Bar Date: A “bar date” is the last date a claimant may file a claim with an insolvent insurance company. After that date the claimant is “barred” from filing further claims. An “insolvency date” is the date the court order of insolvency was signed.
Unearned Premiums (“UEP”): Companies and individuals covered by policies of insolvent insurers that are cancelled may have questions regarding reimbursement of premiums paid in advance of the insolvency date. A portion of the Tennessee Statute deals with unearned premiums. If the insured’s combined networth exceeds $10,000,000.00 for first party claims, UEP is excluded by TIGA statute. Obligations for unearned premiums are reimbursed by TIGA only when a loss run report is received by TIGA from the liquidator for that insolvency. When loss run reports are received, a deductible of $250.00 is applied and a limit of $10,000.00 is in place. TIGA does not have access to the records necessary to compute UEP. Finance companies are reimbursed (a) if the liquidator confirms the finance company relationship with the insured (b) if the UEP due had not previously been reimbursed to the finance company by the insured and (c) a loss report was received by TIGA from the liquidator confirming the amount. Amounts due under retrospective rating plans are not covered.
Net Worth Billings by TIGA: Insured companies with a combined net worth of $25 million or more as of December 31 prior to the insolvency order are required by the Tennessee statute to reimburse TIGA for losses and expenses relating to claims paid on behalf of the insolvent insurance company. Many large net worth insureds choose to handle their own claims.
National Practitioner Data Bank: The NPDB is a nationwide database containing a consolidation of providers against whom payments have been made for medical malpractice claims. TIGA is required to report such claim payments to this Federal authority.
Large Deductible Processing: Based on the actual policy verbiage, companies with extremely large deductibles are required to reimburse TIGA for losses and expenses incurred on behalf of the insolvent insurance company, or handle the claims themselves.
For more information, review the Tennessee statutes on TIGA’s Statute page or follow the link to the Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance web site.
Information for other states may be found at the National Conference of Insurance Guaranty Funds web site.