Terms Used In Virginia Code > Title 13.1 > Chapter 14 > Article 1 - General Provisions

• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Articles of trust: includes the original articles of trust, the original certificate of trust issued by the Commission, and all amendments to the articles of trust. See Virginia Code 13.1-1201
• Attorney: means the person designated and authorized by subscribers as the attorney-in-fact having authority to obligate them on reciprocal insurance contracts. See Virginia Code 38.2-1201
• Authority: means an authority created under the provisions of § 15. See Virginia Code 15.2-5101
• Beneficial owner: means any owner of a beneficial interest in a business trust, the fact of ownership to be determined and evidenced, whether by means of registration, the issuance of certificates or otherwise, in conformity to the applicable provisions of the governing instrument of the business trust. See Virginia Code 13.1-1201
• Business trust: includes , without limitation, any of the following entities that conform with subdivisions 1 and 2 of this definition:

  (1) A trust of the type known at common law as a "business trust" or "Massachusetts trust";

  (2) A trust qualifying as a real estate mortgage investment conduit under § 860 D of the United States Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or under any successor provision;

  (3) A trust qualifying as a real estate investment trust under §§ 856 through 859 of the United States Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or under any successor provision; or

  (4) A "real estate investment trust" or "trust" created under former Chapter 9 of Title 6 or former Chapter 9 of Title 6. See Virginia Code 13.1-1201

• City: means an independent incorporated community which became a city as provided by law before noon on July 1, 1971, or which has within defined boundaries a population of 5,000 or more and which has become a city as provided by law. See Virginia Code 1-208
• classification: means the plan, system, or arrangement for grouping risks with similar characteristics or a specified class of risk by recognizing differences in exposure to hazards. See Virginia Code 38.2-1901
• Commission: means the State Corporation Commission of Virginia. See Virginia Code 13.1-1201
• Commission: means the State Corporation Commission. See Virginia Code 38.2-100
• 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.
• Company: means any association, aggregate of individuals, business, corporation, individual, joint-stock company, Lloyds type of organization, organization, partnership, receiver, reciprocal or interinsurance exchange, trustee or society. See Virginia Code 38.2-100
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• 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.
• County: means any existing county or such unit hereafter created. See Virginia Code 15.2-102
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• domestic business trust: means an unincorporated business, trust, or association that:

  1. See Virginia Code 13.1-1201

• Entity: includes any domestic or foreign business trust or other business entity, any estate or trust, and any state, the United States, and any foreign government. See Virginia Code 13.1-1201
• Entity conversion: means conversion. See Virginia Code 13.1-1201
• Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
• 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.
• Experience rating: means a statistical procedure utilizing past risk experience to produce a prospective premium credit, debit, or unity modification. See Virginia Code 38.2-1901
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Foreign business trust: means a trust formed under the law of a jurisdiction other than the Commonwealth that would be a business trust if formed under the law of the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 13.1-1201
• Governing body: means the board of supervisors of a county, council of a city, or council of a town, as the context may require. See Virginia Code 15.2-102
• Governing instrument: means a trust instrument that creates a business trust and provides for the governance of the affairs of the business trust and the conduct of its business, including, without limitation, a declaration of trust. See Virginia Code 13.1-1201
• Includes: means includes, but not limited to. See Virginia Code 1-218
• Insurer: means an insurance company. See Virginia Code 38.2-100
• 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.
• 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}
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• local government: shall be construed to mean a county, city, or town as the context may require. See Virginia Code 15.2-102
• Locality: means a county, city, or town as the context may require. See Virginia Code 1-221
• Market segment: means any line or class of insurance or, if it is described in general terms, any subdivision of insurance or any class of risks or combination of classes. See Virginia Code 38.2-1901
• 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.
• Organic law: means the statute governing the internal affairs of a domestic or foreign business trust or other business entity. See Virginia Code 13.1-1201
• Other business entity: means a domestic or foreign stock corporation, a nonstock corporation, limited liability company, partnership, or limited partnership. See Virginia Code 13.1-1201
• Owner: includes persons, federal agencies, and units of the Commonwealth having any title or interest in any system, or the services or facilities to be rendered thereby. See Virginia Code 15.2-5101
• 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 any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Political subdivision: means a locality or any institution or commission of the Commonwealth of Virginia. See Virginia Code 15.2-5101
• Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
• Process: includes subpoenas, the summons and complaint in a civil action, and process in statutory actions. See Virginia Code 1-237
• Prospective loss costs: means historical aggregate losses and loss adjustment expenses projected through development to their ultimate value and through trending to a future point in time. See Virginia Code 38.2-1901
• Rate service organization: means any entity, including its affiliates or subsidiaries, which either has two or more member insurers or is controlled either directly or indirectly by two or more insurers, other than a joint underwriting association under § 38. See Virginia Code 38.2-1901
• rates: means any rate of premium, policy fee, membership fee or any other charge made by an insurer for or in connection with a contract or policy of insurance. See Virginia Code 38.2-100
• real estate: includes lands, tenements and hereditaments, and all rights and appurtenances thereto and interests therein, other than a chattel interest. See Virginia Code 1-219
• Refuse: means solid waste, including sludge and other discarded material, such as solid, liquid, semi-solid or contained gaseous material resulting from industrial, commercial, mining, and agricultural operations or from community activities or residences. See Virginia Code 15.2-5101
• Refuse collection and disposal system: means a system, plant or facility designed to collect, manage, dispose of, or recover and use energy from refuse and the land, structures, vehicles and equipment for use in connection therewith. See Virginia Code 15.2-5101
• revenue bonds: include notes, bonds, bond anticipation notes, and other obligations of an authority for the payment of money. See Virginia Code 15.2-5101
• Sewage: means the water-carried wastes created in and carried, or to be carried, away from residences, hotels, schools, hospitals, industrial establishments, commercial establishments or any other private or public buildings, together with such surface or ground water and household and industrial wastes as may be present. See Virginia Code 15.2-5101
• State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
• Statistical plan: means the plan, system, or arrangement used in collecting data for rate making or other purposes. See Virginia Code 38.2-1901
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Subscriber: means a person obligated under a reciprocal insurance agreement. See Virginia Code 38.2-1201
• Supplementary rate information: includes any manual or plan of rates, experience rating plan, statistical plan, classification, rating schedule, minimum premium, or minimum premium rule, policy fee, rating rule, rate-related underwriting rule, and any other information not otherwise inconsistent with the purposes of this chapter required by the Commission. See Virginia Code 38.2-1901
• Supporting data: includes :

  1. See Virginia Code 38.2-1901

• System: means any sewage disposal system, sewer system, stormwater control system, water or waste system, and for authorities created under Article 6 (§ 15. See Virginia Code 15.2-5101
• Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
• Trust: includes a common law trust, business trust, and foreign business trust. See Virginia Code 13.1-1201
• Trustee: means a person appointed as a trustee in accordance with the governing instrument of a business trust. See Virginia Code 13.1-1201
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Unit: means any department, institution or commission of the Commonwealth; any public corporate instrumentality thereof; any district; or any locality. See Virginia Code 15.2-5101
• United States: includes any district, authority, bureau, commission, department, or other agency of the United States. See Virginia Code 13.1-1201
• Water or waste system: means any water system, sewer system, sewage disposal system, or refuse collection and disposal system, or any combination of such systems. See Virginia Code 15.2-5101