(a) Risk retention groups chartered and licensed in states other than this state, and seeking to do business as a risk retention group in this state, shall comply with the laws of this state as follows:

Terms Used In Tennessee Code 56-45-104

  • Commissioner: means the commissioner of commerce and insurance or the commissioner, director or superintendent of insurance in any other state. See Tennessee Code 56-45-102
  • Foreign: when used without limitation, includes all companies formed by authority of any other state or government. See Tennessee Code 56-1-102
  • Hazardous financial condition: means that, based on its present or reasonably anticipated financial condition, a risk retention group, although not yet financially impaired or insolvent, is unlikely to be able to:
    (A) Meet obligations to policyholders with respect to known claims and reasonably anticipated claims. See Tennessee Code 56-45-102
  • Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
  • Insurance: means primary insurance, excess insurance, reinsurance, surplus lines insurance and any other arrangement for shifting and distributing risk that is determined to be insurance under the laws of this state. See Tennessee Code 56-45-102
  • 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.
  • Person: means any association, aggregate of individuals, business, company, corporation, individual, joint-stock company, Lloyds-type organization, organization, partnership, receiver, reciprocal or interinsurance exchange, trustee or society. See Tennessee Code 56-16-102
  • Product liability: means liability for damages because of any personal injury, death, emotional harm, consequential economic damage, or property damage, including damages resulting from the loss of use of property, arising out of the manufacture, design, importation, distribution, packaging, labeling, lease or sale of a product, but does not include the liability of any person for those damages if the product involved was in the possession of the person when the incident giving rise to the claim occurred. See Tennessee Code 56-45-102
  • Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in a perceivable form. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Risk retention group: means any corporation or other limited liability association:
    (A) Whose primary activity consists of assuming and spreading all, or any portion, of the liability exposure of its group members. See Tennessee Code 56-45-102
  • 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.
  • State: means any state of the United States or the District of Columbia. See Tennessee Code 56-45-102
  • written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(1) Before offering insurance in this state, a risk retention group shall submit to the commissioner:

(A) A statement identifying the state or states in which the risk retention group is chartered and licensed as a liability insurance company, charter date, its principal place of business, and other information, including information on its membership, the commissioner may require to verify that the risk retention group is qualified under § 56-45-102(11); and
(B) A copy of its plan of operations or feasibility study and revisions of the plan or study submitted to the state in which the risk retention group is chartered and licensed; provided, that the provision relating to the submission of a plan of operation or feasibility study shall not apply with respect to any line or classification of liability insurance that was:

(i) Defined in the Product Liability Risk Retention Act of 1981 (15 U.S.C. § 3901 et seq.), before October 27, 1986; and
(ii) Offered before October 27, 1986, by any risk retention group that had been chartered and operating for not less than three (3) years before that date;
(2) The risk retention group shall submit a copy of any material revision to its plan of operation or feasibility study required by § 56-45-103(b) within thirty (30) days of the date of the approval of such revision by the commissioner of its chartering state, or if no such approval is required, within thirty (30) days of the filing; and
(3) A statement of registration, for which a filing fee shall be determined by the commissioner, that designates the commissioner as its agent for the purpose of receiving service of legal documents or process.
(b) Any risk retention group doing business in this state shall submit to the commissioner:

(1) A copy of the group’s financial statement submitted to the state in which the risk retention group is chartered and licensed, which shall be certified by an independent public accountant and contain a statement of opinion on loss and loss adjustment expense reserves made by a member of the American Academy of Actuaries or a qualified loss reserve specialist under criteria established by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners;
(2) A copy of each examination of the risk retention group as certified by the commissioner or public official conducting the examination;
(3) Upon request by the commissioner, a copy of any information or document pertaining to any outside audit performed with respect to the risk retention group; and
(4) Other information that may be required to verify its continuing qualification as a risk retention group under § 56-45-102(11).
(c)

(1) Each risk retention group is liable for the payment of premium taxes and taxes on premiums of direct business for risks resident or located within this state, and shall report to the commissioner the net premiums written for risks resident or located within this state. The risk retention group is subject to taxation, and any applicable fines and penalties related to the taxation, on the same basis as a foreign admitted insurer.
(2) To the extent licensed agents or brokers are utilized pursuant to § 56-45-112, they shall report to the commissioner the premiums for direct business for risks resident or located within this state that the licensees have placed with, or on behalf of, a risk retention group not chartered in this state.
(3) To the extent that insurance agents or brokers are utilized pursuant to § 56-45-112, the agent or broker shall keep a complete and separate record of all policies procured from each such risk retention group, which record shall be open to examination by the commissioner upon request. These records shall, for each policy and each kind of insurance provided under the policy, include:

(A) The limit of liability;
(B) The time period covered;
(C) The effective date;
(D) The name of the risk retention group that issued the policy;
(E) The gross premium charged; and
(F) The amount of return premiums, if any.
(d) Any risk retention group, its agents and representatives shall comply with the Unfair Claims Settlement Practices Act, compiled in § 56-8-104.
(e) Any risk retention group shall comply with § 56-8-104, regarding deceptive, false or fraudulent acts or practices. If the commissioner seeks an injunction regarding the conduct, the injunction must be obtained from a court of competent jurisdiction.
(f) Any risk retention group must submit to an examination by the commissioner to determine its financial condition, if the commissioner of the jurisdiction in which the group is chartered and licensed has not initiated an examination or does not initiate an examination within sixty (60) days after a request by the commissioner of commerce and insurance. The examination shall be coordinated to avoid unjustified repetition, and conducted in an expeditious manner and in accordance with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) examiner handbook.
(g) Every application form for insurance from a risk retention group, and every policy, on its front and declaration pages, issued by a risk retention group, shall contain in ten (10) point type the following notice:

NOTICE

This policy is issued by your risk retention group. Your risk retention group may not be subject to all of the insurance laws and regulations of your state. State insurance insolvency guaranty funds are not available for your risk retention group.

(h) The following acts by a risk retention group are prohibited:

(1) The solicitation or sale of insurance by a risk retention group to any person who is not eligible for membership in the group; and
(2) The solicitation or sale of insurance by, or operation of, a risk retention group that is in hazardous financial condition or financially impaired.
(i) No risk retention group is allowed to do business in this state if an insurance company is directly or indirectly a member or owner of the risk retention group, other than in the case of a risk retention group all of whose members are insurance companies.
(j) The terms of any insurance policy issued by any risk retention group shall not provide, or be construed to provide, coverage prohibited generally by statutes of this state or declared unlawful by the highest court of the state whose law applies to the policy.
(k) A risk retention group not chartered in this state and doing business in this state shall comply with a lawful order issued in a voluntary dissolution proceeding or in a delinquency proceeding commenced by a state insurance commissioner if there has been a finding of financial impairment after an examination under subsection (f).
(l) A risk retention group that violates this chapter will be subject to fines and penalties, including revocation of its right to do business in this state, applicable to licensed insurers generally.
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