Chapter Definitions

  1. Law
  2. Tennessee Code
  3. Insurance
  4. Surplus Lines Insurance
  5. Chapter Definitions

Checkout our iOS App for a better way to browser and research.

As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:

  1. “Admitted company” or “authorized company” means an insurance company qualified and licensed to transact business under this title;
  2. “Affiliate” means, with respect to an insured, any entity that controls the insured, is controlled by the insured or is under common control with the insured;
  3. “Affiliated group” means a group of entities in which each entity, with respect to an insured, controls the insured, is controlled by the insured, or is under common control with the insured;
  4. “Alien insurance company” means an insurance company incorporated or formed under the laws of any country other than the United States;
  5. “Commissioner” means the commissioner of commerce and insurance;
  6. “Control” means:
    1. To own, control, or have the power of an entity directly, indirectly, or acting through one or more other persons to vote twenty-five percent (25%) or more of any class of voting securities of another entity; or
    2. To direct, by an entity, in any manner, the election of a majority of the directors or trustees of another entity;
  7. “Department” means the department of commerce and insurance;
    1. “Exempt commercial purchaser” means any person purchasing commercial insurance that, at the time of placement, meets the following requirements:
      1. The person employs or retains a qualified risk manager to negotiate insurance coverage;
      2. The person has paid aggregate nationwide commercial property and casualty insurance premiums in excess of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) in the immediately preceding twelve (12) months; and
      3. The person meets at least one (1) of the following criteria:
  1. The person possesses a net worth in excess of twenty million dollars ($20,000,000), as such amount is adjusted pursuant to subdivision (7)(B);
  2. The person generates annual revenue in excess of fifty million dollars ($50,000,000), as such amount is adjusted pursuant to subdivision (7)(B);
  3. The person employs more than five hundred (500) full-time or full-time equivalent employees per individual insured or is a member of an affiliated group employing more than one thousand (1,000) employees in the aggregate;
  4. The person is a not-for-profit organization or public entity generating annual budgeted expenditures of at least thirty million dollars ($30,000,000), as such amount is adjusted pursuant to subdivision (7)(B); or
  5. The person is a local governmental entity with a population in excess of fifty thousand (50,000) inhabitants;
    1. Three (3) years of experience in risk financing, claims administration, loss prevention, risk and insurance analysis or purchasing commercial lines of insurance;
    2. A designation as a Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter issued by the American Institute for Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter, Insurance Institute of America;
    3. A designation as an Associate in Risk Management issued by the American Institute for Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter, Insurance Institute of America;
    4. A designation as a Certified Risk Manager issued by the National Alliance for Insurance Education and Research;
    5. A designation as a RIMS Fellow issued by the Global Risk Management Institute; or
    6. Any other designation, certification, or license determined by a state insurance commissioner or other state insurance regulatory official or entity to demonstrate minimum competency in risk management;

Beginning on the fifth occurrence of January 1 after June 10, 2011, and each fifth occurrence of January 1 thereafter, the amounts in subdivisions (7)(A)(iii)(a ), (b ), and (d ) shall be adjusted to reflect the percentage change for such five-year period in the consumer price index for all urban consumers published by the federal bureau of labor statistics;

“Foreign” has the same meaning as in §56-1-102;

(A)  “Home state,” except as provided in subdivision (9)(B), means, with respect to an insured:

The state in which an insured maintains its principal place of business or, in the case of an individual, the individual's principal residence; or

If one hundred percent (100%) of the insured risk is located out of the state referred to in subdivision (9)(A)(i), the state to which the greatest percentage of the insured's taxable premium for that insurance contract is allocated;

If more than one (1) insured from an affiliated group are named insureds on a single nonadmitted insurance contract, “home state” means the home state, as determined pursuant to subdivision (9)(A), of the member of the affiliated group that has the largest percentage of premium attributed to it under such insurance contract;

When determining the home state of the insured, the principal place of business is the state in which the insured maintains its headquarters and where the insured's high-level officers direct, control, and coordinate the business activities of the insured;

“Insurance company” has the same meaning as in §56-1-102;

“Nonadmitted company” or “unauthorized company” means an insurance company not licensed to transact business in this state under this title;

“Nonadmitted insurance” or “surplus lines insurance” means any insurance coverage permitted by §56-14-105 to be placed directly or through surplus lines agents with a nonadmitted insurer eligible pursuant to §56-14-108;

“Nonadmitted insurer” means, with respect to a state, an insurer not licensed to engage in the business of insurance in such state; provided, however, such term does not include a risk retention group, as defined in 15 U.S.C. § 3901(a)(4);

“Qualified risk manager” means, with respect to a policyholder of commercial insurance, a person who meets the following requirements:

The person is an employee of, or third-party consultant retained by, the commercial policyholder;

The person provides skilled services in loss prevention, loss reduction, or risk and insurance coverage analysis, and purchase of insurance; and

The person meets the standards set out in one (1) of the following categories:

The person has:

A bachelor's degree or higher from an accredited college or university in risk management, business administration, finance, economics, or any other field determined by a state insurance commissioner or other state regulatory official or entity to demonstrate minimum competence in risk management; and

Either of the following:

The person has:

At least seven (7) years of experience in risk financing, claims administration, loss prevention, risk and insurance coverage analysis, or purchasing commercial lines of insurance; and

Any one (1) of the designations set out in subdivision (15)(C)(i)(b );

The person has at least ten (10) years of experience in risk financing, claims administration, loss prevention risk and insurance coverage analysis, or purchasing commercial lines of insurance; or

The person has a graduate degree from an accredited college or university in risk management, business administration, finance, economics, or any other field determined by a state insurance commissioner or other state regulatory official or entity to demonstrate minimum competence in risk management;

“State” includes any state in the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa;

“Surplus lines agent” means an agent who is licensed under chapter 6, part 1 of this title who is granted a surplus lines license in accordance with this chapter;

“Surplus lines insurer” means an unauthorized company in which a nonadmitted insurance coverage is placed or may be placed under this chapter; and

“Writing agent” means the licensed insurance agent who accepts the application for nonadmitted insurance directly or indirectly from the prospective insured.


Download our app to see the most-to-date content.