Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes > Title 22 > Chapter 15 > Part I - Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corporation

• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Architect: means a person who is technically and legally qualified to practice architecture. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:141
• Assessable insureds: means insureds who procure a policy of insurance for one or more subject lines of business in this state. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 22:2292
• Assessable insurers: means insurers authorized to write one or more subject lines of business in this state. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 22:2292
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Authorized emergency vehicle: means a vehicle of a fire department, a vehicle of the department's weights and standards police force, a police vehicle, a private vehicle, a privately owned vehicle belonging to members of an organized volunteer fire department or fire district when so designated or authorized by the fire chief of that fire department or fire district, an industrial-owned vehicle assigned to members of a fire department or fire district when so designated or authorized by the fire chief of that fire department or fire district, a vehicle parked or stopped by elevator repair or construction personnel while responding to an elevator emergency, such as ambulances and emergency medical response vehicles certified by the Louisiana Department of Health that are operated by certified ambulance services, and emergency vehicles of municipal departments or public service corporations as are designated or authorized by the secretary of the Department of Transportation and Development or by the chief of police of any incorporated municipality. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
• Bicycle: means every device upon which any person or persons, if the design accommodates passengers, may ride, propelled exclusively by human power, or an electric-assisted bicycle as defined in this Section, having a saddle or seat for each rider, and having two tandem wheels, either of which is sixteen inches or more in diameter, or three wheels, any one of which is twenty inches or more in diameter. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Board: means the State Board of Architectural Examiners. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 37:141
• Cargo: means the items or freight to be moved, including items placed on or in a vehicle, towed by a vehicle, or a vehicle itself. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Coastal Plan: means the successor to that program established by Act 35 of the 1970 Regular Session to provide a residual market for adequate insurance on property in the coastal areas of the state, now available as a program of the Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corporation. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 22:2292
• Commissioner: means the secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Corporation: means the Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, and includes the residual market insurance programs known as the "Coastal Plan" and the "FAIR Plan". See Louisiana Revised Statutes 22:2292
• Cross examine: Questioning of a witness by the attorney for the other side.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Department: means the Department of Transportation and Development. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Divided highway: means any highway divided into roadways by a median, physical barrier, or clearly indicated dividing section so constructed as to impede vehicular traffic. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Driver: means every person who drives or is in actual physical control of a vehicle. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Essential property insurance: means any of the following coverages against direct loss to property as defined by the plan of operation approved by the commissioner of insurance:

  (a)  Fire, with or without extended coverage and vandalism and malicious mischief. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 22:2292

• Executive session: A portion of the Senate's daily session in which it considers executive business.
• Explosives: means any chemical compound or mechanical mixture that is commonly used or intended for the purpose of producing an explosion and which contains any oxidizing and combustive units or other ingredients in such proportions, quantities, or packing that an ignition by fire, by friction, by concussion, by percussion, or by detonator of any part of the compound or mixture may cause such a sudden generation of highly heated gases that the resultant gaseous pressures are capable of producing destructive effects on contiguous objects or of destroying life or limb. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• FAIR Plan: means the successor to that program established by Act 424 of the 1992 Regular Session, and designated as the "Fair Access to Insurance Requirements Plan" to provide a residual market for adequate insurance on property in the state, now available as a program of the Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corporation. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 22:2292
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• Flammable liquid: means any liquid which has a flash point of seventy degrees F. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Governing board: means that board of directors which is established under Louisiana Revised Statutes 22:2292
• Highway: means the entire width between the boundary lines of every way or place of whatever nature publicly maintained and open to the use of the public for the purpose of vehicular travel, including bridges, causeways, tunnels and ferries; synonymous with the word "street". See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Insurable property: means real and tangible personal property at a fixed location in Louisiana when such property is in an insurable condition and basic property insurance is not obtainable in the voluntary market and as further defined by the governing board. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 22:2292
• Joint meeting: An occasion, often ceremonial, when the House and Senate each adopt a unanimous consent agreement
• Length: means the total longitudinal dimension of a single vehicle, a trailer, or a semi-trailer. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Load: means a weight or quantity of anything resting upon something else regarded as its support. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Metal tire: means every tire, the surface of which is in contact with the highway, is wholly or partly of metal or other hard, nonresilient material. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Mobile home: means : (a) a trailer or semitrailer which is designed, constructed and equipped as a dwelling place, living abode, or sleeping place, either permanently or temporarily, and is equipped for use as a conveyance on highways; or, (b) a trailer or semitrailer whose chassis and exterior shell is designed and constructed for use as a mobile home, as defined in (a), but which is used instead permanently or temporarily for the advertising, sales, display, or promotion of merchandise or services, or for any other commercial purpose except the transportation of property for hire or the transportation of property for distribution by a private carrier. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Motor driven cycle: means every motorcycle, including every motor scooter, with a motor of not to exceed five horsepower. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Motor vehicle: means every vehicle which is self-propelled, and every vehicle which is propelled by electric power obtained from overhead trolley wires, but not operated upon rails, but excluding a motorized bicycle and an electric-assisted bicycle. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Motorcycle: means every motor vehicle having a seat or saddle for the use of the rider and designed to travel on not more than three wheels in contact with the ground, but excluding a tractor, a motorized bicycle, and an electric-assisted bicycle. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Municipality: means an incorporated village, town, or city created under the authority of the constitution or laws of this state. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Net direct premiums: means gross direct premiums, excluding reinsurance assumed, written for subject lines of business, less return premiums, dividends paid or credited to policyholders, or the unused or unabsorbed portions of premium deposits. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 22:2292
• Nolo contendere: No contest-has the same effect as a plea of guilty, as far as the criminal sentence is concerned, but may not be considered as an admission of guilt for any other purpose.
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Operator: means every person, other than a chauffeur, who drives or is in actual physical control of a motor vehicle upon a highway or who is exercising control over or steering a vehicle being towed by a motor vehicle. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Owner: means a person who holds a legal title to a vehicle or in the event a vehicle is the subject of an agreement for the conditional sale, lease, or transfer of possession thereof with the right of purchase upon the performance of the conditions stated in the agreement, with the right of immediate possession in the vendee, lessee, possessor, or in the event such similar transaction is had by means of mortgage and the mortgagor of a vehicle is entitled to possession, then the conditional vendee, lessee, possessor, or mortgagor shall be deemed the owner for the purposes of this Chapter. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• person: includes a body of persons, whether incorporated or not. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 1:10
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Plan of operation: means the document setting the rules of operation of the corporation, as promulgated by the governing board and approved by the Louisiana Senate Committee on Insurance and the Louisiana House Committee on Insurance pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 22:2292
• Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
• Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
• Police officer: means every officer authorized to direct or regulate traffic or to make arrests for violations of traffic regulations. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Roadway: means that portion of a highway improved, designed, or ordinarily used for vehicular traffic, exclusive of the berm or shoulder. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• safety glass: as used in this Chapter shall mean glass so treated or combined with other materials as to reduce, in comparison with ordinary sheet glass or plate glass, the likelihood of injuries to persons by objects from external sources or by glass, when the glass is cracked or broken. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:360
• School bus: means every motor vehicle that is used to transport students to and from school or in connection with school activities, but not including a charter bus or transit bus. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Secretary: means the secretary of the Department of Transportation and Development or his delegated or authorized representative. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Shoulder: means the portion of the highway contiguous with the roadway for accommodation of stopped vehicles, for emergency use, pedestrian use, mobility aid use, bicycle use, and for lateral support of base and surface. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Stop: means , when required, the complete cessation from movement. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• stopping: means , when prohibited, any halting, even momentarily of a vehicle, whether occupied or not, except when necessary to avoid conflict with other traffic or in compliance with the directions of a police officer, weights and standards police officer, or traffic control sign or signal. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Subject lines of business: means the following lines of business: fire, allied lines, homeowners' multiperil, the property insurance portion of commercial multiperil policies, and the business interruption insurance portion of commercial multiperil policies or such interruption insurance with respect to commercial properties on a monoline basis. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 22:2292
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
• Traffic: means pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles, and other conveyances either singly or together while using any highway for purposes of travel. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Trailer: means every single vehicle without motive power designed for carrying property or passengers wholly on its own structure, drawn by a motor vehicle which carries no part of the weight and load of the trailer on its own wheels and having two or more load carrying axles. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Truck: means every motor propelled single vehicle for the conveyance of property or things for hauling purposes and having one front steering axle and one rear or load carrying axle. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Truck-tractor: means every motor vehicle designed and used primarily for drawing other vehicles and not so constructed as to carry a load other than a part of the weight of the vehicle and load drawn. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Vehicle: means every device by which persons or things may be transported upon a public highway or bridge, except devices moved by human power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• Width: means the total outside transverse dimension of a vehicle including any load or load holding devices thereon but excluding approved safety devices and tire bulge due to load. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1