For the purposes of this chapter:

(1)  “Ancillary state” means any state other than a domiciliary state;

(2)  “Delinquency proceeding” means any proceeding commenced against an insurer for the purpose of liquidating, rehabilitating, reorganizing, or conserving that insurer;

(3)  “Domiciliary state” means the state in which an insurer is incorporated or organized, or, in the case of an insurer incorporated or organized in a foreign country, the state in which that insurer, having become authorized to do business in that state, has, at the commencement of delinquency proceedings, the largest amount of its assets held in trust and assets held on deposit for the benefit of its policyholders or policyholders and creditors in the United States; and any foreign insurer is deemed to be domiciled in that state;

(4)  “Foreign country” means territory not in any state;

(5)  “General assets” means all property, real, personal, or otherwise, not specifically mortgaged, pledged, deposited, or otherwise encumbered for the security or benefit of specified persons or a limited class or classes of persons, and as to specifically encumbered property the term includes all property or its proceeds in excess of the amount necessary to discharge the sum or sums secured by that property. Assets held in trust and assets held on deposit for the security or benefit of all policyholders, or all policyholders and creditors in the United States, shall be deemed general assets; provided that general assets shall not mean unearned premiums due or owed the insurer by the policyholder, agent or broker at the time an insolvency or liquidation is declared by a court of competent jurisdiction, nor shall general assets mean unearned premiums held in trust or held on deposit by the agent, broker, or insurer;

(6)  “Insurer” means any person, firm, corporation, association, or aggregation of persons doing an insurance business and subject to the insurance supervisory authority of, or to liquidation, rehabilitation, reorganization, or conservation by, the department of business regulation of this state, or the equivalent insurance supervisory official of another state, including a protected cell company organized under the Protected Cell Companies Act, chapter 64 of this title, and any of its protected cells established to that chapter, to the extent not inconsistent with the provisions of chapter 64 of this title;

(7)  “Preferred claim” means any claim with respect to which the law of a state or of the United States accords priority of payment from the general assets of the insurer;

(8)  “Receiver” means receiver, liquidator, rehabilitator, or conservator as the context may require;

(9)  “Reciprocal state” means any state other than this state in which in substance and effect the provisions of this chapter are in force, including the provisions requiring that the director of business regulation is the receiver of a delinquent insurer;

(10)  “Secured claim” means any claim secured by mortgage, trust, deed, pledge, deposit as security, escrow, or otherwise, but not including special deposit claims or claims against general assets. The term also includes claims which more than four (4) months prior to the commencement of delinquency proceedings in the state of the insurer’s domicile have become liens upon specific assets by reason of judicial process;

(11)  “Special deposit claim” means any claim secured by a deposit made pursuant to statute for the security or benefit of a limited class or classes of persons, but not including any general assets; and

(12)  “State” means any state of the United States, and also the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.