§ 27-2.4-2 - Definitions. - Rhode Island Statutes

SECTION 27-2.4-2

   § 27-2.4-2  Definitions. – The following definitions apply to this chapter:

   (1) "Business entity" means a corporation, association,partnership, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, or otherlegal entity;

   (2) "Contracted producer report" means the annual report thatall insurers contracting with insurance producers must provide to thedepartment on or by March 1 listing each insurance producer to whom the insurerpaid one hundred dollars ($100) or more in commissions for the precedingcalendar year of January 1 to December 31. The department shall prescribe theform and manner of reporting.

   (3) "Department" means the department of business regulation;

   (4) "Home state" means any state or territory of the UnitedStates, or the District of Columbia, in which an insurance producer maintainshis or her principal place of residence or principal place of business and islicensed to act as an insurance producer;

   (5) "Insurance" means any of the lines of authority set forthin this title;

   (6) "Insurance commissioner" means the director of thedepartment of business regulation or his or her designee;

   (7) "Insurance producer" means a person required to belicensed under the laws of this state to sell, solicit or negotiate insurance;

   (8) "Insurer" means: (i) any person, reciprocal exchange,interinsurer, Lloyds insurer, fraternal benefit society, and any other legalentity engaged in the business of insurance, including insurance producers;(ii) notwithstanding §§ 27-19-2, 27-20-2, 27-20.1-2, 27-20.2-2,27-20.3-2, and 27-41-22, all of whom shall be engaged in the business ofinsurance for the purpose of this chapter, nonprofit hospital and/or medicalservice corporation, a nonprofit dental service corporation, a nonprofitoptometric service corporation, a nonprofit legal service corporation, a healthmaintenance organization as defined in chapter 41 of this title or as definedin chapter 62 of title 42, or any other entity providing a plan of healthbenefits subject to state insurance regulation; and (iii) an organization thatfor consideration assumes certain risks for an insured. Insurer organizationsmay include corporations, stock companies, mutual companies, risk retentiongroups, reciprocals, captives, Lloyds associations, and government residualplans.

   (9) "License" means a document issued by this state'sinsurance commissioner authorizing a person to act as an insurance producer forthe lines of authority specified in the document. The license itself does notcreate any authority, actual, apparent or inherent, in the holder to representor commit an insurance carrier;

   (10) "Limited line credit insurance" includes credit life,credit disability, credit property, credit unemployment, involuntaryunemployment, mortgage life, mortgage guaranty, mortgage disability, guaranteedautomobile protection (gap) insurance, and any other form of insurance offeredin connection with an extension of credit that is limited to partially orwholly extinguishing that credit obligation that the insurance commissionerdetermines should be designated a form of limited line credit insurance;

   (11) "Limited line credit insurance producer" means a personwho sells, solicits or negotiates one or more forms of limited line creditinsurance coverage to individuals through a master, corporate, group orindividual policy;

   (12) "Limited lines insurance" means those lines of insurancethat the insurance commissioner deems necessary to recognize for purposes ofcomplying with subsection 27-2.4-10(e);

   (13) "Limited lines producer" means a person authorized bythe insurance commissioner to sell, solicit or negotiate limited linesinsurance;

   (14) "NAIC" means National Association of InsuranceCommissioners;

   (15) "Negotiate" means the act of conferring directly with oroffering advice directly to a purchaser or prospective purchaser of aparticular contract of insurance concerning any of the substantive benefits,terms or conditions of the contract, provided that the person engaged in thatact either sells insurance or obtains insurance from insurers for purchasers;

   (16) "Person" means an individual;

   (17) "Resident" means a person who either resides in RhodeIsland or maintains an office in Rhode Island where the business of producinginsurance is transacted and designates Rhode Island as the residence forpurposes of licensure;

   (18) "Sell" means to exchange a contract of insurance by anymeans, for money or its equivalent, on behalf of an insurance company;

   (19) "Solicit" means attempting to sell insurance or askingor urging a person to apply for a particular kind of insurance from aparticular company;

   (20) "Terminate" means the cancellation of the relationshipbetween an insurance producer and the insurer or the termination of aninsurance producer's authority to transact insurance;

   (21) "Uniform application" means the current version of theNAIC uniform application for resident and nonresident insurance producerlicensing.