Terms Used In California Codes > Insurance Code > Division 2 > Part 4 - MISCELLANEOUS CASUALTY INSURANCES

• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Affiliate: means a person that, directly or indirectly, owns at least 10 but less than 50 percent of the financial guaranty insurance corporation or that is at least 10 percent but less than 50 percent, directly or indirectly, owned by a financial guaranty insurance corporation. See California Insurance Code 12100
• Affirmed: In the practice of the appellate courts, the decree or order is declared valid and will stand as rendered in the lower court.
• Agency: means the Labor and Workforce Development Agency. See California Labor Code 18.5
• Amortization: Paying off a loan by regular installments.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• Asset-backed securities: means either of the following:

  California Insurance Code 12100

• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• automatic dialing-announcing device: means any automatic equipment which incorporates a storage capability of telephone numbers to be called or a random or sequential number generator capable of producing numbers to be called and the capability, working alone or in conjunction with other equipment, to disseminate a prerecorded message to the telephone number called. See California Public Utilities Code 2871
• Average annual debt service: means the amount of insured unpaid principal and interest on an obligation multiplied by the number of the insured obligations (assuming that each obligation represents a $1,000 par value), divided by the amount equal to the aggregate life of all of those obligations. See California Insurance Code 12100
• Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
• Beneficiary: means a person to whom a donative transfer of property is made or that person's successor in interest, and:

  California Probate Code 24

• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• Borello: means the California Supreme Court's decision in…. See California Labor Code 2775
• bus: is a ny vehicle, including a trailer bus, designed, used, or maintained for carrying more than 15 persons including the driver. See California Vehicle Code 233
• business: includes a proprietorship, partnership, corporation, and any other form of commercial enterprise. See California Vehicle Code 234
• California state preschool program: means those programs that offer part-day or full-day, or both, educational programs for eligible three- and four-year-old children. See California Education Code 8205
• City: includes city and county and "incorporated town" but does not include "unincorporated town" or "village. See California Public Utilities Code 19
• Collateral: means any of the following:

  California Insurance Code 12100

• Commercial dealer: means any person who deals in products or who otherwise by his or her occupation holds himself or herself out as having knowledge or skill peculiar to products, or any person who is in the business of remanufacturing, retrofitting, selling, leasing, subletting, or otherwise placing into the stream of commerce, a product. See California Health and Safety Code 108042
• Commercial real estate: means income-producing real property other than residential property consisting of less than five units. See California Insurance Code 12100
• Commission: as used in this part , means the Commission of Housing and Community Development. See California Health and Safety Code 17003
• Commission: means the Public Utilities Commission created by §. See California Public Utilities Code 20
• Commissioner: means the Insurance Commissioner of this State. See California Insurance Code 20
• commissioner: means a member of the commission. See California Public Utilities Code 20
• 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.
• Compensation: means payment for all or part, as determined by the commission, of reasonable advocate's fees, reasonable expert witness fees, and other reasonable costs of preparation for and participation in a proceeding, and includes the fees and costs of obtaining an award under this article and of obtaining judicial review, if any. See California Public Utilities Code 1802
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Computer model: means a computer program. See California Public Utilities Code 1821
• Contingency reserve: means an additional liability reserve established to protect policyholders against the effects of adverse economic cycles or other unforeseen circumstances. See California Insurance Code 12100
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• County: includes city and county. See California Health and Safety Code 14
• County: includes "city and county. See California Insurance Code 14
• County: includes "city and county. See California Labor Code 14
• County: includes "city and county. See California Code of Civil Procedure 17
• County: includes city and county. See California Public Utilities Code 18
• Credit default swap: means an agreement referencing credit derivative definitions published from time to time by the International Swap and Derivatives Association, Inc. See California Insurance Code 12100
• Customer: means any of the following:

  California Public Utilities Code 1802

• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Department: as used in this part , means the Department of Housing and Community Development. See California Health and Safety Code 17004
• department: means State Department of Health Services. See California Health and Safety Code 20
• Department: means Department of Industrial Relations. See California Labor Code 19
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Deposition: An oral statement made before an officer authorized by law to administer oaths. Such statements are often taken to examine potential witnesses, to obtain discovery, or to be used later in trial.
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Domestic: means organized under the laws of this State, whether or not admitted. See California Insurance Code 26
• driver: is a person who drives or is in actual physical control of a vehicle. See California Vehicle Code 305
• Dynamex: means Dynamex Operations W. See California Labor Code 2775
• Eligible local government entity: means a city, county, or city and county that is not a publicly owned public utility that intervenes or participates in a commission proceeding for the purpose of protecting the health and safety of the residents within the entity's jurisdiction following a catastrophic material loss suffered by its residents either in significant damage to infrastructure or loss of life and property, or both, as a direct result of public utility infrastructure. See California Public Utilities Code 1802
• Employee: as used in this part , does not include any of the following:

  California Health and Safety Code 17005

• Employee housing: as used in this part , means any portion of any housing accommodation, or property upon which a housing accommodation is located, if all of the following factors exist:

  California Health and Safety Code 17008

• End consumer: means a person who purchases a product for any purpose other than resale. See California Health and Safety Code 108042
• Energy Commission: means the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission. See California Public Utilities Code 20
• Enforcement agency: as used in this part , means the Department of Housing and Community Development, or any city, county, or city and county which has assumed responsibility for the enforcement of this part, pursuant to Section 17050. See California Health and Safety Code 17007
• Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
• Excess spread: means , with respect to any insured issue of asset-backed securities, the excess of (A) the scheduled cashflow on the underlying assets that is reasonably projected to be available, over the term of the insured securities after payment of the expenses associated with the insured issue, to make debt service payments on the insured securities over (B) the scheduled debt service requirements on the insured securities, provided that this excess is held in the same manner as collateral is required to be held under subdivision (e). See California Insurance Code 12100
• Expert witness fees: means recorded or billed costs incurred by a customer for an expert witness. See California Public Utilities Code 1802
• Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation: A government corporation that insures the deposits of all national and state banks that are members of the Federal Reserve System. ^{Source: OCC}
• Financial guaranty insurance: means a surety bond, an insurance policy or, when issued by an insurer, an indemnity contract and any guarantee similar to the foregoing types, under which loss is payable upon proof of occurrence of financial loss to an insured claimant, obligee, or indemnitee as a result of any of the following events:

  California Insurance Code 12100

• Financial guaranty insurance corporation: means an insurer transacting financial guaranty insurance. See California Insurance Code 12100
• First seller: means any retailer selling a product that has not been used or has not previously been owned. See California Health and Safety Code 108042
• Foreign: means not organized under the laws of this State, whether or not admitted. See California Insurance Code 27
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Fund: as used in this part , means the Employee Housing Regulation Fund established by Section 17036. See California Health and Safety Code 17008.7
• General public paratransit vehicle: means any motor vehicle designed for carrying no more than 24 persons and the driver, that provides local transportation to the general public, including transportation of pupils at or below the 12th-grade level to or from a public or private school or school activity, under the exclusive jurisdiction of a publicly owned and operated transit system through one of the following modes: dial-a-ride, subscription service, or route-deviated bus service. See California Vehicle Code 336
• Germane: On the subject of the pending bill or other business; a strict standard of relevance.
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Governmental unit: means a state, territory, or possession of the United States of America, the District of Columbia, the country of Canada, a province of Canada, the United Kingdom, a public authority of the United Kingdom, a member country of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development having a sovereign rating in one of the top two generic lettered rating classifications by a securities rating agency acceptable to the commissioner, a municipality, or a political subdivision of any of the foregoing, or any public agency or instrumentality thereof. See California Insurance Code 12100
• Guarantor: A party who agrees to be responsible for the payment of another party's debts should that party default. ^{Source: OCC}
• Household: means any product used under any of the following circumstances:

  California Health and Safety Code 108755

• Importer: means any person who brings into this country, and places into the stream of commerce, a product. See California Health and Safety Code 108042
• Indemnification: In general, a collateral contract or assurance under which one person agrees to secure another person against either anticipated financial losses or potential adverse legal consequences. ^{Source: FDIC}
• Instrument: means a will, a document establishing or modifying a trust, a deed, or any other writing that designates a beneficiary or makes a donative transfer of property. See California Probate Code 45
• Insurable risk: means that the obligation on an uninsured basis has been determined to be not less than investment grade. See California Insurance Code 12100
• Interest rate: The amount paid by a borrower to a lender in exchange for the use of the lender's money for a certain period of time. Interest is paid on loans or on debt instruments, such as notes or bonds, either at regular intervals or as part of a lump sum payment when the issue matures. ^{Source: OCC}
• Investment grade: means that the obligation or parity obligation of the same issuer is rated in one of the top four generic lettered rating classifications by a securities rating agency acceptable to the commissioner, that the obligation or parity obligation of the same issuer, without regard to financial guaranty insurance, has been identified in writing by that rating agency as an insurable risk deemed to be of investment grade quality, or that the obligation or parity obligation of the same issuer has been determined to be investment grade (as indicated by a category 1 or 2 rating) by the Securities Valuation Office of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. See California Insurance Code 12100
• Labor Commissioner: means Chief of the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement. See California Labor Code 21
• 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}
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• licensee: means an insurer, agent, broker, or any other person who is required to be licensed by the department. See California Insurance Code 38.6
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Liquid: means a liquid preparation that flows readily in its natural state at room temperature containing one or more soluble chemical substances usually dissolved in water or other solvents. See California Health and Safety Code 108755
• Manufacturer: means any person who makes, and places into the stream of commerce, a product. See California Health and Safety Code 108042
• Mortgage: includes a trust deed, "mortgagor" includes a trustor under such trust deed, "mortgagee" includes a beneficiary under such trust deed, or a trustee exercising powers or performing duties granted to or imposed upon him thereunder, and "lien" in respect to real or personal property includes a charge or incumbrance arising out of a trust deed. See California Insurance Code 29
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• motor vehicle: includes a recreational vehicle as that term is defined in subdivision (a) of §. See California Vehicle Code 415
• Municipal bonds: means municipal obligation bonds and special revenue bonds. See California Insurance Code 12100
• Other reasonable costs: means reasonable out-of-pocket expenses directly incurred by a customer that are directly related to the contentions or recommendations made by the customer that resulted in a substantial contribution. See California Public Utilities Code 1802
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• paratransit vehicle: is a passenger vehicle, other than a bus, schoolbus, school pupil activity bus, youth bus, general public paratransit vehicle, or taxicab that is both of the following:

  California Vehicle Code 462

• Parent: means a person that, directly or indirectly, owns at least 50 percent of a financial guaranty insurance corporation. See California Insurance Code 12100
• 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.
• Party: means any interested party, respondent public utility, or commission staff in a hearing or proceeding. See California Public Utilities Code 1802
• Permanent single-family employee housing: as used in this part , means single-family detached dwellings, mobilehomes, as defined in Section 18008, manufactured homes, as defined in Section 18007, or factory-built housing, as defined in Section 19971, constructed and maintained in accordance with applicable state or federal laws, including required permits and inspections. See California Health and Safety Code 17010
• Person: means a natural person, firm, corporation, limited liability company, or association, or an employee or agent thereof. See California Health and Safety Code 108042
• Person: as used in this part , includes any natural person, firm, association, organization, partnership, business trust, company, joint stock company, corporation, limited liability company, joint venture, or other organizations of persons. See California Health and Safety Code 17009.5
• Person: means an individual, corporation, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, or other entity. See California Probate Code 56
• Person: means any person, firm, association, organization, partnership, business trust, corporation, limited liability company, or company. See California Health and Safety Code 19
• Person: means any person, association, organization, partnership, business trust, limited liability company, or corporation. See California Insurance Code 19
• Person: means any person, association, organization, partnership, business trust, limited liability company, or corporation. See California Labor Code 18
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
• Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. ^{Source: OCC}
• Presiding officer: A majority-party Senator who presides over the Senate and is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing Members to speak, and interpreting the Senate's rules, practices and precedents.
• private school: is a ny school, whether conducted for profit or not, giving a course of training similar to that given in a public school at or below the twelfth grade, including but not limited to schools owned or operated by any church. See California Vehicle Code 492
• Proceeding: means an application, complaint, or investigation, rulemaking, alternative dispute resolution procedures in lieu of formal proceedings as may be sponsored or endorsed by the commission, or other formal proceeding before the commission. See California Public Utilities Code 1802
• Product: means any article, or component part thereof, produced or distributed (1) for sale to a consumer for use in or around a permanent or temporary household or residence, a school, in recreation, or otherwise, or (2) for personal use, consumption, or enjoyment of a consumer in or around a permanent or temporary household or residence, a school, in recreation, or otherwise. See California Health and Safety Code 108042
• Property: means anything that may be the subject of ownership and includes both real and personal property and any interest therein. See California Probate Code 62
• Property: includes both personal and real property. See California Code of Civil Procedure 17
• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• Public utility: includes every public utility and every business which is a commission regulated subsidiary or commission regulated affiliate of a public utility. See California Public Utilities Code 1821
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Recall: includes a voluntary recall where a product is returned to the manufacturer for repair or replacement, usually due to defects or safety concerns, or public notice that a product is defective and must be returned to the manufacturer or retailer. See California Health and Safety Code 108042
• Reinsurance: means cessions qualifying for credit under Section 12121. See California Insurance Code 12100
• Reporter: Makes a record of court proceedings and prepares a transcript, and also publishes the court's opinions or decisions (in the courts of appeals).
• Resident-employment housing: as used in this part , means apartment houses, hotels, motels, or dwellings, where living quarters are provided for five or more employees employed in the management, maintenance, or operation of an apartment house, hotel, motel, or dwellings. See California Health and Safety Code 17006
• Retailer: means any person other than a manufacturer, distributor, or wholesaler who sells, distributes, sublets, or leases consumer goods of any kind. See California Health and Safety Code 108042
• sale: means a transfer for consideration of title or of the right to use, by lease or sales contract, including, but not limited to, transactions conducted through sales outlets, catalogs, or the Internet or any other similar electronic means. See California Health and Safety Code 108042
• secured: means any of the following:

  California Insurance Code 12100

• Significant financial hardship: means either that the customer cannot afford, without undue hardship, to pay the costs of effective participation, including advocate's fees, expert witness fees, and other reasonable costs of participation, or that, in the case of a group or organization, the economic interest of the individual members of the group or organization is small in comparison to the costs of effective participation in the proceeding. See California Public Utilities Code 1802
• Spouse: includes "registered domestic partner" as required by §. See California Labor Code 12.2
• State: means the State of California, unless applied to the different parts of the United States. See California Health and Safety Code 23
• State: means the State of California, unless applied to the different parts of the United States. See California Insurance Code 28
• State: includes the District of Columbia and the territories when applied to the different parts of the United States, and the words "United States" may include the district and territories. See California Code of Civil Procedure 17
• State: means the State of California, unless applied to the different parts of the United States. See California Public Utilities Code 17
• subscription: includes mark when the signer or subscriber cannot write, such signer's or subscriber's name being written near the mark by a witness who writes his own name near the signer's or subscriber's name. See California Vehicle Code 17
• Subsidiary: means a person that, directly or indirectly, is at least 50 percent owned by a financial guaranty insurance corporation. See California Insurance Code 12100
• Substantial contribution: means that, in the judgment of the commission, the customer's presentation has substantially assisted the commission in the making of its order or decision because the order or decision has adopted in whole or in part one or more factual contentions, legal contentions, or specific policy or procedural recommendations presented by the customer. See California Public Utilities Code 1802
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Toxic household product: means any substance or mixture of substances that are customarily produced or distributed for sale for use in or about the household, or are customarily stored by individuals in or about the household, and the substance or mixture of substances have the capacity to produce significant personal injury or illness to humans when orally ingested in moderate amounts. See California Health and Safety Code 108755
• Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.
• transit bus: is a ny bus owned or operated by a publicly owned or operated transit system, or operated under contract with a publicly owned or operated transit system, and used to provide to the general public, regularly scheduled transportation for which a fare is charged. See California Vehicle Code 642
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Trust: includes the following:

  California Probate Code 82

• Trustee: includes an original, additional, or successor trustee, whether or not appointed or confirmed by a court. See California Probate Code 84
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• vehicle: is a device by which any person or property may be propelled, moved, or drawn upon a highway, excepting a device moved exclusively by human power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks. See California Vehicle Code 670
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
• Verify: means to assess the extent to which the computer model mimics reality. See California Public Utilities Code 1821
• Violation: includes a failure to comply with any requirement of the code. See California Labor Code 22
• wholesaler: means any person, other than a manufacturer or retailer, who sells or resells, or otherwise places into the stream of commerce, a product. See California Health and Safety Code 108042
• Will: includes codicil. See California Code of Civil Procedure 17
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
• Writing: includes printing and typewriting. See California Code of Civil Procedure 17