Terms Used In Arizona Laws > Title 20 > Chapter 2 > Article 5 - Unauthorized Insurers

• Action: includes any matter or proceeding in a court, civil or criminal. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• 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.
• Affiliated: means , with respect to an insured, any entity that controls, is controlled by or is under common control with the insured. See Arizona Laws 20-401
• Affiliated group: means any group of entities that are affiliated. See Arizona Laws 20-401
• 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.
• 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.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• 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}
• Clearinghouse: means the mechanism or entity established pursuant to a multistate agreement or compact for the receipt and distribution of premium taxes and transaction data related to the sale of unauthorized insurance. See Arizona Laws 20-401
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• control: means either:

  (a) Directly or indirectly acting through one or more other persons who own, control or have the power to vote twenty-five percent or more of any class of voting securities of the other entity. See Arizona Laws 20-401

• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• department: means the department of insurance and financial institutions. See Arizona Laws 20-101
• Diligent effort: means having sought insurance for the same risk from at least three insurers authorized in this state to write the particular insurance coverage or type, class or kind of insurance. See Arizona Laws 20-401
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Domestic surplus lines insurer: means an insurer that is domiciled in and authorized to transact insurance in this state and that has received approval from the department pursuant to Section 20-407. See Arizona Laws 20-401
• 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.
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• Foreign decree: means any decree or order in equity of a court located in a reciprocal state, including a court of the United States located therein, obtained by a qualified party against any insurer incorporated or authorized to do business in this state. See Arizona Laws 20-401
• Grantee: includes every person to whom an estate or interest in real property passes, in or by a deed. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Home state: means one of the following:

  (a) The state in which an insured maintains its principal place of business or, in the case of an individual, the individual's principal place of residence. See Arizona Laws 20-401

• including: means not limited to and is not a term of exclusion. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Multistate risk: means a risk covered by an unauthorized insurer with insured exposures in more than one state. See Arizona Laws 20-401
• nonadmitted insurance: means any insurance permitted to be placed directly or through a surplus lines broker with an insurer who is not licensed to transact insurance in this state or with a domestic surplus lines insurer. See Arizona Laws 20-401
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• 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.
• Person: includes a corporation, company, partnership, firm, association or society, as well as a natural person. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Population: means the population according to the most recent United States decennial census. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Process: means a citation, writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Property: includes both real and personal property. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Qualified party: means a state regulatory agency acting in its capacity to enforce the insurance laws of that state. See Arizona Laws 20-401
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Reciprocal state: means any state or territory of the United States the laws of which give to insurers organized under the laws of this state the same right to defend actions as that granted to foreign insurers under the laws of this state and the laws of which contain procedures substantially similar to those specified in this article for the enforcement of decrees or orders in equity issued by courts located in other states or territory of the United States against any insurer incorporated or authorized to do business in that state or territory. See Arizona Laws 20-401
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• sent: means to deliver by United States mail, personal delivery or fax or by electronic means consistent with the requirements of section 20-239. See Arizona Laws 20-117
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• United States: includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Writing: includes printing. See Arizona Laws 1-215