41-291. DEFINITIONS. As used in sections 41-290 through and including 41-298, Idaho Code:

(1) Sections 41-290 through 41-298, Idaho Code, shall be known as the "Idaho Arson and Fraud Reporting-Immunity Act."

(2) "Authorized agencies" shall mean:

(a) Any law enforcement agency of this state;

(b) Any prosecuting attorney who may be responsible for prosecution in the jurisdiction where the fire or fraud occurred;

(c) The attorney responsible for the prosecution in the jurisdiction where the fire or fraud occurred as designated by the attorney general;

(d) The department of insurance, which includes the state fire marshal.

(3) Solely for the purpose of section 41-292(1), Idaho Code, "authorized agencies" shall also include:

(a) The United States attorney’s office when authorized or charged with investigation or prosecution of the fire or fraud in question;

(b) The federal bureau of investigation or any other federal agency, charged with investigation or prosecution of the fire or fraud in question.

(4) "Relevant" means information having any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the investigation or determination of the issue more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence.

(5) Material will be "deemed important," if within the sole discretion of the "authorized agency," such material is requested by the "authorized agency."

(6) "Action," as used in this chapter, shall include nonaction or the failure to take action.

(7) "Immunity" means that no civil action may arise against any person for furnishing information pursuant to section 41-248, 41-258, 41-290, 41-292, 41-296 or 41-297, Idaho Code, where actual malice on the part of the insurance company, department of insurance, state fire marshal, authorized agency, their employees or agents, is not present.

(8) "Financial loss" includes, but is not limited to, loss of earnings, out-of-pocket and other expenses, repair and replacement costs and claims payments.

(9) "Person" means a natural person, company, corporation, unincorporated association, partnership, professional corporation and any other legal entity.

(10) "Practitioner" means a licensee of this state authorized to practice medicine and surgery, psychology, chiropractic, law or any other licensee of the state whose services are compensated, directly or indirectly, by insurance proceeds, or a licensee similarly licensed in other states and nations or the practitioner of any nonmedical treatment rendered in accordance with a recognized religious method of healing.

(11) "Statement" includes, but is not limited to, any of the following regardless of how it is made and in what format it is contained:

(a) Information submitted on an application for insurance;

(b) Description of policy terms, conditions, benefits or illustrations;

(c) Proof of insurance, certificate of insurance, or insurance card;

(d) Proof of claim, proof of loss, bill of lading, receipt for payment, invoice, account, estimate of property damages, bill for services, diagnosis, prescription, hospital or medical records, X-rays, test results or other evidence of loss, injury or expense; and

(e) Any other notice, correspondence, representation or information relating to an insurance coverage or claim.

(12) "Insurer" shall mean any insurance company contemplated by title 41, Idaho Code, any business operating as a self-insured for any purpose, the state insurance fund, and any self-insured as contemplated by title 72, Idaho Code.

(13) "Runner" means a person who procures, or persons working in conjunction with each other who procure, clients at the direction of, or in cooperation with, a person who, with the intent to deceive or defraud, performs or obtains a service or benefit under a contract of insurance or asserts a claim against an insured.

History:

[(41-291) 41-270, added 1982, ch. 120, sec. 19, p. 345; am. and redesig. 1994, ch. 219, sec. 3, p. 697; am. 1997, ch. 122, sec. 1, p. 367; am. 1998, ch. 428, sec. 5, p. 1349; am. 2000, ch. 469, sec. 104, p. 1557; am. 2005, ch. 74, sec. 1, p. 251; am. 2007, ch. 239, sec. 1, p. 707.]