For purposes of this compact:

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Terms Used In West Virginia Code 33-47-2

  • 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.
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • 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.
  • State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10

(a) "Advertisement" means any material designed to create public interest in a product, or induce the public to purchase, increase, modify, reinstate, borrow on, surrender, replace or retain a policy as more specifically defined in the rules and operating procedures of the commission.

(b) "Bylaws" mean those bylaws established by the commission for its governance or for directing or controlling the commission's actions or conduct.

(c) "Compacting state" means any state which has enacted this compact legislation and which has not withdrawn pursuant to subsection (a), section fourteen of this article or been terminated pursuant to subsection (b) of said section.

(d) "Commission" means the "interstate insurance product regulation commission" established by this compact.

(e) "Commissioner" means the Insurance Commissioner of the State of West Virginia.

(f) "Domiciliary state" means the state in which an insurer is incorporated or organized; or, in the case of an alien insurer, its state of entry.

(g) "Insurer" means any entity licensed by a state to issue contracts of insurance for any of the lines of insurance covered by this article.

(h) "Member" means the person chosen by a compacting state as its representative to the commission or his or her designee.

(i) "Noncompacting state" means any state which is not at the time a compacting state.

(j) "Operating procedures" mean procedures promulgated by the commission implementing a rule, uniform standard or a provision of this compact.

(k) "Product" means the form of a policy or contract, including any application, endorsement or related form which is attached to and made a part of the policy or contract and any evidence of coverage or certificate, for an individual or group annuity, life insurance, disability income or long-term care insurance product that an insurer is authorized to issue.

(l) "Rule" means a statement of general or particular applicability and future effect promulgated by the commission, including a uniform standard developed pursuant to section seven of this article, designed to implement, interpret or prescribe law or policy or describing the organization, procedure or practice requirements of the commission, which shall have the force and effect of law in the compacting states.

(m) "State" means any state, district or territory of the United States of America.

(n) "Third-party filer" means an entity that submits a product filing to the commission on behalf of an insurer.

(o) "Uniform standard" means a standard adopted by the commission for a product line, pursuant to section seven of this article and shall include all of the product requirements in aggregate: Provided, That each uniform standard shall be construed, whether express or implied, to prohibit the use of any inconsistent, misleading or ambiguous provisions in a product and the form of the product made available to the public shall not be unfair, inequitable or against public policy as determined by the commission.