Current through September 9, 2024
A. The information
required to be disclosed by these regulations shall not be minimized, rendered
obscure, or presented in an ambiguous fashion or intermingled with the rest of
the advertisement so as to be confusing or misleading.
B. No advertisement shall omit material
information or use words, phrases, statements, references, or illustrations if
such omission or such use has the capacity, tendency, or effect of misleading
or deceiving purchasers or prospective purchasers as to the nature or extend of
any policy benefit payable, loss covered, premium payable, or state or federal
tax consequences. The fact that the policy offered is made available to a
prospective insured for inspection prior to consummation of the sale, or an
offer is made to refund the premium if the purchaser is not satisfied, does not
remedy misleading statements.
C. In
the event an advertisement uses "Non-Medical," "No Medical Examination
Required," or similar terms where issue is not guaranteed, such terms shall be
accompanied by a further disclosure of equal prominence and in juxtaposition
thereto to the effect that issuance of the policy may depend upon the answers
to the health questions.
D. An
advertisement shall not use as the name or title of a life insurance policy any
phrase which does not include the words "life insurance" unless accompanied by
other language clearly indicating it is life insurance.
E. An advertisement shall prominently
describe the type of policy advertised.
F. An advertisement of an insurance policy
marketed by the direct response techniques shall not state or imply that
because there is no agent or commission involved there will be a cost saving to
prospective purchasers unless such is the fact. No such cost savings may be
stated or implied without justification satisfactory to the Insurance
Commissioner prior to use.
G. An
advertisement for a policy containing graded or modified benefits shall
prominently display any limitation of benefits. If the premium is level and
coverage decreases or increases with age or duration, such fact shall be
prominently disclosed.
H. An
advertisement for a p
1. An advertisement
shall not utilize or describe dividends in a manner which is misleading or has
the capacity or the tendency to miselad.
2. An advertisement shall not state or imply
that the payment or amount of dividends is guaranteed. If dividends are
illustrated, they must be based on the insurer's current dividend scale and the
illustration must contain a statement to the effect that they are not to be
construed as guarantees or estimates of dividends to be paid in the
future.
3. An advertisement shall
not state or imply that illustrated dividends under a participating policy
and/or pure endowments will be or can be sufficient at any future time to
assure, without the further payment of premiums, the receipt of benefits, such
as a paid-up policy, unless the advertisement clearly and precisely explains
(a) what benefits or coverage would be provided at such time and (b) under what
conditions this would occurolicy with non-level premiums shall prominently
describe the premium changes.
J. An advertisement shall not state that a
purchaser of a policy will share in or receive a stated percentage or portion
of the earnings on the general account assets of the company.
K.
Testimonials or endorsements by
third parties.
1. Testimonials used in
advertisements must be genuine; represent the current opinion of the author; be
applicable to the policy advertised, if any; and be accurately reproduced. In
using a testimonial the insurer makes as its own all of the statements
contained therein, and such statements are subject to all the provisions of
these regulations.
2. If the
individual making a testimonial or an endorsement has a financial interest in
the insurer or a related entity as a stockholder, director, officer, employee,
or otherwise, or receives any benefit directly or indirectly other than
required union scale wages, such fact shall be disclosed in the
advertisement.
3. An advertisement
shall not state or imply that an insurer or a policy has been approved or
endorsed by a group of individuals, society, association, or other organization
unless such is the fact and unless any proprietary relationship between an
organization and the insurer is disclosed. If the entity making the endorsement
or testimonial is owned, controlled, or managed by the insurer, or receives any
payment or other consideration from the insured for making such endorsement or
testimonial, such fact shall be disclosed in the
advertisement.
L. An
advertisement shall not contain statistical information relating to any insurer
or policy unless it accurately reflects recent and relevant facts. The source
of any such statistics used in an advertisement shall be identified
therein.
M.
Introductory,
initial, or special offers and enrollment periods.
1. An advertisement of an individual policy
or combination of such policies shall not state or imply that such policy or
combination of such policies is an introductory, initial, or special offer, or
that applicants will receive substantial advantages not available at a later
date, or that the offer is available only to a specified group of individuals,
unless such is the fact. An advertisement shall not describe an enrollment
period as "special" or "limited" or use similar words or phrases in describing
it when the insurer uses successive enrollment periods as its usual method of
marketing its policies.
2. An
advertisement shall not state or imply that only a specific number of policies
will be sold or that a time is fixed for the discontinuance of the sale of the
particular policy advertised because of special advantages available in the
policy.
3. An advertisement shall
not offer a policy which utilizes a reduced initial premium rate in a manner
which overemphasizes the availability and the amount of the reduced initial
premium. When an insurer charges an initial premium that differs in amount from
the amount of the renewal premium payable on the same mode, all references to
the reduced initial premium shall be followed by an asterisk or other
appropriate symbol which refers the reader to that specific portion of the
advertisement which contains the full rate schedule for the policy being
advertised.
4. An enrollment period
during which a particular insurance policy may be purchased on an individual
basis shall not be offered within this state unless there has been a lapse of
not less than six months between the close of the immediately preceding
enrollment period for the same policy and the opening of the new enrollment
period. The advertisement shall specify the date by which the applicant must
mail the application, which shall be not later than ten days and not more than
forty days on which such enrollment period is advertised for the first time.
This rule applies to all advertising media-i.e., mail, newspapers, radio,
television, magazines, and periodicals-used by any one insurer. The phrase "any
one insurer" includes all the affiliated companies of a group of insurance
companies under common management or control. This rule does not apply to the
use of a termination or cutoff date beyond which an individual application for
a guaranteed issue policy will not be accepted by an insurer in those instances
where the application has been sent to the applicant in response to his
request. It is also inapplicable to solicitations of employees or members of a
particular group or association which otherwise would be eligible under
specific provisions of the Insurance Code for group, blanket, or franchise
insurance. In cases where an insurance product is marketed on a direct mail
basis to prospective insureds by reason of some common relationship with a
sponsoring organization, this rule shall be applied separately to each such
sponsoring organization.
N. An advertisement of a particular policy
shall not state or imply that prospective insureds shall be or become members
of a special class, group, or quasi-group and as such enjoy special rates,
dividends, or underwriting privileges, unless such is the fact.
O. An advertisement shall not make unfair or
incomplete comparisons of policies, benefits, dividends, or rates of other
insurers. An advertisement shall not falsely or unfairly describe other
insurers, their policies, services, or methods of marketing.
