§36-6453. Definitions.

1,330 words·~6 min read·/ok/title-36-insurance/36-6453·

A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.

As used in the Oklahoma Risk Retention Act:

1. "Commissioner" means the Insurance Commissioner of this state or the Commissioner, Director, or Superintendent of insurance in any other state;

2. "Completed operations liability" means liability arising out of the installation, maintenance, or repair of any product at a site which is not owned or controlled by:

a. any person who performs that work, or

b. any person who hires an independent contractor to

perform that work, and shall include liability for activities which are completed or abandoned before the date of the occurrence giving rise to the liability;

3. "Domicile", for purposes of determining the state in which a purchasing group is domiciled, means:

for a corporation, the state in which the purchasing

group is incorporated, and

b. for an unincorporated entity, the state of its

principal place of business;

4. "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:

a. to meet obligations to policyholders with respect to

known claims and reasonably anticipated claims, or

b. to pay other obligations in the normal course of

business;

5. "Insurance" means primary insurance, excess insurance, reinsurance, surplus lines insurance, and any other arrangement for shifting and distributing risk which is determined to be insurance under the laws of this state;

6. "Liability":

a. means legal liability for damages, including but not

limited to, costs of defense, legal costs and fees,

and other claims expenses, because of injuries to

other persons, damage to their property, or other

damage or loss to such other persons resulting from or

arising out of:

(1)any for-profit or non-profit business, trade,

product, services, premises, or operations, or

(2)any activity of any state or local government, or

any agency or political subdivision thereof, and

b. does not include personal risk liability and the

liability of an employer to employees, other than

legal liability under the Federal Employers' Liability

Act, 45 U.S.C. 51 et seq.;

7. "Personal risk liability" means liability for damages because of injury to any person, damage to property, or other loss or damage resulting from any personal, familial, or household responsibilities or activities rather than from responsibilities or activities referred to in paragraph 6 of this section;

8. "Plan of operation or feasibility study" means an analysis which presents the expected activities and results of a risk retention group including, but not limited to:

a. for each state in which it intends to operate, the

coverages, deductibles, coverage limits, rates, and

rating classification systems for each line of

insurance the group intends to offer,

b. historical and expected loss experience of the

proposed members and national experience of similar

exposures to the extent that this experience is

reasonably available,

pro forma financial statements and projections,

appropriate opinions by a qualified independent

casualty actuary, as defined in paragraph 11 of this

section, including a determination of minimum premium

or participation levels required to commence

operations and to prevent a hazardous financial

condition,

e. identification of management procedures, underwriting

and claims procedures, marketing methods, managerial

oversight methods, investment policies, and

reinsurance agreements,

f. information sufficient to verify that its members are

engaged in businesses or activities similar or related

with respect to the liability to which such members

are exposed by virtue of any related, similar, or

common business, trade, product, services, premises,

or operations,

g. identification of each state in which the risk

retention group has obtained, or sought to obtain, a

charter and license, and a description of its status

in each such state, and

h. such other matters as may be prescribed by the

Commissioner, for liability insurance companies

authorized by the insurance laws of the state in which

the risk retention group is chartered;

9. "Product liability" means liability for damages because of any personal injury, death, emotional harm, consequential economic damage, or property damage, including but not limited to 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 such a person when the incident giving rise to the claim occurred;

10. "Purchasing group" means any group which:

a. has as one of its purposes the purchase of liability

insurance on a group basis,

b. has as one of its purposes the purchase of liability

insurance on a group basis for its members to cover

their similar or related liability exposure,

c. is composed of members whose businesses or activities

are similar or related with respect to the liability

to which members are exposed by virtue of any related,

similar, or common business, trade, product, services,

premises, or operations, and

d. is domiciled in any state;

11. "Qualified actuary" means an individual who is a member of the American Academy of Actuaries and who has met the Qualification Standards for Actuaries Issuing Statements of Actuarial Opinions in the United States promulgated by the American Academy of Actuaries;

12. "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,

b. which is organized for the primary purpose of

conducting the activity specified in subparagraph a of

this paragraph,

c. which is chartered and licensed as a liability

insurance company and authorized to engage in the

business of insurance under the laws of any state, or,

before January 1, 1985, was chartered or licensed and

authorized to engage in the business of insurance

under the laws of Bermuda or the Cayman Islands and,

before such date, had certified to the Insurance

Commissioner of at least one state that it satisfied

the capitalization requirements of such state, except

that any such group shall be considered to be a risk

retention group only if it has been engaged in

business continuously since such date and only for the

purpose of continuing to provide insurance to cover

product liability or completed operations liability,

as such terms were defined in the federal Product

Liability Risk Retention Act of 1981, before the date

of the enactment of the federal Liability Risk

Retention Act of 1986,

d. which does not exclude any person from membership in

the group solely to provide for members of such group

a competitive advantage over such person,

(1)which has as its owners only persons who comprise

the membership of the risk retention group, and

(2)has as its owners only persons who comprise the

membership of the risk retention group and who

are provided insurance by the group,

f. whose members are engaged in businesses or activities

similar or related with respect to the liability of

which such members are exposed by virtue of any

related, similar, or common business trade, product,

services, premises, or operations,

g. whose activities do not include the provision of

insurance other than:

liability insurance for assuming and spreading

all or any portion of the liability of its group

members, and

(2)reinsurance with respect to the liability of any

other risk retention group, or any members of

such other group engaged in businesses or

activities so that the risk retention group or

individual members of the group meet the

requirements described in subparagraph f of this

paragraph because of membership in the risk

retention group that provides the reinsurance,

and

h. the name of which includes the phrase, "Risk Retention

Group"; and

13. "State" means any state of the United States or the District of Columbia. Added by Laws 1987, c. 157, § 3, emerg. eff. June 25, 1987. Amended by Laws 2004, c. 334, § 1, emerg. eff. May 25, 2004; Laws 2018, c. 95, § 10, eff. Nov. 1, 2018; Laws 2021, c. 314, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2021.