Missouri Laws 376.365 – Standard valuation law — definitions
1. Sections 376.365 to 376.380 shall be known and may be cited as the “Standard Valuation Law”.
2. As used in sections 376.365 to 376.380, the following terms shall mean and apply on or after the operative date of the valuation manual:
Terms Used In Missouri Laws 376.365
- Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- following: when used by way of reference to any section of the statutes, mean the section next preceding or next following that in which the reference is made, unless some other section is expressly designated in the reference. See Missouri Laws 1.020
- person: may extend and be applied to bodies politic and corporate, and to partnerships and other unincorporated associations. See Missouri Laws 1.020
- State: when applied to any of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" includes such district and territories. See Missouri Laws 1.020
(1) “Accident and health insurance”, contracts that incorporate morbidity risk and provide protection against economic loss resulting from accidents, sickness, or medical conditions and as may be specified in the valuation manual;
(2) “Appointed actuary”, a qualified actuary who is appointed in accordance with the valuation manual to prepare the actuarial opinion required under subsection 5 of section 376.380;
(3) “Company”, an entity which has written, issued, or reinsured life insurance contracts, accident and health insurance contracts, or deposit-type contracts:
(a) In Missouri and has at least one such policy in force or on claim; or
(b) In any state and is required to hold a certificate of authority to write life insurance, accident and health insurance, or deposit-type contracts in Missouri;
(4) “Deposit-type contract”, a contract that does not incorporate mortality or morbidity risks and as may be specified in the valuation manual;
(5) “Life insurance”, contracts that incorporate mortality risk including annuity and pure endowment contracts and as may be specified in the valuation manual;
(6) “NAIC”, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners;
(7) “Operative date of the valuation manual”, January first of the first calendar year that the valuation manual is effective, as described in subdivision (2) of subsection 6 of section 376.380;
(8) “Policyholder behavior”, any action a policyholder, contract holder, or any other person with the right to elect options, such as a certificate holder, may take under a policy or contract subject to sections 376.365 to 376.380 including, but not limited to, lapse, withdrawal, transfer, deposit, premium payment, loan, annuitization, or benefit elections prescribed by the policy or contract but excluding events of mortality or morbidity that result in benefits prescribed in their essential aspects by the terms of the policy or contract;
(9) “Principle-based valuation”, a reserve valuation that uses one or more methods or one or more assumptions determined by the insurer and is required to comply with subsection 7 of section 376.380 as specified in the valuation manual;
(10) “Qualified actuary”, an individual who is qualified to sign the applicable statement of actuarial opinion in accordance with the American Academy of Actuaries qualification standards for actuaries signing such statements and who meets the requirements specified in the valuation manual;
(11) “Tail risk”, a risk that occurs either if the frequency of low probability events is higher than expected under a normal probability distribution or if there are observed events of very significant size or magnitude;
(12) “Valuation manual”, the manual of valuation instructions adopted by the NAIC as specified in sections 376.365 to 376.380.