2023 Tennessee Code › Title 56 - INSURANCE (§§ 56-1-101 — 56-61-125) › Chapter 6 - AGENTS, SOLICITORS AND ADMINISTRATORS (§§ 56-6-101 — 56-6-1407) › Part 9 - TENNESSEE PUBLIC ADJUSTER LICENSING ACT OF 2006 (§§ 56-6-901 — 56-6-920) › Section 56-6-902 - Part definitions

As used in this part, unless the context otherwise requires:
(1)
"Catastrophic disaster" means an event that results in large numbers of deaths and injuries, causes extensive damage or destruction of facilities that provide and sustain human needs, produces an overwhelming demand on state and local response resources and mechanisms, causes a severe long-term effect on general economic activity, and severely affects state, local and private sector capabilities to begin and sustain response activities. A catastrophic disaster shall be a single occurrence that damages twenty-five (25) or more residential dwellings;
(2)
"Commissioner" means the commissioner of commerce and insurance;
(3)
"Fingerprints" means an impression of the lines on the finger taken for purpose of identification. The impression may be electronic or in ink converted to electronic format;
(4)
"Home state" means the District of Columbia and any state or territory of the United States in which the public adjuster's principal place of residence or principal place of business is located. If neither the state in which the public adjuster maintains the principal place of residence nor the state in which the public adjuster maintains the principal place of business has a substantially similar law governing public adjusters, the public adjuster may declare another state in which it becomes licensed and acts as a public adjuster to be the home state;
(5)
"Individual" means a natural person;
(6)
"NAIC" means the National Association of Insurance Commissioners;
(7)
"Person" means an individual or a business entity;
(8)
(A)
"Public adjuster" means any person, other than someone who is employed by an insurance carrier, who, for compensation or any other thing of value, on behalf of the insured:
(i)
Acts or aids, solely in relation to first party claims arising under insurance contracts that insure the real or personal property of the insured on behalf of an insured, in investigating, verifying, substaining, estimating, appraising, determining, presenting, and discussing the value of the claim, and effectuating the resolution of a claim for loss or damage covered by an insurance contract;
(ii)
Advertises for employment as a public adjuster of insurance claims or solicits business or represents to the public to be a public adjuster of first party insurance claims, for losses or damages arising out of policies of insurance that insure real or personal property; or
(iii)
Directly or indirectly solicits business, investigates or adjusts losses, or advises an insured about first party claims for losses or damages arising out of policies of insurance that insure real or personal property for another person engaged in the business of adjusting losses or damages covered by an insurance policy, for the insured;
(B)
Nothing in this part, nor the regulations adopted under this part shall:
(i)
Authorize any public adjuster or person operating at the direction of a public adjuster to engage in conduct that is law practice or law business as defined in title 23, chapter 3 or under the rules of the Tennessee supreme court;
(ii)
Apply to a person who is employed by, or under contract to, an insurance company; or
(iii)
Affect or alter, in any way, the contractual obligations on an insured to their insurance company and the duty of good faith each owes the other;
(9)
"Uniform business entity application" means the current version of the NAIC uniform business entity application for resident and nonresident business entities; and
(10)
"Uniform individual application" means the current version of the NAIC uniform individual application for resident and nonresident individuals.
Acts 2006, ch. 997, § 3.