Terms Used In Virginia Code > Title 38.2 > Chapter 19 - Regulation of Rates Generally

• Accident and sickness insurance: means insurance against loss resulting from sickness, or from bodily injury or death by accident or accidental means, or from a combination of any or all of these perils. See Virginia Code 38.2-109
• after the merger: means when a merger under § 13. See Virginia Code 13.1-1088
• Annuities: means all agreements to make periodic payments in specified or calculable sums pursuant to the terms of a contract for a stated period of time or for the life of the person or persons specified in the contract. See Virginia Code 38.2-106
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
• 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
• Asset: means property:

  1. See Virginia Code 13.1-1088

• Assignee: means a person to which all or part of a membership interest has been transferred, whether or not the transferor is a member. See Virginia Code 13.1-1002
• Associated member: means , with respect to a protected series, a member that meets the requirements stated in § 13. See Virginia Code 13.1-1088
• 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
• Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
• before the merger: means before a merger under § 13. See Virginia Code 13.1-1088
• 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
• Board of supervisors: means the governing body of a county. See Virginia Code 15.2-102
• Bureau of Insurance: means the division of the Commission established to administer the insurance laws of the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 38.2-100
• business of insurance: include solicitation, negotiations preliminary to execution, execution of an insurance contract, and the transaction of matters subsequent to execution of the contract and arising out of it. See Virginia Code 38.2-100
• 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

• 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 13.1-1002
• 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
• Commissioner of Insurance: means the administrative or executive officer of the Bureau. 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
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Continuing protected series: means a protected series of a surviving company that continues in uninterrupted existence after a merger under § 13. See Virginia Code 13.1-1088
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• 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.
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Deposition: An oral statement made before an officer authorized by law to administer oaths. Such statements are often taken to examine potential witnesses, to obtain discovery, or to be used later in trial.
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• 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
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
• 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
• Federal agency: means the United States of America or any department, agency, instrumentality, or bureau thereof. See Virginia Code 15.2-5101
• 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
• Foreign protected series: means a protected series established by a foreign series limited liability company and having attributes comparable to a protected series established under Article 16 (§ 13. See Virginia Code 13.1-1002
• Foreign series limited liability company: means a foreign limited liability company having at least one foreign protected series. See Virginia Code 13.1-1002
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• 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
• Green roof: means a roof or partially covered roof consisting of plants, soil, or another lightweight growing medium that is installed on top of a waterproof membrane and designed in accordance with the Virginia Stormwater Management Program's standards and specifications for green roofs, as set forth in the Virginia BMP Clearinghouse. See Virginia Code 15.2-5101
• Improvements: means such repairs, replacements, additions, extensions and betterments of and to a system as an authority deems necessary to place or maintain the system in proper condition for the safe, efficient and economical operation thereof or to provide service in areas not currently receiving such service. See Virginia Code 15.2-5101
• Insurance company: means any company engaged in the business of making contracts of insurance. See Virginia Code 38.2-100
• Insurer: means an insurance company. See Virginia Code 38.2-100
• interest: means a member's share of the profits and the losses of the limited liability company and the right to receive distributions of the limited liability company's assets. See Virginia Code 13.1-1002
• Interest rate: The amount paid by a borrower to a lender in exchange for the use of the lender's money for a certain period of time. Interest is paid on loans or on debt instruments, such as notes or bonds, either at regular intervals or as part of a lump sum payment when the issue matures. ^{Source: OCC}
• Interrogatories: Written questions asked by one party of an opposing party, who must answer them in writing under oath; a discovery device in a lawsuit.
• Jurisdiction: when used to refer to a political entity, means the United States, a state, a foreign country, or a political subdivision of a foreign country. See Virginia Code 13.1-1002
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Life insurance: includes policies that also provide (i) endowment benefits; (ii) additional benefits incidental to a loss in the event of death, dismemberment, or loss by accident or accidental means; (iii) additional benefits to safeguard the contract from lapse or to provide a special surrender value, a special benefit or an annuity, in the event of total and permanent disability of the insured; and (iv) optional modes of settlement of proceeds. See Virginia Code 38.2-102
• local government: shall be construed to mean a county, city, or town as the context may require. See Virginia Code 15.2-102
• 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
• Member: means a person that has been admitted to membership in a limited liability company as provided in § 13. See Virginia Code 13.1-1002
• Merging company: means a limited liability company that is party to a merger under § 13. See Virginia Code 13.1-1088
• Non-surviving company: means a merging company whose separate existence ceases after a merger under § 13. See Virginia Code 13.1-1088
• 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 a protected series. See Virginia Code 13.1-1002
• Person: means any association, aggregate of individuals, business, company, 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
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• 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.
• Principal office: means the office, in or out of the Commonwealth, where the principal executive offices of a domestic or foreign limited liability company are located or, if there are no such offices, the office, in or out of the Commonwealth, so designated by the limited liability company. See Virginia Code 13.1-1002
• Professional employer services: means services provided to a client company pursuant to a written agreement with a professional employer organization, including, at a minimum, the payment of wages of the coemployees, the reservation of the right of direction and control over the coemployees, and the responsibility for the withholding and payment of payroll taxes of the coemployees. See Virginia Code 38.2-1901
• Property: means all property, whether real, personal, or mixed or tangible or intangible, or any right or interest therein. See Virginia Code 13.1-1002
• 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
• Protected series assignee: includes a person that owns a protected series membership interest as a result of ceasing to be an associated member of a protected series. See Virginia Code 13.1-1088
• Protected series manager: means a person under whose authority the powers of a protected series are exercised and under whose direction the activities and affairs of the protected series are managed pursuant to the operating agreement, this article, and other provisions of this chapter. See Virginia Code 13.1-1088
• Protected series membership interest: means the share of the profits and losses of a protected series and the right to receive distributions. See Virginia Code 13.1-1088
• 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
• 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
• Relocated protected series: means a protected series of a non-surviving company which, after a merger under § 13. See Virginia Code 13.1-1088
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Retrospective rating plan: means a rating plan that adjusts the premium for the insurance to which it applies on the basis of losses incurred during the period covered by that insurance. See Virginia Code 38.2-1901
• 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
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• 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
• Sewage disposal system: means any system, plant, disposal field, lagoon, pumping station, constructed drainage ditch or surface water intercepting ditch, incinerator, area devoted to sanitary landfills, or other works, installed for the purpose of treating, neutralizing, stabilizing or disposing of sewage, industrial waste or other wastes. See Virginia Code 15.2-5101
• sewage system: means pipelines or conduits, pumping stations, and force mains, and all other constructions, devices, and appliances appurtenant thereto, used for conducting sewage, industrial wastes or other wastes to a plant of ultimate disposal. See Virginia Code 15.2-5101
• State: means any commonwealth, state, territory, district or insular possession of the United States. See Virginia Code 38.2-100
• 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.
• Stormwater control system: means a structural system of any type that is designed to manage the runoff from land development projects or natural systems designated for such purposes, including, without limitation, retention basins, ponds, wetlands, sewers, conduits, pipelines, pumping and ventilating stations, and other plants, structures, and real and personal property used for support of the system. See Virginia Code 15.2-5101
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Subpoena duces tecum: A command to a witness to produce documents.
• 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

• Surviving company: means a merging company that is the survivor of a merger under § 13. See Virginia Code 13.1-1088
• 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
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• 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.
• Transfer: includes an assignment, a conveyance, a sale, a lease, an encumbrance including a mortgage or security interest, a gift, and a transfer by operation of law. See Virginia Code 13.1-1002
• 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
• 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 a district, authority, bureau, commission, department, and any other agency of the United States. See Virginia Code 13.1-1002
• 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
• Water system: means all plants, systems, facilities or properties used or useful or having the present capacity for future use in connection with the supply or distribution of water, or facilities incident thereto, and any integral part thereof, including water supply systems, water distribution systems, dams and facilities for the generation or transmission of hydroelectric power, reservoirs, wells, intakes, mains, laterals, pumping stations, standpipes, filtration plants, purification plants, hydrants, meters, valves and equipment, appurtenances, and all properties, rights, easements and franchises relating thereto and deemed necessary or convenient by the authority for the operation thereof but not including dams or facilities for the generation or transmission of hydroelectric power that are not incident to plants, systems, facilities or properties used or useful or having the present capacity for future use in connection with the supply or distribution of water. See Virginia Code 15.2-5101