Terms Used In Virginia Code > Title 38.2 > Chapter 18 - Insurance Agents

• Accident and sickness insurance: means insurance against loss resulting from sickness, or from bodily injury or death by accident or accidental means, or from a combination of any or all of these perils. See Virginia Code 38.2-109
• Adult: means a person 18 years of age or more. See Virginia Code 1-203
• agent: shall be construed to refer to any of the individual licensees referred to above. See Virginia Code 38.2-1866
• Aggregator site: means a website that provides access to information, including product and insurer information, regarding insurance products from more than one insurer for use in comparison shopping. See Virginia Code 38.2-1887
• Agricultural land: means real estate in the Commonwealth used or zoned in a manner that would permit the use of the real estate for an agricultural operation. See Virginia Code 55.1-507
• Agricultural operation: means any operation devoted to the bona fide production of crops, animals, or fowl, including the production of fruits and vegetables of any kind; meat, dairy, and poultry products; nuts, tobacco, nursery, and floral products; and the production and harvest of products from silvicultural activity. See Virginia Code 55.1-507
• 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.
• Annuities: means all agreements to make periodic payments in specified or calculable sums pursuant to the terms of a contract for a stated period of time or for the life of the person or persons specified in the contract. See Virginia Code 38.2-106
• annuity: shall be deemed to include "variable annuity" and "modified guaranteed annuity" and shall be deemed to include a contract under which a lump sum cash settlement is an alternative to the option of periodic payments. See Virginia Code 38.2-106
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Attorney: means the person designated and authorized by subscribers as the attorney-in-fact having authority to obligate them on reciprocal insurance contracts. See Virginia Code 38.2-1201
• Bail: Security given for the release of a criminal defendant or witness from legal custody (usually in the form of money) to secure his/her appearance on the day and time appointed.
• Blanket travel insurance: means a policy of travel insurance issued to any eligible group providing coverage for specific classes of persons defined in the policy with coverage provided to all members of the eligible group without a separate charge to individual members of the eligible group. See Virginia Code 38.2-1887
• Board: means the Criminal Justice Services Board. See Virginia Code 9.1-101
• Bureau of Insurance: means the division of the Commission established to administer the insurance laws of the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 38.2-100
• Business entity: means a partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company, corporation, or other legal entity other than a sole proprietorship. See Virginia Code 38.2-1800
• business of insurance: include solicitation, negotiations preliminary to execution, execution of an insurance contract, and the transaction of matters subsequent to execution of the contract and arising out of it. See Virginia Code 38.2-100
• Cancellation fee waiver: means a contractual agreement between a supplier of travel services and its customer to waive some or all of the nonrefundable cancellation fee provisions of the supplier's underlying travel contract with or without regard to the reason for the cancellation or form of reimbursement. See Virginia Code 38.2-1887
• Catastrophic disaster: means an event where the President of the United States or the Governor of the Commonwealth has declared a state of emergency. See Virginia Code 38.2-1845.1
• Collegial body: means a governmental entity whose power or authority is vested within its membership. See Virginia Code 1-209
• Commission: means the State Corporation Commission. 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.
• Company: means any association, aggregate of individuals, business, 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
• 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.
• Courts of record: means the Supreme Court of Virginia, the Court of Appeals of Virginia, and the circuit courts. See Virginia Code 1-212
• Customer: means a person who purchases portable electronics or services. See Virginia Code 38.2-1875
• Customer: means a person who leases a self storage unit. See Virginia Code 38.2-1881
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Department: means the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. See Virginia Code 55.1-507
• Department: means the Department of Criminal Justice Services. See Virginia Code 9.1-101
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• DLP: means an employee, officer, director, manager, member, or partner of a limited lines travel insurance agent who (i) is a licensed property and casualty insurance agent, a personal lines insurance agent, or an individual limited lines property and casualty insurance agent and (ii) has been designated by the limited lines travel insurance agent as the person responsible for the limited lines travel insurance agent's compliance with the travel insurance laws, rules, and regulations of the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 38.2-1887
• Eligible group: means two or more persons who are engaged in a common enterprise or have an economic, educational, or social affinity or relationship, including:

  1. See Virginia Code 38.2-1887

• 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}
• Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
• Foreclosure: A legal process in which property that is collateral or security for a loan may be sold to help repay the loan when the loan is in default. ^{Source: OCC}
• Foreign adversary: means any foreign government or nongovernment person determined by the U. See Virginia Code 55.1-507
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Fulfillment materials: means documentation sent to the purchaser of a travel protection plan confirming the purchase and providing the travel protection plan's coverage and assistance details. See Virginia Code 38.2-1887
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Grantor: The person who establishes a trust and places property into it.
• home service insurer: means an insurer selling industrial or ordinary life insurance or accident and sickness insurance on a debit, where the premiums are payable at least monthly directly by the owner of the policy or a person representing the owner to a representative of the insurer. See Virginia Code 38.2-1805
• Home state: means the District of Columbia and any state or territory of the United States, except Virginia, or any province of Canada, in which a public adjuster maintains such person's principal place of residence or principal place of business and is licensed by that jurisdiction to act as a resident public adjuster. See Virginia Code 38.2-1845.1
• Insurance consultant: means any individual or business entity who acts as an independent contractor in relation to his client and for a fee or compensation, other than from an insurer or agent or surplus lines broker, advises or offers or purports to advise, as to life and health or property and casualty insurance, any person actively or prospectively insured. See Virginia Code 38.2-1837
• insurance policies: shall include contracts of fidelity, indemnity, guaranty and suretyship. See Virginia Code 38.2-100
• insurance producer: when used without qualification, means an individual or business entity that sells, solicits, or negotiates contracts of insurance or annuity in the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 38.2-1800
• Insurer: means an insurance company. See Virginia Code 38.2-100
• Interest in agricultural land: means any right, title, or interest, direct or indirect, in and to (i) agricultural land or (ii) any entity or other organization that holds any right, title, or interest, direct or indirect, in and to agricultural land. See Virginia Code 55.1-507
• Law-enforcement officer: means any full-time or part-time employee of a police department or sheriff's office which is a part of or administered by the Commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof, or any full-time or part-time employee of a private police department, and who is responsible for the prevention and detection of crime and the enforcement of the penal, traffic or highway laws of the Commonwealth, and shall include any (i) special agent of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority; (ii) police agent appointed under the provisions of § 56-353; (iii) officer of the Virginia Marine Police; (iv) conservation police officer who is a full-time sworn member of the enforcement division of the Department of Wildlife Resources; (v) investigator who is a sworn member of the security division of the Virginia Lottery; (vi) conservation officer of the Department of Conservation and Recreation commissioned pursuant to § Virginia Code 9.1-101
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Lessor: means a person in the business of engaging in self storage unit transactions directly or indirectly. See Virginia Code 38.2-1881
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• License: means a document issued by the Commission authorizing an individual or business entity to act as a public adjuster. See Virginia Code 38.2-1845.1
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Life and health insurance consultant: means an insurance consultant whose services are limited to insurance as defined in §§ Virginia Code 38.2-1837
• Life estate: A property interest limited in duration to the life of the individual holding the interest (life tenant).
• 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
• Limited lines travel insurance agent: means a licensed property and casualty insurance agent, a personal lines insurance agent, or a limited lines property and casualty agent. See Virginia Code 38.2-1887
• local government: shall be construed to mean a county, city, or town as the context may require. See Virginia Code 15.2-102
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
• Negotiate: means the act of conferring directly with or offering advice directly to a purchaser or prospective purchaser of a particular contract of public adjusting concerning any of the substantive benefits, terms, or conditions of the contract. See Virginia Code 38.2-1845.1
• Offer and disseminate: means providing general information, including a description of the coverage and price, as well as processing the application, collecting premiums, and performing other non-licensable activities permitted by the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 38.2-1887
• 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 of organization, organization, partnership, receiver, reciprocal or interinsurance exchange, trustee or society. See Virginia Code 38.2-100
• Person under disability: includes a person less than 18 years of age. See Virginia Code 1-232
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Personal representative: includes the executor of a will or the administrator of the estate of a decedent, the administrator of such estate with the will annexed, the administrator of such estate unadministered by a former representative, whether there is a will or not, any person who is under the order of a circuit court to take into his possession the estate of a decedent for administration, and every other curator of a decedent's estate, for or against whom suits may be brought for causes of action that accrued to or against the decedent. See Virginia Code 1-234
• Portable electronics: means electronic devices that are portable in nature, accessories to such devices, and services related to the use of the devices. See Virginia Code 38.2-1875
• Portable electronics insurance: means insurance providing coverage for the repair or replacement of portable electronics that may cover portable electronics against any one or more of the following causes of loss: loss, theft, mechanical failure, malfunction, damage, or other applicable peril. See Virginia Code 38.2-1875
• Primary certificate holder: means a person who elects and purchases travel insurance under a group policy. See Virginia Code 38.2-1887
• Primary policyholder: means a person who elects and purchases individual travel insurance. See Virginia Code 38.2-1887
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Proof of compliance: means all fees prescribed by the Board and all documents and forms specified by the Board for demonstrating completion of Board-approved continuing education courses relevant to the license held and for the required number of hours. See Virginia Code 38.2-1868.1
• Property and casualty insurance consultant: means an insurance consultant whose services are limited to insurance as defined in §§ Virginia Code 38.2-1837
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Public adjuster: means an individual or business entity who receives, either directly or indirectly, a salary, fee, commission, or other compensation for engaging in public adjusting. See Virginia Code 38.2-1845.1
• Public adjusting: means soliciting, investigating, negotiating, adjusting, or providing advice to an insured in relation to first party claims arising under insurance contracts that insure the real or personal property of an insured for the purpose of effecting the settlement of a claim on behalf of the insured. See Virginia Code 38.2-1845.1
• Public facilities: means (i) airports, landing fields, and air navigation facilities; (ii) educational facilities; (iii) flood control, bank and shore protection, watershed protection, and dams; (iv) hospital facilities; (v) judicial and court facilities; (vi) correctional facilities, including jails and penitentiaries; (vii) library facilities; (viii) military installations; (ix) parks so designated by the Commonwealth or by the locality in its comprehensive plan; (x) properties of historical significance so designated by the Commonwealth; (xi) law enforcement, fire, emergency medical, and rescue facilities; (xii) sanitary sewer, water or stormwater facilities; (xiii) transportation facilities including highways, roads, streets, and bridges, traffic signals, related easements and rights-of-way, mass transit, ports, and any components of federal, state, or local transportation facilities; (xiv) waste management facilities for hazardous, radioactive, or other waste; (xv) office facilities occupied by a public corporation; and (xvi) such other facilities that are necessary to the construction, maintenance, or operation of a public facility as listed in clauses (i) through (xv) and directly related thereto. See Virginia Code 1-219.1
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• rates: means any rate of premium, policy fee, membership fee or any other charge made by an insurer for or in connection with a contract or policy of insurance. See Virginia Code 38.2-100
• real estate: includes lands, tenements and hereditaments, and all rights and appurtenances thereto and interests therein, other than a chattel interest. See Virginia Code 1-219
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Reciprocal: means the aggregation of subscribers under a common name. See Virginia Code 38.2-1201
• Rescission: The cancellation of budget authority previously provided by Congress. The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 specifies that the President may propose to Congress that funds be rescinded. If both Houses have not approved a rescission proposal (by passing legislation) within 45 days of continuous session, any funds being withheld must be made available for obligation.
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Self storage insurance: means insurance providing coverage against loss of or damage to items of personal property stored in a self storage unit in accordance with the terms of the self storage unit rental agreement. See Virginia Code 38.2-1881
• Self storage unit: means a unit in a building, part of a building, or place used only for storage of personal property by the customer leasing the unit. See Virginia Code 38.2-1881
• Solicit: means attempting to sell insurance or asking or urging a person to apply for a particular class of insurance from one or more insurers. See Virginia Code 38.2-1800
• Soliciting: means attempting to persuade or asking or urging an insured to enter into a public adjusting contract by describing the terms of the contract, including any fees or commissions, and offering to negotiate a claim of loss on behalf of the insured. See Virginia Code 38.2-1845.1
• State: means any commonwealth, state, territory, district or insular possession of the United States. See Virginia Code 38.2-100
• state agency: means the same as that term is defined in § Virginia Code 1-206
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Surety bail bondsman: means a person licensed as a surety bail bondsman pursuant to Article 11 (§ Virginia Code 38.2-1800
• Surplus lines broker: means a person licensed pursuant to Article 5. See Virginia Code 38.2-1800
• Terminate: means the cancellation of the relationship between an insurance producer and the insurer, or the termination of an insurance producer's authority to transact insurance. See Virginia Code 38.2-1800
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Title insurance agent: means an agent licensed in the Commonwealth to sell, solicit, or negotiate title insurance, and performing all of the services set forth in § Virginia Code 38.2-1800
• Travel administrator: means a person who directly or indirectly underwrites, collects, charges collateral or premiums from, or adjusts or settles claims on residents of the Commonwealth, in connection with travel insurance. See Virginia Code 38.2-1887
• Travel assistance services: includes (i) security advisories; (ii) destination information; (iii) vaccination and immunization information services; (iv) travel reservation services; (v) entertainment; (vi) activity and event planning; (vii) translation assistance; (viii) emergency messaging; (ix) international legal and medical referrals; (x) medical case monitoring; (xi) coordination of transportation arrangements; (xii) emergency cash transfer assistance; (xiii) medical prescription replacement assistance; (xiv) passport and travel document replacement assistance; (xv) lost luggage assistance; (xvi) concierge services; and (xvii) any other service that is furnished in connection with planned travel. See Virginia Code 38.2-1887
• Travel insurance: means insurance coverage for personal risks incident to planned travel, including (i) interruption or cancellation of trip or event; (ii) loss of baggage or personal effects; (iii) damages to accommodations or rental vehicles; (iv) emergency evacuation; (v) repatriation of remains; or (vi) any other contractual obligations to indemnify or pay a specified amount to the traveler upon determinable contingencies related to travel as approved by the Commission. See Virginia Code 38.2-1887
• Travel protection plan: means any plan that provides travel insurance, travel assistance services, or cancellation fee waivers. See Virginia Code 38.2-1887
• Travel retailer: means a business entity that offers and disseminates travel insurance on behalf of and under the direction and license of a travel insurance agent. See Virginia Code 38.2-1887
• Trust account: A general term that covers all types of accounts in a trust department, such as estates, guardianships, and agencies. ^{Source: OCC}
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Uniform Application: means the current version of the NAIC Uniform Application for resident and nonresident producer licensing. See Virginia Code 38.2-1800
• Uniform Business Entity Application: means the current version of the NAIC Uniform Business Entity Application for resident and nonresident business entities. See Virginia Code 38.2-1800
• Variable contract agent: means an agent licensed in the Commonwealth to sell, solicit, or negotiate variable life insurance and variable annuity contracts on behalf of insurers licensed in the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 38.2-1800
• Vendor: means a person in the business of engaging in portable electronics transactions directly or indirectly. See Virginia Code 38.2-1875
• Veto: The procedure established under the Constitution by which the President/Governor refuses to approve a bill or joint resolution and thus prevents its enactment into law. A regular veto occurs when the President/Governor returns the legislation to the house in which it originated. The President/Governor usually returns a vetoed bill with a message indicating his reasons for rejecting the measure. In Congress, the veto can be overridden only by a two-thirds vote in both the Senate and the House.
• Viatical settlement broker: means a person licensed pursuant to Chapter 60 (§ Virginia Code 38.2-1800