(a) The commissioner may place on probation, cancel, terminate, suspend, revoke or refuse to issue or renew a public adjuster‘s license, or may levy a civil penalty, in accordance with this section, or any combination of actions, for any one (1) or more of the following causes:

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 56-6-910

  • Commissioner: means the commissioner of commerce and insurance. See Tennessee Code 56-6-902
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
  • Individual: means a natural person. See Tennessee Code 56-6-902
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
  • Person: means an individual or a business entity. See Tennessee Code 56-6-902
  • Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
  • Public adjuster: means any person, other than someone who is employed by an insurance carrier, who, for compensation or any other thing of value, on behalf of the insured:
    (i) Acts or aids, solely in relation to first party claims arising under insurance contracts that insure the real or personal property of the insured on behalf of an insured, in investigating, verifying, substaining, estimating, appraising, determining, presenting, and discussing the value of the claim, and effectuating the resolution of a claim for loss or damage covered by an insurance contract. See Tennessee Code 56-6-902
  • Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in a perceivable form. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(1) Providing materially incorrect, misleading, incomplete, or untrue information in the license application;
(2) Violating any laws administered by the commissioner, or violating lawful regulations, or final orders of the commissioner or of another state‘s insurance commissioner;
(3) Obtaining or attempting to obtain a license through misrepresentation or fraud;
(4) Improperly withholding, misappropriating, or converting to the licensee’s own use any moneys or properties received in the course of conducting business under this license;
(5) Intentionally misrepresenting the terms of an actual or proposed insurance contract or application for insurance;
(6) Having been convicted of a felony or other offense involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation, in a final decision of a court of competent jurisdiction;
(7) Having committed any insurance unfair trade practice or insurance fraud prohibited under chapters 8 and 53 of this title;
(8) Using fraudulent, coercive or dishonest practices, or demonstrating incompetence, untrustworthiness or financial irresponsibility in the conduct of business in this state or elsewhere;
(9) Having an insurance producer license, or its equivalent, suspended or revoked in any other state, province, district or territory;
(10) Forging another’s name to an application for insurance or to any document related to an insurance transaction;
(11) Cheating on an examination for an insurance license;
(12) Knowingly accepting insurance business from an individual who is not licensed by the commissioner but who is required to be so licensed;
(13) Allowing a person not licensed under this part to perform actions requiring licensure under this part;
(14) Failing to comply with a final administrative or court order imposing a child support obligation; or
(15) Failing to notify the insured, verbally and in writing, of the statutory requirements of this part, as they pertain to solicitation, contracting, and recission and the timeframes contained in this part.
(b) Any action by the commissioner to put on probation, suspend, revoke or deny the renewal of a license pursuant to this part shall be governed by the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5.
(c) In the event that the action of the commissioner is to deny an application for a license, the commissioner shall notify the applicant and advise, in writing, the applicant of the denial of the applicant’s application within thirty (30) days.
(d) The license of a business entity may be suspended, revoked or refused, if the commissioner finds that an individual’s violation was known or should have been known by one (1) or more of the partners, officers or managers acting on behalf of the business entity, and the violation was not timely reported to the commissioner and corrective action was not taken.
(e) In addition to, or in lieu of, any applicable denial, suspension, cancellation, termination, or revocation of a license, a person may, after a hearing, be subject to a civil penalty in an amount not less than one hundred dollars ($100), nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), for each separate violation of the grounds in subsection (a). Each day of continued violation shall constitute a separate violation.
(f) The commissioner shall retain the authority to enforce this part and impose any penalty or remedy authorized by this part, or any other provision of this title against any person who is under investigation for or charged with a violation of this part, even if the person’s license or registration has been surrendered or has lapsed by operation of law.
(g) The commissioner may serve a notice or order in any action arising under this part by registered or certified mail to the public adjuster or applicant at the address of record on file with the commissioner. Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, service in the manner set forth in this subsection (g) shall be deemed to constitute actual service on the public adjuster or applicant.
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