17:17C-1 Definitions regarding domestic mutual life insurers.

1. As used in this act:

"Adoption date" means the date as of which the board of directors of the mutual insurer initially approves and adopts the plan of reorganization;

"Closed block" means a block of participating business operated for the exclusive benefit of the policies included therein for policyholder dividend purposes only;

"Effective date" means the date upon which the reorganization of the mutual insurer is effective, as provided in section 9 of this act;

"Eligible policyholder" means a policyholder who owns, or is deemed by the plan of reorganization to own, a policy that is, or that is deemed by the plan of reorganization to be, in force on the adoption date, or a policyholder who is deemed eligible by the plan of reorganization, including as a result of reinstatement in accordance with the terms of the policy or the plan of reorganization, or otherwise;

"Fair and equitable" means that any action undertaken pursuant to this act with respect to a plan of reorganization, provides for full and proper consideration of the aggregate membership interests and corresponding values of eligible policyholders, in no manner discriminates improperly among eligible policyholders and appropriately protects the interests of eligible policyholders before and subsequent to the reorganization;

"Membership interest" means all rights and interests of a policyholder as a member of a mutual insurer arising under the mutual insurer's charter or certificate of incorporation and bylaws, by law or otherwise, which rights include, but are not limited to, the right, if any, to vote and the right, if any, with regard to the surplus of the mutual insurer not apportioned or declared by the board of directors for policyholder dividends;

"Mutual insurance holding company" means a holding company based on a mutual plan which at all times owns, directly or indirectly through one or more intermediate stock holding companies, a majority of the voting securities of a reorganized insurer;

"Mutual insurer" means, in the case of a plan of reorganization under this act, a domestic mutual insurer authorized to write the kind of business defined in N.J.S.17B:17-3 and is reorganizing pursuant to a plan of reorganization;

"Parent corporation" means a stock corporation that is or has been organized for the purpose of acquiring, directly or indirectly, pursuant to the plan of reorganization, all or substantially all of the common shares of the reorganized insurer;

"Person" means an individual, partnership, firm, association, corporation, joint-stock company, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, trust, government or governmental agency, state or political subdivision of a state, board, estate, trustee or fiduciary, or any other legal entity;

"Plan of reorganization" means the plan of reorganization adopted by the mutual insurer in compliance with section 3 of this act;

"Policy" means an individual or group policy of insurance or annuity contract issued, or deemed by the plan of reorganization to have been issued, by the mutual insurer. If a policy is a group policy, the individual certificates or other evidences of interests in the group policy shall not be treated as separate policies; provided, however, that in the case of a policy or contract that was issued to a trust or group established or deemed by the plan of reorganization to have been established by the mutual insurer, the mutual insurer may provide in its plan of reorganization that each certificate or other evidence of interest is deemed to be a policy for the sole purpose of determining the rights, if any, of the holders of those certificates to receive consideration under the plan of reorganization;

"Policyholder" means the owner or deemed owner of a policy, as determined in accordance with the definition of "policyholder" set forth in N.J.S.17B:18-13 or N.J.S.17B:18-23, as applicable, and any additional rules as are set forth in the plan of reorganization;

"Qualified voter" has the meaning set forth in N.J.S.17B:18-13 or N.J.S.17B:18-23, as applicable; and

"Reorganized insurer" means the domestic stock insurer into which a mutual insurer has been reorganized in accordance with this act.

L.1998,c.46,s.1.