Virginia Code 38.2-6015: Immunity from liability
A. No cause of action shall arise nor shall any liability be imposed against the Commission, the Commissioner of Insurance, or any of the Commission’s employees or agents, for any statements made or conduct performed in good faith while carrying out the provisions of this chapter or Article 6.1 (§ 38.2-1865.1 et seq.) of Chapter 18 of this title.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 38.2-6015
- Allegation: something that someone says happened.
- Business of viatical settlements: means an activity involved in, but not limited to, the offering, solicitation, negotiation, procurement, effectuation, purchasing, investing, financing, monitoring, tracking, underwriting, selling, transferring, assigning, pledging, or hypothecating in any other manner, of viatical settlement contracts or purchase agreements. See Virginia Code 38.2-6000
- Commission: means the State Corporation Commission. See Virginia Code 38.2-100
- Commissioner of Insurance: means the administrative or executive officer of the Bureau. See Virginia Code 38.2-100
- 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.
- Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
- 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.
- Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
- Fraudulent viatical settlement act: includes :
1. See Virginia Code 38.2-6000
- Insurer: means an insurance company. See Virginia Code 38.2-100
- Licensee under this chapter: means a person licensed by the Commission as a viatical settlement provider or viatical settlement broker. See Virginia Code 38.2-6000
- Life insurance: includes policies that also provide (i) endowment benefits; (ii) additional benefits incidental to a loss in the event of death, dismemberment, or loss by accident or accidental means; (iii) additional benefits to safeguard the contract from lapse or to provide a special surrender value, a special benefit or an annuity, in the event of total and permanent disability of the insured; and (iv) optional modes of settlement of proceeds. See Virginia Code 38.2-102
- NAIC: means National Association of Insurance Commissioners. See Virginia Code 38.2-6000
- Person: means any association, aggregate of individuals, business, company, corporation, individual, joint-stock company, Lloyds type of organization, organization, partnership, receiver, reciprocal or interinsurance exchange, trustee or society. See Virginia Code 38.2-100
- Policy: means an individual or group policy, group certificate, contract or arrangement of life insurance affecting the rights of a resident of this Commonwealth or bearing a reasonable relation to this Commonwealth, regardless of whether delivered or issued for delivery in this Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 38.2-6000
- 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.
- State: means any commonwealth, state, territory, district or insular possession of the United States. See Virginia Code 38.2-100
- Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
B. No cause of action shall arise, nor shall any liability be imposed against any person for the act of communicating or delivering information or data to the Commission, if the act of communication or delivery was performed in good faith and without fraudulent intent or the intent to deceive.
C. No civil liability shall be imposed on and no cause of action shall arise from a person’s furnishing information concerning suspected, anticipated, or completed fraudulent viatical settlement acts or suspected or completed fraudulent insurance acts, if the information is provided to or received from:
1. The Commission, the Commissioner of Insurance, or any of the Commission’s employees or agents;
2. Federal, state, or local law enforcement or regulatory officials or their employees, agents or representatives;
3. A person involved in the prevention and detection of fraudulent viatical settlement acts or that person’s agents, employees, or representatives;
4. The NAIC, National Association of Securities Dealers, the North American Securities Administrators Association, or their employees, agents or representatives, or other regulatory body overseeing life insurance, viatical settlements, securities, or investment fraud;
5. The life insurer that issued the life insurance policy covering the life of the insured; or
6. Any licensee under this chapter, provided the information furnished shall not be utilized as grounds to excuse the direct actions of such licensee.
D. Immunity provided by subsection C shall not apply to statements made with actual malice. In an action brought against a person for filing a report or furnishing other information concerning a fraudulent viatical settlement act or a fraudulent insurance act, the party bringing the action shall plead specifically any allegation that subsection C does not apply because the person filing the report or furnishing the information did so with actual malice.
E. This section does not abrogate or modify common law or statutory privileges or immunities enjoyed by a person described in subsections A or C.
F. The documents and evidence provided pursuant to this section or obtained by the Commission in an investigation of suspected or actual fraudulent viatical settlement acts shall be privileged and confidential and shall not be a public record and shall not be subject to discovery or subpoena in a private civil or criminal action.
G. Subsection F does not prohibit release by the Commission of documents and evidence obtained in an investigation of suspected or actual fraudulent viatical settlement acts:
1. In administrative or judicial proceedings to enforce laws administered by the Commission;
2. To federal, state, or local law enforcement or regulatory agencies, to an organization established for the purpose of detecting and preventing fraudulent viatical settlement acts or to the NAIC; or
3. At the discretion of the Commission, to a person in the business of viatical settlements that is aggrieved by a fraudulent viatical settlement act.
H. Release of documents and evidence under subsection G does not abrogate or modify the privilege granted in subsection F.
2003, c. 717.