Tennessee Code Annotated

Tenn. Code Ann. § 56-7-102 (2026)

Policies to contain entire contract - Exceptions - Construed as Tennessee contracts - Rules of construction - Duty to defend - Determination of obligations - Assignment

✓ current as of May 2026

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section JustiaTenn. Code CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

(a) Every policy of insurance, issued to or for the benefit of any citizen or resident of this state on or after July 1, 1907, by any insurance company or association doing business in this state, except fraternal beneficiary associations and mutual insurance companies or associations operating on the assessment plan, or policies of industrial insurance, shall contain the entire contract of insurance between the parties to the contract, and every contract so issued shall be held as made in this state and construed solely according to the laws of this state.

(b) A policy of insurance is a contract and the rules of construction used to interpret a policy of insurance are the same as any other contract.

(c) A policy of insurance must be interpreted fairly and reasonably, giving the language of the policy of insurance its ordinary meaning.

(d) A policy of insurance must be construed reasonably and logically as a whole.

(e) An insurance company's duty to defend depends solely on the allegations contained in the underlying complaint describing acts or events covered by the policy of insurance. This subsection (e) does not impose a duty to defend on an insurance company that has no duty to defend pursuant to this title or that has an express exclusion of the duty to defend in the policy of insurance.

(f) An insurance company may determine its obligations under a policy of insurance as to any and all parties or claimants through a declaratory judgment action, an interpleader claim or action, or both. The filing of such action or claim creates a rebuttable presumption the insurance company is acting in good faith when making a determination of its obligations under a policy of insurance.

(g) Except as provided in § 56-7-120, the rights, duties, or benefits provided by a policy of insurance issued under this title may be assigned only as expressly provided by the terms of the policy of insurance or as otherwise expressly allowed by the insurer.

Amended by 2021 Tenn. Acts, ch. 67, s 1, eff. 3/29/2021.

Amended by 2019 Tenn. Acts, ch. 121, s 1, eff. 4/9/2019.

Amended by 2018 Tenn. Acts, ch. 588, s 1, eff. 3/22/2018.

Acts 1907, ch. 441, § 1; Shan., § 3275a1; mod. Code 1932, § 6086; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 56-1102.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 11 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1987–2026 · leading case: Burns v. Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co., 741 S.W.2d 318 (Tenn. 1987).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

Burns v. Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co., 741 S.W.2d 318 (Tenn. 1987). · cites it 4× “441, and codified at T.C.A. § 56-7-102, providing that every policy of insurance issued to or for the benefit of any citizen or resident of this state by any insurance company doing business in the state “shall contain the entire contract of insurance between the parties to said…”

Loyd v. Farmers Mut. Fire Ins. Co., 838 S.W.2d 542 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1992). · cites it 2× “Plaintiff argues that, because the application was not made a part of the policy, its falsity cannot affect the rights of plaintiff, citing T.C.A. § 56-7-102 which reads as follows: Policies to contain entire contract— Exceptions—Construed as Tennessee *546 contracts.”

First Nat'l Bank v. Simerlein (In re Simerlein), 497 B.R. 525 (Bankr. E.D. Tenn. 2013). · cites it 2× “1998); see also Tenn.Code Ann. § 56-7-102 (2008). “In the absence of fraud or mistake, a contract must be interpreted and enforced as written even though it contains terms which may be thought harsh and unjust.”

Yarnell v. Transamerica Life Ins. Co., 694 F. Supp. 2d 857 (E.D. Tenn. 2010). · cites it 2× “1998); see also Tenn.Code Ann. § 56-7-102 (“[E]very contract [issued by any insurance company doing business in Tennessee] shall be held as made in [Tennessee] and construed solely according to the laws of [Tennessee].”

Builders Mut. Ins. Co. v. GCC Constr., LLC (6th Cir. 2024). · cites it 3× “In Tennessee, whether an insurance company acted in bad faith is a factual determination. Johnson, 205 S.W.3d at 370–71. Thus, this court can’t set aside a trial court’s determination unless it was clearly erroneous.”

Berkley Reg'l Ins. Co. v. Greater E. Credit Union (E.D. Tenn. 2020). · cites it 2× “As there is no dispute that Allen, as an agent for GECU, lied on the application and that her dishonesty pertained to a matter which increased the risk of loss to Berkley, the Court must conclude that, pursuant to T.C.A. § 56-7-102, Berkley properly rescinded the bond.”

Travelers Indem. Co. v. Kenton Freeman (Tenn. Ct. App. 2002). · cites it 2× “Tenn. Code Ann. § 56-7-102 . Because we cannot consider Travelers argument that the Progressive payment must be allocated to punitive damages only, as the Alabama Statute directs, we turn to the relevant Tennessee Statute, Tenn.”

April Miller v. Northland Ins. Co. (Tenn. Ct. App. 2014). · cites it 2× “Miller further urges this court to rely solely upon Tennessee law because Tenn. Code Ann. § 56-7-102 provides, in part, that insurance contracts issued by insurance companies doing business within this state shall be “construed solely according to the laws of this state.”

Yarnell v. Transamerica Life Ins., 694 F. Supp. 2d 849 (E.D. Tenn. 2010). · cites it 2× “1998); see also Tenn.Code Ann. § 56-7-102 (“[E]very contract [issued by any insurance company doing business in Tennessee] shall be held as made in [Tennessee] and construed solely according to the laws of [Tennessee].”

Mid-Am. Apt. Communities, Inc. v. Liberty Ins. Underwriters, Inc., Great Prairie Risk Solutions, Inc., & Lockton Ins. Underwriters, Inc. (W.D. Tenn. 2026). “Liberty’s argument that the statutory bad faith claim cannot be assigned under Tennessee substantive law, under Tennessee Code Annotated § 56-7-102(g), or pursuant to the terms of the insurance policy Liberty issued to Plaintiff, is equally unpersuasive.”

Lindenberg v. Jackson Nat'l Life Ins., 98 F. Supp. 3d 934 (W.D. Tenn. 2014). “§ 56-7-102, which states in relevant part: Every policy of insurance issued to or for the benefit of any citizen or resident *942 of this state on or after July 1, 1907, by any insurance company or association doing business in this state .”

— Tenn. Code Ann. § 56-7-102(g) — 1 case

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.