California Code of Regulations
Title 10 - Investment
Chapter 5 - Insurance Commissioner
Subchapter 3 - Insurers
Article 12 - Disability Insurance Advertisements
Section 2536.1 - Form and Content of Advertisements

(a) The format and content of an advertisement of a disability insurance policy shall be sufficiently complete and clear to avoid deception or the capacity or tendency to mislead or deceive. Whether an advertisement has a capacity or tendency to mislead or deceive shall be determined by the Commissioner of Insurance from the overall impression that the advertisement may be reasonably expected to create upon a person of average education or intelligence, within the segment of the public to which it is directed.

GUIDELINE 2536.1(a)

This Section must be applied in conjunction with Sections 2535.1 and 2536 of the regulations. This Section refers specifically to "format and content" of the advertisement and the "overall" impression created by the advertisement. This involves factors such as, but not limited to, the size, color and prominence of type used to describe benefits. The word "format" means the arrangement of the text and the captions.

This rule requires distinctly different advertisements for publication in newspapers or magazines of general circulation as compared to scholarly, technical or business journals or newspapers. Where an advertisement consists of more than one piece of material, each piece of material must, independently of all other pieces of material, conform to the disclosure requirements applicable to the appropriate form of advertisement as defined in Section 2536.3(g) through (i) of these regulations.

(b) Advertisements shall be truthful and not misleading in fact or in implication. Words or phrases, the meaning of which is clear only by implication or by familiarity with insurance terminology, shall not be used.

GUIDELINE 2536.1(b)

The Section prohibits the use of incomplete statements and words or phrases which have the tendency or capacity to mislead or deceive because of the reader's unfamiliarity with insurance terminology. Therefore, words, phrases and illustrations used in an advertisement must be clear and unambiguous and, if the advertisement uses insurance terminology, sufficient description of a word, phrase or illustration shall be provided by definition or description in the context of the advertisement. As implied in Section 2536.1(a), distinctly different levels of comprehension may be anticipated of the subscribers of various publications.