property or casualty insurance, that cost of insurance per exposure unit either expressed as:
                   (163)(a)(ii)(A) a single number; or
                   (163)(a)(ii)(B) a pure premium rate, adjusted before the application of individual risk variations based on loss or expense considerations to account for the treatment of:
                        (163)(a)(ii)(B)(I) expenses;
                        (163)(a)(ii)(B)(II) profit; and
                        (163)(a)(ii)(B)(III) individual insurer variation in loss experience. See Utah Code 31A-1-301
  • Rider: means an endorsement to:
         (173)(a) an insurance policy; or
         (173)(b) an insurance certificate. See Utah Code 31A-1-301
  • Small employer: means , in connection with a health benefit plan and with respect to a calendar year and to a plan year, an employer who:
              (182)(a)(i)
                   (182)(a)(i)(A) employed at least one but not more than 50 eligible employees on business days during the preceding calendar year; or
                   (182)(a)(i)(B) if the employer did not exist for the entirety of the preceding calendar year, reasonably expects to employ an average of at least one but not more than 50 eligible employees on business days during the current calendar year;
              (182)(a)(ii) employs at least one employee on the first day of the plan year; and
              (182)(a)(iii) for an employer who has common ownership with one or more other employers, is treated as a single employer under Utah Code 31A-1-301
  • Writing: includes :
         (48)(a) printing;
         (48)(b) handwriting; and
         (48)(c) information stored in an electronic or other medium if the information is retrievable in a perceivable format. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
     (1)(a) No statement, representation, or warranty made by any person representing the insurer in the negotiation for an individual or franchise insurance contract affects the insurer’s obligations under the policy unless it is stated in the policy or in a written application signed by the applicant. No person, except the applicant or another by his written consent, may alter the application, except for administrative purposes in a way which is clearly not ascribable to the applicant.
     (1)(b) No statement, representation, or warranty made by or on behalf of a particular certificate holder under a group policy affects the insurer’s obligations under the certificate unless it is stated in the certificate or in a written document signed by the certificate holder, and a copy of it is supplied to the certificate holder.
     (1)(c) The policyholder, his assignee, the loss payee or mortgagee or lienholder under property insurance, and any person whose life or health is insured under a policy may request, in writing, from the company a copy of the application, if he did not receive the policy or a copy of it, or if the policy has been reinstated or renewed without the attachment of a copy of the original application. If the insurer does not deliver or mail a copy as requested within 30 days after receipt of the request by the insurer or its agent, or in the case of a group policy certificate holder, does not inform that person within the same period how he may inspect the policy or a copy of it and application or enrollment card or a copy of it during normal business hours at a place reasonably convenient to the certificate holder, nothing in the application or enrollment card affects the insurer’s obligations under the policy to the person making the request. Each person whose life or health is insured under a group policy has the same right to request a copy of any document under Subsection (1)(b).
(2) Except as provided in Subsection (5), no misrepresentation or breach of an affirmative warranty affects the insurer’s obligations under the policy unless:

     (2)(a) the insurer relies on it and it is either material or is made with intent to deceive; or
     (2)(b) the fact misrepresented or falsely warranted contributes to the loss.
(3) No failure of a condition prior to the loss and no breach of a promissory warranty affects the insurer’s obligations under the policy unless it exists at the time of the loss and either increases the risk at the time of the loss or contributes to the loss. This Subsection (3) does not apply to failure to tender payment of premium.
(4) Nondisclosure of information not requested by the insurer is not a defense to an action against the insurer. Failure to correct within a reasonable time any representation that becomes incorrect because of changes in circumstances is misrepresentation, not nondisclosure.
(5) If after issuance of a policy the insurer acquires knowledge of sufficient facts to constitute a general defense to all claims under the policy, the defense is only available if the insurer notifies the insured within 60 days after acquiring the knowledge of its intention to defend against a claim if one should arise, or within 120 days if the insurer considers it necessary to secure additional medical information and is actively seeking the information at the end of the 60 days. The insurer and insured may mutually agree to a policy rider in order to continue the policy in force with exceptions or modifications. For purposes of this Subsection (5), an insurer has acquired knowledge only if the information alleged to give rise to the knowledge was disclosed to the insurer or its agent in connection with communications or investigations associated with the insurance policy under which the subject claim arises.
(6)

     (6)(a) An insurer that offers coverage to a small employer group as required by Pub. L. No. 104-191, 110 Stat. 1979, Sec. 2711(a), may not rescind a policy or individual certificate holder based on application misrepresentation unless the insurer would not have been required to issue the coverage in the absence of the misrepresentation.
     (6)(b) Subsection (6)(a) does not prevent an insurer from correcting rates if:

          (6)(b)(i) in the absence of misrepresentation a different rate would have been required; and
          (6)(b)(ii) the corrected rates are in compliance with Section 31A-30-106.
(7) No trivial or transitory breach of or noncompliance with any provision of this chapter is a basis for avoiding an insurance contract.