Vermont Statutes Title 8 Sec. 4502
Terms Used In Vermont Statutes Title 8 Sec. 4502
- Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Financial Regulation. See
- 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.
- Domestic: when applied to a corporation, company, association, or copartnership shall mean organized under the laws of this State; "foreign" when so applied, shall mean organized under the laws of another state, government, or country. See
- Person: shall include any natural person, corporation, municipality, the State of Vermont or any department, agency, or subdivision of the State, and any partnership, unincorporated association, or other legal entity. See
- Society: means a fraternal benefit society. See
- Town: shall include city and wards or precincts therein; "selectboard members" and "board of civil authority" shall extend to and include the mayor and aldermen of cities; "trustees" shall extend to and include bailiffs of incorporated villages; and the laws applicable to the inhabitants and officers of towns shall be applicable to the inhabitants and similar officers of all municipal corporations. See
§ 4502. Exemption of certain societies
(a) Nothing contained in this chapter shall be so construed as to affect or apply to:
(1) grand or subordinate lodges of societies, orders, or associations now doing business in this State that provide benefits exclusively through local or subordinate lodges;
(2) orders, societies, or associations that admit to membership only persons engaged in one or more crafts or hazardous occupations, in the same or similar lines of business, insuring only their own members, their families, and descendants of members, and the ladies’ societies, or ladies’ auxiliaries to the orders, societies, or associations;
(3) domestic societies that limit their membership to employees of a particular city or town, designated firm, business house, or corporation that provide for a death benefit of not more than $400.00 or disability benefits of not more than $350.00 to any person in any one year, or both; or
(4) domestic societies or associations of a purely religious, charitable, or benevolent description, which provide for a death benefit of not more than $400.00 or for disability benefits of not more than $350.00 to any one person in any one year, or both.
(b) A society or association described in subdivision (a)(3) or (4) of this section that provides for death or disability benefits for which benefit certificates are issued, and society or association included in subdivision (a)(4) that has more than 1,000 members, is not exempted from the provisions of this chapter but shall comply with all its requirements.
(c) No society that, by the provisions of this section, is exempt from the requirements of this chapter, except any society described in subdivision (a)(2) of this section, shall give or allow, or promise to give or allow to any person any compensation for procuring new members.
(d) A society that provides for benefits in case of death or disability resulting solely from accident and that does not obligate itself to pay natural death or sick benefits has all of the privileges and is subject to all the applicable provisions and rules of this chapter, except that the provisions of this chapter relating to medical examination, valuations of benefit certificates, and incontestability do not apply to the society.
(e) The Commissioner of Financial Regulation may require from any society or association, by examination or otherwise, such information as will enable him or her to determine whether the society or association is exempt from the provisions of this chapter.
(f) Societies, exempted under the provisions of this section, shall also be exempt from all other provisions of the insurance laws of this State. (Added 1959, No. 197, § 42, eff. Nov. 22, 1959; amended 1989, No. 225 (Adj. Sess.), § 25(b); 1995, No. 180 (Adj. Sess.), § 38(a); 2011, No. 78 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. April 2, 2012; 2021, No. 105 (Adj. Sess.), § 203, eff. July 1, 2022.)