Terms Used In Tennessee Code > Title 33 > Chapter 1 > Part 3 - General Powers and Duties of Department

• Adverse action: means a denial or cancellation of, an increase in any charge for, or a reduction or other adverse or unfavorable change in the terms of coverage or amount of, any insurance, existing or applied for, in connection with the underwriting of personal insurance. See Tennessee Code 56-5-201
• Advisory organization: means any person or organization, other than a rate service organization, that assists insurers as authorized by §. See Tennessee Code 56-5-102
• Advisory prospective loss costs: means historical aggregate losses and loss adjustment expenses projected through development to their ultimate value and through trending to a future point in time. See Tennessee Code 56-5-102
• Affiliate: means any insurance company that controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with the insurer writing the policies. See Tennessee Code 56-4-210
• Affiliate: means any company that controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with another company. See Tennessee Code 56-5-201
• Alcohol dependence: means alcohol abuse that results in the development of tolerance or manifestations of alcohol abstinence syndrome upon cessation of use. See Tennessee Code 33-1-101
• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Attorney: means the person designated and authorized by subscribers as the attorney-in-fact having authority to obligate them on reciprocal insurance contracts. See Tennessee Code 56-16-102
• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• Business entity: means a corporation, association, partnership, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, or other legal entity. See Tennessee Code 56-6-102
• Clearing corporation: means :
  (i) A corporation as defined in §. See Tennessee Code 56-3-902
• Code: includes the Tennessee Code and all amendments and revisions to the code and all additions and supplements to the code. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Commercial risk insurance: means insurance within the scope of this part that is not personal risk insurance. See Tennessee Code 56-5-102
• Commissioner: means the commissioner of mental health and substance abuse services. See Tennessee Code 33-1-101
• Commissioner: means the commissioner of commerce and insurance. See Tennessee Code 56-1-102
• Commissioner: means the commissioner of commerce and insurance. See Tennessee Code 56-3-902
• Commissioner: means the commissioner of commerce and insurance. See Tennessee Code 56-5-102
• Commissioner: means the commissioner of commerce and insurance. See Tennessee Code 56-6-102
• Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Consumer: means an insured whose credit information is used or whose insurance score is calculated in the underwriting or rating of a personal insurance policy or an applicant for the policy. See Tennessee Code 56-5-201
• Consumer reporting agency: means any entity that, for monetary fees, dues, or on a cooperative nonprofit basis, regularly engages in whole or in part in the practice of assembling or evaluating consumer credit information or other information on consumers for the purpose of furnishing consumer reports to third parties. See Tennessee Code 56-5-201
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Control: means the possession, direct or indirect, of the power to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of a company. See Tennessee Code 56-4-210
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Credit information: means any credit-related information derived from a credit report, found on a credit report itself, or provided on an application for personal insurance. See Tennessee Code 56-5-201
• Credit report: A detailed report of an individual's credit history prepared by a credit bureau and used by a lender in determining a loan applicant's creditworthiness. ^{Source: OCC}
• Credit report: means any written, oral, or other communication of information by a consumer reporting agency bearing on a consumer's creditworthiness, credit standing or credit capacity that is used or expected to be used or collected in whole or in part for the purpose of serving as a factor to determine personal insurance premiums, eligibility for coverage, or tier placement. See Tennessee Code 56-5-201
• Credit Score: A number, roughly between 300 and 800, that measures an individual's credit worthiness. The most well-known type of credit score is the FICO score. This score represents the answer from a mathematical formula that assigns numerical values to various pieces of information in your credit report. ^{Source: OCC}
• Crop insurance: means insurance providing protection against damage to crops from unfavorable weather conditions, fire or lightning, flood, hail, insect infestation, disease, or other yield-reducing conditions or perils provided by the private insurance market, or that is subsidized by the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation, including multi-peril crop insurance. See Tennessee Code 56-6-102
• Custodian: means a national bank, state bank, federal home loan bank, trust company or broker/dealer that participates in a clearing corporation. See Tennessee Code 56-3-902
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Department: means the department of mental health and substance abuse services. See Tennessee Code 33-1-101
• Department: means the department of commerce and insurance. See Tennessee Code 56-1-102
• Department: means the department of commerce and insurance. See Tennessee Code 56-6-102
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Drug dependence: means drug abuse that results in the development of tolerance or manifestations of drug abstinence syndrome upon cessation of use. See Tennessee Code 33-1-101
• 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}
• equity security: means any stock or similar security, or any security convertible, with or without consideration, into a stock or similar security, or carrying a warrant or right to subscribe or to purchase a stock or similar security. See Tennessee Code 56-3-701
• Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
• 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.
• Fair Credit Reporting Act: A federal law, established in 1971 and revised in 1997, that gives consumers the right to see their credit records and correct any mistakes. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• 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.
• Foreign: when used without limitation, includes all companies formed by authority of any other state or government. See Tennessee Code 56-1-102
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Grace period: The number of days you'll have to pay your bill for purchases in full without triggering a finance charge. ^{Source: Federal Reserve}
• gross premiums: means maximum gross premiums as provided in the policy contracts, new and renewal, including policy or membership fees, whether paid in part or in whole by cash, automatic premium loans, dividends applied in any manner whatsoever, and without deduction or exclusion of dividends in any manner. See Tennessee Code 56-4-204
• Gross profits or income: as used in this part , means gross income from all sources, except as provided in subsection (b), including income on tax exempt securities, loans, dividends and interest on stocks, bonds or other investments, plus net rentals on real estate, less the net amount of tax paid by the investment company on its tangible assets wherever located. See Tennessee Code 56-4-305
• Home state: means any state or territory of the United States and the District of Columbia in which an insurance producer maintains a principal place of residence or principal place of business and is licensed to act as an insurance producer. See Tennessee Code 56-6-102
• Insurance: means any of the lines of authority in §. See Tennessee Code 56-6-102
• insurance company: means any insurance, fidelity or surety company, including any corporation, company, partnership, association, society, order, fraternal or otherwise, individual or aggregation of individuals engaging in, or proposing or attempting to engage in, any kind of insurance or surety business, including the exchanging of reciprocal or interinsurance contracts between individuals, partnerships and corporations. See Tennessee Code 56-4-201
• Insurance producer: means a person required to be licensed under the laws of this state to sell, solicit or negotiate insurance. See Tennessee Code 56-6-102
• Insurance score: means a number or rating that is derived from an algorithm, computer application, model, or other process that is based in whole or in part on credit information for the purposes of predicting the future insurance loss exposure of an individual applicant or insured. See Tennessee Code 56-5-201
• Insurer: means any insurance company authorized to transact insurance business in this state. See Tennessee Code 56-6-102
• Joint underwriting: means a voluntary arrangement established on an ad hoc basis to provide insurance coverage for a commercial risk pursuant to which two (2) or more insurers separately contract with the insured at a price and under policy terms agreed upon between the insurers. See Tennessee Code 56-5-102
• 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.
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• License: means a document issued by this state's commissioner authorizing a person to act as an insurance producer for the lines of authority specified in the document. See Tennessee Code 56-6-102
• Limited line credit insurance: includes credit life, credit disability, credit property, credit unemployment, involuntary unemployment, mortgage life, mortgage guaranty, mortgage disability, guaranteed automobile protection (gap) insurance, and any other form of insurance offered in connection with an extension of credit that is limited to partially or wholly extinguishing that credit obligation that the commissioner determines should be designated a form of limited line credit insurance. See Tennessee Code 56-6-102
• Limited lines insurance: means those lines of insurance defined in §. See Tennessee Code 56-6-102
• Limited lines producer: means a person authorized by the commissioner to sell, solicit or negotiate limited lines insurance. See Tennessee Code 56-6-102
• Livestock: means all equine as well as animals that are being raised primarily for use as food or fiber for human utilization or consumption including, but not limited to, cattle, sheep, swine, goats, and poultry. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Mental illness: means a psychiatric disorder, alcohol dependence, or drug dependence, but does not include intellectual disability or other developmental disabilities as defined in title 52. See Tennessee Code 33-1-101
• Month: means a calendar month. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Multiplier: means a workers' compensation insurance company's determination of the profits and expenses, other than loss expense and loss adjustment expense, all other applicable rating factors, including, but not limited to, schedule rating, experience rating and small deductible credits, and deviation from advisory prospective loss costs associated with writing workers' compensation insurance, which shall be expressed as a single multiplicative factor to be applied equally and uniformly to the advisory prospective loss costs approved by the commissioner in making rates for all classification of risks utilized by the company. See Tennessee Code 56-5-102
• NAIC: means the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. See Tennessee Code 56-6-102
• National Bank: A bank that is subject to the supervision of the Comptroller of the Currency. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is a bureau of the U.S. Treasury Department. A national bank can be recognized because it must have "national" or "national association" in its name. ^{Source: OCC}
• Negotiate: means the act of conferring directly with or offering advice directly to a purchaser or prospective purchaser of a particular contract of insurance concerning any of the substantive benefits, terms or conditions of the contract. See Tennessee Code 56-6-102
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Oath: includes affirmation. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• 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.
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Person: means any association, aggregate of individuals, business, company, corporation, individual, joint-stock company, Lloyds-type organization, organization, partnership, receiver, reciprocal or interinsurance exchange, trustee or society. See Tennessee Code 56-16-102
• Person: means an individual or a business entity. See Tennessee Code 56-6-102
• Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Personal property: includes money, goods, chattels, things in action, and evidences of debt. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Personal representative: when applied to those who represent a decedent, includes executors and administrators, unless the context implies heirs and distributees. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Personal risk insurance: means property and casualty insurance that provides:
  (A) Insurance on one (1) to four (4) family dwelling units, including mobile homes. See Tennessee Code 56-5-102
• Pool: means a voluntary arrangement other than a residual market mechanism, established on an ongoing basis, pursuant to which two (2) or more insurers participate in the sharing of risks on a predetermined basis. See Tennessee Code 56-5-102
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• production credit association: means a corporation organized and chartered pursuant to §. See Tennessee Code 56-4-401
• Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Rate: includes advisory prospective loss costs. See Tennessee Code 56-5-102
• Rate service organization: means any person or organization that assists insurers in ratemaking or filing as authorized by §. See Tennessee Code 56-5-102
• Reciprocal: means the aggregation of subscribers under a common name. See Tennessee Code 56-16-102
• 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
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• Reporter: Makes a record of court proceedings and prepares a transcript, and also publishes the court's opinions or decisions (in the courts of appeals).
• Representative: when applied to those who represent a decedent, includes executors and administrators, unless the context implies heirs and distributees. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Residual market mechanism: means an arrangement, either voluntary or mandated by law, involving participation by insurers in the equitable apportionment among them of insurance that may be afforded applicants who are unable to obtain insurance through ordinary methods. See Tennessee Code 56-5-102
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Securities: means instruments as defined in §. See Tennessee Code 56-3-902
• Sell: means to exchange a contract of insurance by any means, for money or its equivalent, on behalf of an insurance company. See Tennessee Code 56-6-102
• Serious emotional disturbance: means a condition in a child who currently or at any time during the past year has had a diagnosable mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder of sufficient duration to meet psychiatric diagnostic criteria that results in functional impairment that substantially interferes with or limits the child's role or functioning in family, school, or community activities and includes any mental disorder, regardless of whether it is of biological etiology. See Tennessee Code 33-1-101
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Service recipient: means a person who is receiving service, has applied for service, or for whom someone has applied for or proposed service because the person has mental illness or serious emotional disturbance. See Tennessee Code 33-1-101
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• signed: includes a mark, the name being written near the mark and witnessed, or any other symbol or methodology executed or adopted by a party with intention to authenticate a writing or record, regardless of being witnessed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Solicit: means attempting to sell insurance or asking or urging a person to apply for a particular kind of insurance from a particular company. See Tennessee Code 56-6-102
• 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
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Supplementary rate information: includes any manual or plan of rates, classification, rating schedule, minimum premium, policy fee, rating rule, loss adjustment expense, including defense costs incurred for any reason under the policy, and any other similar information needed to determine the applicable rate in effect or to be in effect. See Tennessee Code 56-5-102
• Support: means any activity or resource that enables a service recipient to participate in a service for mental illness or serious emotional disturbance or in community life. See Tennessee Code 33-1-101
• Supporting information: means :
  (A) The experience and judgment of the filer and the experience or data of other insurers or organizations relied upon by the filer. See Tennessee Code 56-5-102
• Surplus lines producer: means a person authorized by the commissioner to sell, solicit or negotiate surplus lines insurance pursuant to the Surplus Lines Insurance Act, compiled in chapter 14 of this title. See Tennessee Code 56-6-102
• Tennessee securities: means real estate owned by an insurance company described in subdivision (b)(1) in this state. See Tennessee Code 56-4-210
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Uniform application: means the current version of the NAIC uniform application for resident and nonresident producer licensing. See Tennessee Code 56-6-102
• Uniform business entity application: means the current version of the NAIC uniform business entity application for resident and nonresident business entities. See Tennessee Code 56-6-102
• Uniform Commercial Code: A set of statutes enacted by the various states to provide consistency among the states' commercial laws. It includes negotiable instruments, sales, stock transfers, trust and warehouse receipts, and bills of lading. ^{Source: OCC}
• United States: includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Year: means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105