Current through Rules and Regulations filed through March 20, 2024
(1) The information required to be disclosed
by this Regulation shall not be minimized, rendered obscure, or presented in an
ambiguous fashion or intermingled with the text of the advertisement so as to
confuse or mislead.
(2) 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 of their relationship with the insurer
or as to the nature or extent of any policy benefit, loss covered, premiums
payable at specified ages over the life of the contract unless premiums remain
level, 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.
(3) In the event an advertisement uses the
terms "Non-Medical," "No Medical Examination Required," or similar terms where
issuance of a policy 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 contained in the application.
(4) An advertisement shall not use as the
name or title of a policy any phrase which does not include the words "life
insurance" or "annuity" unless accompanied by other language clearly indicating
it is life insurance or an annuity.
(5) An advertisement shall clearly and
prominently describe the type of policy discussed or advertised. The name or
title of the policy, or description thereof, shall not be such as to deceive or
mislead a person as to the true nature of the policy or as to the benefits
provided thereunder.
(6) An
advertisement of a policy marketed by 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 in any advertisement without
justification found to be satisfactory to the Commissioner prior to its use
unless such is a provable fact.
(7)
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
clearly and prominently disclosed.
(8) An advertisement for a policy with
non-level premiums shall clearly and prominently describe the premium
changes.
(9) The following
requirements shall apply to advertisements which make reference to dividends:
(a) An advertisement shall not utilize or
describe dividends in a manner which is misleading or has the capacity or
tendency to mislead. In this connection, analogies and comparisons between
dividends payable on shares of stock and dividends payable under a policy are
prohibited unless the advertisement fully, clearly, and accurately describes
the differences.
(b) An
advertisement shall not state or imply that the payment of any 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
prominent statement to the effect that such dividends are not to be construed
as guarantees of dividends to be paid in the future.
(c) An advertisement shall not state nor
imply that illustrated dividends under any 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 what benefits
or coverage would be provided at such time and under what conditions this would
occur.
(d) Advertisements shall not
state nor imply that dividends are other than a refund or return of part of the
premium paid which is not guaranteed and which is dependent on the investment
earnings, mortality experience and expense experience of the company.
(e) Any comparison between participating and
non-participating policies or contracts must be true and accurate.
(10) An advertisement shall not
state or imply 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
insurer.
(11) The following
requirements shall apply to testimonials or endorsements:
(a) 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, agent or counselor makes as its own all of the statements
contained therein, and such statements are subject to all the provisions of
this Regulation.
(b) If the
individual making a testimonial or an endorsement has a financial interest,
directly or indirectly, in the insurer or a related entity as a stockholder,
director, officer, employee, or otherwise, such fact shall be clearly and
prominently disclosed in the advertisement. If a person receives any benefit
directly or indirectly other than required union scale wages, such fact shall
be clearly and prominently disclosed in the advertisement by language identical
to, or substantially similar to, the following: "THIS IS A PAID
ENDORSEMENT."
(c) 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 insurer for making such endorsement or
testimonial, such fact shall be clearly and prominently disclosed in the
advertisement.
(d) No testimonial
or endorsement shall be made in any form which constitutes a solicitation for
the purchase of life insurance and annuities in this State, unless such
endorser is currently licensed in Georgia as an agent to solicit
insurance.
(12) No
advertisement shall contain statistical information relating to any insurer or
any policy unless it accurately reflects recent and relevant facts. The source
of any such statistics used in any advertisement shall be identified
therein.
(13) The following
requirements shall apply to introductory, initial or special offer policies and
to policies with enrollment periods:
(a) 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.
(b) 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.
(c) 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.
(d) 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 (6) months between the close of the immediately
preceding enrollment period for the same or similar policy and the opening of a
new enrollment period. The advertisement shall specify the date by which the
applicant must mail the application, which shall be not less than ten (10) days
and not more than forty (40) days from the date on which such enrollment period
is advertised for its first time. This rule applies to all advertising media -
i.e. mail, newspapers, radio, television, magazines, and periodicals - 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 Georgia 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 sponsoring organization.
(14) An advertisement of a particular policy
shall not state nor 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.
(15) An advertisement shall not make unfair,
inaccurate nor incomplete comparisons of policies, benefits, dividends, or
rates of other insurers. An advertisement shall not falsely nor unfairly
describe other insurers, their policies, services, or methods of
marketing.
(16) For individual
deferred annuity products or deposit funds which are paid to an insurer and
which are ancillary to the basic individual policy benefits and are established
for the payment of future premiums or for the purchase of annuity benefits at a
future date, the following requirements shall apply:
(a) Any illustrations or statements
containing or based upon interest rates higher than the guaranteed accumulation
interest rates shall likewise set forth with equal prominence comparable
illustrations or statements containing or based upon the guaranteed
accumulation interest rates. Such higher interest rates shall not be greater
than those currently being credited by the company unless such higher rates
have been publicly declared by the company with an effective date for new
issues not more than three (3) months subsequent to the date of declaration.
Non-guaranteed interest rates must be clearly and prominently labeled as
such.
(b) If an advertisement
states the net premium accumulation interest rate, whether guaranteed or not,
it shall also disclose in close proximity thereto and with equal prominence,
the actual relationship between the gross and net premiums.
(c) If any contract does not provide a cash
surrender benefit prior to commencement of payment of any annuity benefits, any
illustrations or statements concerning such contract shall prominently state
that cash surrender benefits are not provided.
(d) An advertisement shall not state or imply
that individual annuity policies or deposit funds are accorded preferential tax
treatment unless the advertisement fully, clearly and accurately describes the
tax deferred nature of the contract, including the tax consequences on
surrender.
(17) The
following additional disclosure requirements shall apply to the advertising and
sale of life insurance to students:
(a) The
envelope in which insurance solicitation material is contained may be addressed
to parents, i.e. "To The Parents of Joan Smith," or "Mr. and Mrs. Smith." The
address may not include any combination of words which indicate that the
correspondence is coming from the school itself rather than the insurer, agent
or counselor, nor may it imply that the school has endorsed the material and
supplied the insurer with information about the student unless such is a
correct and truthful statement.
(b)
The return address on the envelope may not in any way imply that the soliciting
insurer, agent or counselor is affiliated with a university, college or
school.
(c) If the term "student
insurance forms enclosed" is used on the envelope it must appear in one
continuous line. For example, it is not permissible to divide the wording so
that "student insurance" appears on one line and "forms enclosed" on
another.
(d) If the name of the
agent, counselor or company official appears on the envelope, it is to be
identified as such, with a complete mailing address following the listing of
the name.
(e) Any slogan affixed by
an insurer, agent or counselor which appears on an envelope to the left of the
postal meter stamp may not focus on education. Neutral slogans, such as "Buy
Government Bonds" or "Support Your Local United Fund," are
acceptable.
(f) No insurance
solicitation materials may contain any of the statements or implications
described and prohibited from appearing on the envelope. All letters, circulars
and informational flyers used in the solicitation of insurance must be clearly
identified as coming from an agent, counselor or insurer, if such is the case,
and these entities must be clearly identified as such.
(g) No advertisement may state or imply that
because such insurance is offered to a selective group that there will be cost
savings to prospective purchasers unless such is the fact. No such cost savings
may be stated or implied in any advertisement without justification found to be
satisfactory to the Commissioner prior to its use.
Ga. L. 1960, pp. 289,
305, 394, 395.
