completed by an applicant to provide information about the risk to be insured; and
(ii)
that contains information that is used by the insurer to evaluate risk and decide whether to:
(A)
insure the risk under:
(I)
the coverage as originally offered; or
(II)
a modification of the coverage as originally offered; or
(B)
decline to insure the risk; or
(b)
used by the insurer to gather information from the applicant before issuance of an annuity contract. See Utah Code 31A-1-301
business of insurance: includes :
(a)
providing health care insurance by an organization that is or is required to be licensed under this title;
(b)
providing a benefit to an employee in the event of a contingency not within the control of the employee, in which the employee is entitled to the benefit as a right, which benefit may be provided either:
(i)
by a single employer or by multiple employer groups; or
(ii)
through one or more trusts, associations, or other entities;
(c)
providing an annuity:
(i)
including an annuity issued in return for a gift; and
(ii)
except an annuity provided by a person specified in Subsections 31A-22-1305(2) and (3);
(d)
providing the characteristic services of a motor club;
(e)
providing another person with insurance;
(f)
making as insurer, guarantor, or surety, or proposing to make as insurer, guarantor, or surety, a contract or policy offering title insurance;
(g)
transacting or proposing to transact any phase of title insurance, including:
(i)
solicitation;
(ii)
negotiation preliminary to execution;
(iii)
execution of a contract of title insurance;
(iv)
insuring; and
(v)
transacting matters subsequent to the execution of the contract and arising out of the contract, including reinsurance;
(h)
transacting or proposing a life settlement; and
(i)
doing, or proposing to do, any business in substance equivalent to Subsections (95)(a) through (h) in a manner designed to evade this title. See Utah Code 31A-1-301
Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
Employee: means :
(a)
an individual employed by an employer; or
(b)
an individual who meets the requirements of Subsection (53)(b). See Utah Code 31A-1-301
Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
Escrow: means :
(i)
a transaction that effects the sale, transfer, encumbering, or leasing of real property, when a person not a party to the transaction, and neither having nor acquiring an interest in the title, performs, in accordance with the written instructions or terms of the written agreement between the parties to the transaction, any of the following actions:
(A)
the explanation, holding, or creation of a document; or
(B)
the receipt, deposit, and disbursement of money;
(ii)
a settlement or closing involving:
(A)
a mobile home;
(B)
a grazing right;
(C)
a water right; or
(D)
other personal property authorized by the commissioner. See Utah Code 31A-1-301
Form: means one of the following prepared for general use:
a risk distributing arrangement providing for compensation or replacement for damages or loss through the provision of a service or a benefit in kind;
(ii)
a contract of guaranty or suretyship entered into by the guarantor or surety as a business and not as merely incidental to a business transaction; and
(iii)
a plan in which the risk does not rest upon the person who makes an arrangement, but with a class of persons who have agreed to share the risk. See Utah Code 31A-1-301
Insured: means a person to whom or for whose benefit an insurer makes a promise in an insurance policy and includes:
Insurer: is a s defined in Section 31A-1-301, except that the following persons or similar persons are not insurers for purposes of 7:
(a)
a risk retention group as defined in:
(i)
the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986, Pub. See Utah Code 31A-23a-102
License: includes a certificate of authority issued to an insurer. See Utah Code 31A-1-301
Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
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.
Person: includes :
(a)
an individual;
(b)
a partnership;
(c)
a corporation;
(d)
an incorporated or unincorporated association;
(e)
a joint stock company;
(f)
a trust;
(g)
a limited liability company;
(h)
a reciprocal;
(i)
a syndicate; or
(j)
another similar entity or combination of entities acting in concert. See Utah Code 31A-1-301
producer: means a person licensed or required to be licensed under the laws of this state to sell, solicit, or negotiate insurance. See Utah Code 31A-1-301
for property or casualty insurance, that cost of insurance per exposure unit either expressed as:
(A)
a single number; or
(B)
a pure premium rate, adjusted before the application of individual risk variations based on loss or expense considerations to account for the treatment of:
Rebate: means a licensee paying, allowing, giving, or offering to pay, allow, or give, directly or indirectly:
(i)
a refund of premium or portion of premium;
(ii)
a refund of commission or portion of commission;
(iii)
a refund of all or a portion of a consultant fee; or
(iv)
providing services or other benefits not specified in an insurance or annuity contract. See Utah Code 31A-1-301
Security: means a:
(i)
note;
(ii)
stock;
(iii)
bond;
(iv)
debenture;
(v)
evidence of indebtedness;
(vi)
certificate of interest or participation in a profit-sharing agreement;
(vii)
collateral-trust certificate;
(viii)
preorganization certificate or subscription;
(ix)
transferable share;
(x)
investment contract;
(xi)
voting trust certificate;
(xii)
certificate of deposit for a security;
(xiii)
certificate of interest of participation in an oil, gas, or mining title or lease or in payments out of production under such a title or lease;
(xiv)
commodity contract or commodity option;
(xv)
certificate of interest or participation in, temporary or interim certificate for, receipt for, guarantee of, or warrant or right to subscribe to or purchase any of the items listed in Subsections (171)(a)(i) through (xiv); or
(xvi)
another interest or instrument commonly known as a security. See Utah Code 31A-1-301
State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes a state, district, or territory of the United States. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
Title insurance: means the insuring, guaranteeing, or indemnifying of an owner of real or personal property or the holder of liens or encumbrances on that property, or others interested in the property against loss or damage suffered by reason of liens or encumbrances upon, defects in, or the unmarketability of the title to the property, or invalidity or unenforceability of any liens or encumbrances on the property. See Utah Code 31A-1-301
(a)
(i)
Any of the following may not make or cause to be made any communication that contains false or misleading information, relating to an insurance product or contract, any insurer, or any licensee under this title, including information that is false or misleading because it is incomplete:
(A)
a person who is or should be licensed under this title;
(B)
an employee or producer of a person described in Subsection (1)(a)(i)(A);
(C)
a person whose primary interest is as a competitor of a person licensed under this title; and
(D)
a person on behalf of any of the persons listed in this Subsection (1)(a)(i).
(ii)
As used in this Subsection (1), “false or misleading information” includes:
(A)
assuring the nonobligatory payment of future dividends or refunds of unused premiums in any specific or approximate amounts, but reporting fully and accurately past experience is not false or misleading information; and
(B)
with intent to deceive a person examining it:
(I)
filing a report;
(II)
making a false entry in a record; or
(III)
wilfully refraining from making a proper entry in a record.
(iii)
A licensee under this title may not:
(A)
use any business name, slogan, emblem, or related device that is misleading or likely to cause the insurer or other licensee to be mistaken for another insurer or other licensee already in business; or
(B)
use any name, advertisement, or other insurance promotional material that would cause a reasonable person to mistakenly believe that a state or federal government agency and the Children’s Health Insurance Program created in 9:
(I)
is responsible for the insurance sales activities of the person;
(II)
stands behind the credit of the person;
(III)
guarantees any returns on insurance products of or sold by the person; or
(IV)
is a source of payment of any insurance obligation of or sold by the person.
(iv)
A person who is not an insurer may not assume or use any name that deceptively implies or suggests that person is an insurer.
A licensee’s violation creates a rebuttable presumption that the violation was also committed by the insurer if:
(i)
the licensee under this title distributes cards or documents, exhibits a sign, or publishes an advertisement that violates Subsection (1)(a), with reference to a particular insurer:
(A)
that the licensee represents; or
(B)
for whom the licensee processes claims; and
(ii)
the cards, documents, signs, or advertisements are supplied or approved by that insurer.
(2)
(a)
A title insurer, individualtitle insurance producer, or agency title insurance producer or any officer or employee of the title insurer, individual title insurance producer, or agency title insurance producer may not pay, allow, give, or offer to pay, allow, or give, directly or indirectly, as an inducement to obtaining any title insurance business:
(i)
any rebate, reduction, or abatement of any rate or charge made incident to the issuance of the title insurance;
(ii)
any special favor or advantage not generally available to others;
(iii)
any money or other consideration, except if approved under Section 31A-2-405; or
(iv)
material inducement.
(b)
“Charge made incident to the issuance of the title insurance” includes escrow charges, and any other services that are prescribed in rule by the Title and Escrow Commission after consultation with the commissioner and subject to Section 31A-2-404.
(c)
An insured or any other person connected, directly or indirectly, with the transaction may not knowingly receive or accept, directly or indirectly, any benefit referred to in Subsection (2)(a), including:
an officer, employee, or agent of a person listed in this Subsection (2)(c)(iii).
(3)
(a)
An insurer may not unfairly discriminate among policyholders by charging different premiums or by offering different terms of coverage, except on the basis of classifications related to the nature and the degree of the risk covered or the expenses involved.
(b)
Rates are not unfairly discriminatory if they are averaged broadly among persons insured under a group, blanket, or franchise policy, and the terms of those policies are not unfairly discriminatory merely because they are more favorable than in similar individual policies.
(4)
(a)
This Subsection (4) applies to:
(i)
a person who is or should be licensed under this title;
(ii)
an employee of that licensee or person who should be licensed;
(iii)
a person whose primary interest is as a competitor of a person licensed under this title; and
(iv)
one acting on behalf of any person described in Subsections (4)(a)(i) through (iii).
(b)
A person described in Subsection (4)(a) may not commit or enter into any agreement to participate in any act of boycott, coercion, or intimidation that:
(i)
tends to produce:
(A)
an unreasonable restraint of the business of insurance; or
(B)
a monopoly in that business; or
(ii)
results in an applicant purchasing or replacing an insurance contract.
(5)
(a)
(i)
Subject to Subsection (5)(a)(ii), a person may not restrict in the choice of an insurer or licensee under this chapter, another person who is required to pay for insurance as a condition for the conclusion of a contract or other transaction or for the exercise of any right under a contract.
(ii)
A person requiring coverage may reserve the right to disapprove the insurer or the coverage selected on reasonable grounds.
(b)
The form of corporate organization of an insurer authorized to do business in this state is not a reasonable ground for disapproval, and the commissioner may by rule specify additional grounds that are not reasonable. This Subsection (5) does not bar an insurer from declining an application for insurance.
(6)
A person may not make any charge other than insurance premiums and premium financing charges for the protection of property or of a security interest in property, as a condition for obtaining, renewing, or continuing the financing of a purchase of the property or the lending of money on the security of an interest in the property.
(7)
(a)
A licensee under this title may not refuse or fail to return promptly all indicia of agency to the principal on demand.
(b)
A licensee whose license is suspended, limited, or revoked under Section 31A-2-308, 31A-23a-111, or 31A-23a-112 may not refuse or fail to return the license to the commissioner on demand.
(8)
(a)
A person may not engage in an unfair method of competition or any other unfair or deceptive act or practice in the business of insurance, as defined by the commissioner by rule, after a finding that the method of competition, the act, or the practice:
(i)
is misleading;
(ii)
is deceptive;
(iii)
is unfairly discriminatory;
(iv)
provides an unfair inducement; or
(v)
unreasonably restrains competition.
(b)
Notwithstanding Subsection (8)(a), for purpose of the title insurance industry, the Title and Escrow Commission shall make rules, subject to Section 31A-2-404, that define an unfair method of competition or unfair or deceptive act or practice after a finding that the method of competition, the act, or the practice:
