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Terms Used In Kansas Statutes 40-2,118

  • Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
  • Commissioner: means the commissioner of insurance of this state;

    (b) "company" means any person engaging in or proposing or attempting to engage in any transaction or kind of insurance or surety business and any person or group of persons who may otherwise be subject to the administrative, regulatory or taxing authority of the commissioner;

    (c) "department" means the department of insurance of this state;

    (d) "examiner" means any individual or firm having been authorized by the commissioner to conduct an examination under this act;

    (e) "insurer" shall have the meaning ascribed to the term "insurance company" by Kan. See Kansas Statutes 40-222f

  • Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
  • insurance company: shall mean and include all corporations, companies, associations, societies, fraternal benefit societies, reciprocal exchanges, persons or partnerships writing contracts of insurance, indemnity or suretyship in this state upon any type of risk or loss except insurance companies transacting business pursuant to the provisions of Kan. See Kansas Statutes 40-222c
  • Insurer: means any person, firm, association or corporation duly licensed in this state as an insurance company. See Kansas Statutes 40-2,130
  • person: means any individual, aggregation of individuals, trust, association, partnership or corporation, or any affiliate thereof. See Kansas Statutes 40-222f
  • Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
  • Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
  • Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.

(a) For purposes of this act a “fraudulent insurance act” means an act committed by any person who, knowingly and with intent to defraud, presents, causes to be presented or prepares with knowledge or belief that it will be presented to or by an insurer, purported insurer, broker or any agent thereof, any written, electronic, electronic impulse, facsimile, magnetic, oral, or telephonic communication or statement as part of, or in support of, an application for the issuance of, or the rating of an insurance policy for personal or commercial insurance, or a claim for payment or other benefit pursuant to an insurance policy for commercial or personal insurance that such person knows to contain materially false information concerning any fact material thereto; or conceals, for the purpose of misleading, information concerning any fact material thereto.

(b) An insurer that has knowledge or a good faith belief that a fraudulent insurance act is being or has been committed shall provide to the commissioner, on a form prescribed by the commissioner, any and all information and such additional information relating to such fraudulent insurance act as the commissioner may require.

(c) Any other person who has knowledge or a good faith belief that a fraudulent insurance act is being or has been committed may provide to the commissioner, on a form prescribed by the commissioner, any and all information and such additional information relating to such fraudulent insurance act as the commissioner may request.

(d) (1) Each insurer shall have antifraud initiatives reasonably calculated to detect fraudulent insurance acts. Antifraud initiatives may include fraud investigators, who may be insurer employees or independent contractors and an antifraud plan submitted to the commissioner not later than July 1, 2007. Each insurer that submits an antifraud plan shall notify the commissioner of any material change in the information contained in the antifraud plan within 30 days after such change occurs. Such insurer shall submit to the commissioner in writing the amended antifraud plan.

(2) Any antifraud plan, or any amendment thereof, submitted to the commissioner for informational purposes only shall be confidential and not be a public record and shall not be subject to discovery or subpoena in a civil action unless following an in camera review, the court determines that the antifraud plan is relevant and otherwise admissible under the rules of evidence set forth in article 4 of chapter 60 of the Kansas Statutes Annotated, and amendments thereto.

(e) Except as otherwise specifically provided in Kan. Stat. Ann. § 44-5,125, and amendments thereto, and Kan. Stat. Ann. § 21-5812(a), and amendments thereto, a fraudulent insurance act shall constitute a severity level 6, nonperson felony if the amount involved is $25,000 or more; a severity level 7, nonperson felony if the amount involved is at least $5,000 but less than $25,000; a severity level 8, nonperson felony if the amount involved is at least $1,000 but less than $5,000; and a class C nonperson misdemeanor if the amount involved is less than $1,000. Any combination of fraudulent acts as defined in subsection (a) that occur in a period of six consecutive months and that involve $25,000 or more shall have a presumptive sentence of imprisonment regardless of its location on the sentencing grid block.

(f) In addition to any other penalty, a person who violates this statute shall be ordered to make restitution to the insurer or any other person or entity for any financial loss sustained as a result of such violation. An insurer shall not be required to provide coverage or pay any claim involving a fraudulent insurance act.

(g) For the purposes of this section:

(1) “Amount involved” means the greater of: (A) The actual pecuniary harm resulting from the fraudulent insurance act; (B) the pecuniary harm that was intended to result from the fraudulent insurance act; or (C) the intended pecuniary harm that would have been impossible or unlikely to occur, such as in a government sting operation or a fraud in which the claim for payment or other benefit pursuant to an insurance policy exceeded the allowed value. The aggregate dollar amount of the fraudulent claims submitted to the insurance company shall constitute prima facie evidence of the amount of intended loss and is sufficient to establish the aggregate amount involved in the fraudulent insurance act, if not rebutted; and

(2) “pecuniary harm” means harm that is monetary or that otherwise is readily measurable in money, and does not include emotional distress, harm to reputation or other non-economic harm.

(h) This act shall apply to all insurance applications, ratings, claims and other benefits made pursuant to any insurance policy.