§ 27-54.1-1. Definitions.
As used in this chapter:
(1) "Business of insurance� means the writing of insurance or the reinsuring of risks
by an insurer, including acts necessary or incidental to writing insurance or reinsuring
risks and the activities of persons who act as or are officers, directors, agents,
or employees of insurers, or who are other persons authorized to act on their behalf.
(2) "Commissioner� means the director of the department of business regulation, or his
or her designee, or the division of insurance.
(3) "Fraudulent insurance act� means an act or omission committed by a person who, knowingly
and with intent to defraud, commits, or conceals any material information concerning,
one or more of the following:
(i) Presenting, causing to be presented, or preparing with knowledge or belief that it
will be presented to or by an insurer, a reinsurer, broker or its agent, false information
as part of, in support of, or concerning a fact material to one or more of the following:
(A) An application for the issuance or renewal of an insurance policy or reinsurance contract;
(B) The rating of an insurance policy or reinsurance contract;
(C) A claim for payment or benefit pursuant to an insurance policy or reinsurance contract;
(D) Premiums paid on an insurance policy or reinsurance contract;
(E) Payments made in accordance with the terms of an insurance policy or reinsurance contract;
(F) A document filed with the commissioner or the chief insurance regulatory official
of another jurisdiction;
(G) The financial condition of an insurer or reinsurer;
(H) The formation, acquisition, merger, reconsolidation, dissolution, or withdrawal from
one or more lines of insurance or reinsurance in all or part of this state by an insurer
or reinsurer;
(I) The issuance of written evidence of insurance; or
(J) The reinstatement of an insurance policy;
(ii) Solicitation of acceptance of new or renewal insurance risks on behalf of an insurer,
reinsurer, or other person engaged in the business of insurance by a person who knows
or should know that the insurer or other person responsible for the risk is insolvent
at the time of the transaction;
(iii) Removal, concealment, alteration, or destruction of the assets or records of an insurer,
reinsurer, or other person engaged in the business of insurance;
(iv) Willful embezzlement, abstracting, purloining, or conversion of monies, funds, premiums,
credits, or other property of an insurer, reinsurer, or person engaged in the business
of insurance;
(v) Transaction of the business of insurance in violation of laws requiring a license,
certificate of authority, or other legal authority for the transaction of the business
of insurance; or
(vi) Attempt to commit, aiding or abetting in the commission of, or conspiracy to commit
the acts or omissions specified in this subsection (3).
(4) "Insurance� means a contract or arrangement in which one undertakes to:
(i) Pay or indemnify another as to loss from certain contingencies called "risks,� including
through reinsurance;
(ii) Pay or grant a specified amount or determinable benefit to another in connection with
ascertainable risk contingencies;
(iii) Pay an annuity to another; or
(iv) Act as surety.
(5) "Insurer� means a person entering into arrangements or contracts of insurance or reinsurance
and who agrees to perform any of the acts set forth in subsection (4) of this section
or fraternal benefit societies, medical and hospital service corporations, dental
service corporations, or health maintenance organizations. A person is an insurer
regardless of whether the person is acting in violation of laws requiring a certificate
of authority or regardless of whether the person denies being an insurer.
(6) "NAIC� means the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.
(7) "Person� means an individual, a corporation, a partnership, an association, a joint
stock company, a trust, an unincorporated organization, or any similar entity or any
combination of the foregoing.
(8) "Policy� means an individual or group policy, group certificate, contract, or arrangement
of insurance or reinsurance affecting the rights of a resident of this state or bearing
a reasonable relation to this state, regardless of whether delivered or issued for
delivery in this state.
(9) "Reinsurance� means a contract, binder of coverage (including placement slip), or
arrangement under which an insurer procures insurance for itself in another insurer
as to all or part of an insurance risk of the originating insurer.