Current through Supplement No. 394, October, 2024
1. The
information required to be disclosed by this chapter may not be minimized,
rendered obscure, or presented in an ambiguous fashion or intermingled with the
text of the advertisement so as to be confusing or misleading.
2. No advertisement may 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 extent 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. Whether an advertisement has the capacity or
tendency to mislead or deceive must be determined by the insurance commissioner
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.
3. In the event an advertisement uses
"Non-Medical", "No Medical Examination Required", or similar terms where issue
is not guaranteed, such terms must 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.
4. An advertisement may 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.
5. An advertisement
must prominently describe the type of policy advertised.
6. An advertisement of an insurance policy
marketed by direct response techniques may not state or imply that because
there is no agent or commission involved there will be a cost-savings 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.
7. An
advertisement for a policy containing graded or modified benefits must
prominently display any limitation of benefits. If the premium is level and
coverage decreases or increases with age or duration, such fact must be
prominently disclosed.
8. An
advertisement for a policy with nonlevel premiums must prominently describe the
premium changes.
9. Dividends.
a. An advertisement may not utilize or
describe dividends in a manner which is misleading or has the capacity or
tendency to mislead.
b. An
advertisement may 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.
c. An advertisement may not state or imply
that illustrated dividends under a participating policy or pure endowments, or
both, 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 (1) what benefits or
coverage would be provided at such time and (2) under what conditions this
would occur.
10. An
advertisement may not state that a purchaser of a policy will share in or
receive a stated percentage or portion of the earning on the general account
assets of the company.
11.
Testimonials or endorsements by third parties.
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 makes as its own all of the statements contained therein, and such
statements are subject to all the provisions of these rules.
b. 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 must be
disclosed in the advertisement.
c.
An advertisement may 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 must be disclosed in the
advertisement.
12. An
advertisement may 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 must be identified
therein.
13. Introductory, initial,
or special offers and enrollment periods.
a.
An advertisement of an individual policy or combination of such policies may
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 may 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 may
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 may 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 must 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 may not be offered within this state unless there has been a lapse of not
less than twelve months between the close of the immediately preceding
enrollment period for the same policy and the opening of the new enrollment
period. The advertisement must specify the date by which the applicant must
mail the application, which must be not less than ten days and not more than
forty days from the date 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 -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 the applicant's 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 section must be
applied separately to each sponsoring organization.
14. An advertisement of a particular policy
may 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.
15. An advertisement may not make unfair or
incomplete comparisons of policies, benefits, dividends, or rates of other
insurers. An advertisement may not falsely or unfairly describe other insurers,
their policies, services, or methods of marketing.
16. For individual deferred annuity products
or deposit funds, the following 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 may 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 months
subsequent to the date of declaration.
b. If an advertisement states the net premium
accumulation interest rate, whether guaranteed or not, it must 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 must prominently state
that cash surrender benefits are not provided.
General Authority: NDCC 26.1-04-08,
28-32-02
Law Implemented: NDCC 26.1-04-03(1),
26.1-04-03(2), 26.1-04-07
