2023 District of Columbia Code › Title 31 - Insurance and Securities › Chapter 47 - Provisions Relating to All Life Insurance Companies › § 31–4711. Group policies — Required provisions

§ 31–4711. Group policies — Required provisions.
No policy of group life insurance shall be delivered in the District unless it contains in substance the following provisions, or provisions which in the opinion of the Commissioner are more favorable to the persons insured, or at least as favorable to the persons insured and more favorable to the policyholder; provided, however: (1) that the standard provisions required for individual life insurance policies shall not apply to group life insurance policies; (2) that if the group life insurance policy is on a plan of insurance other than the term plan, it shall contain a nonforfeiture provision or provisions which in the opinion of the Commissioner is or are equitable to the insured persons and to the policyholder, but nothing herein shall be construed to require that group life insurance policies contain the same nonforfeiture provisions as are required for individual life insurance policies; and (3) that subject to the terms of the policy any person insured under a group life insurance contract, whether issued before or after August 14, 1973, may make to any person, other than his employer, an absolute or collateral assignment of any or all the rights and benefits conferred on him by any provision of such policy or by law, including specifically, but not by way of limitation, any right to designate a beneficiary or beneficiaries thereunder and any right to have an individual policy issued upon termination either of employment or of said policy of group life insurance; but nothing herein shall be construed to have prohibited an insured from making an assignment of all or any part of his rights and privileges under the policy before August 14, 1973, and, subject to the terms of the policy, an assignment by an insured before or after August 14, 1973, is valid for the purposes of vesting in the assignee all rights and privileges so assigned, but without prejudice to the insurer on account of any payment it may make or individual policy it may issue prior to receipt of notice of the assignment:
(1) A provision that the policyholder is entitled to a grace period of 31 days for the payment of any premium due except the first, during which grace period the death benefit coverage shall continue in force, unless the policyholder shall have given the insurer written notice of discontinuance in advance of the date of discontinuance and in accordance with the terms of the policy. The policy may provide that the policyholder shall be liable to the insurer for the payment of a pro rata premium for the time the policy was in force during such grace period;
(2) A provision that the validity of the policy shall not be contested, except for nonpayment of premiums, after it has been in force for 2 years from its date of issue; and that no statement made by any person insured under the policy relating to his insurability shall be used in contesting the validity of the insurance with respect to which such statement was made after such insurance has been in force prior to the contest for a period of 2 years during such person’s lifetime nor unless it is contained in a written instrument signed by him;
(3) A provision that a copy of the application, if any, of the policyholder shall be attached to the policy when issued, that all statements made by the policyholder or by the persons insured shall be deemed representations and not warranties, and that no statement made by any person insured shall be used in any contest unless a copy of the instrument containing the statement is or has been furnished to such person or to his beneficiary;
(4) A provision setting forth the conditions, if any, under which the insurer reserves the right to require a person eligible for insurance to furnish evidence of individual insurability satisfactory to the insurer as a condition to part or all of his coverage;
(5) A provision specifying an equitable adjustment of premiums or of benefits or of both to be made in the event the age of a person insured has been misstated, such provision to contain a clear statement of the method of adjustment to be used;
(6) A provision that any sum becoming due by reason of the death of the person insured shall be payable to the beneficiary designated by the person insured, subject to the provisions of the policy in the event there is no designated beneficiary as to all or any part of such sum living at the death of the person insured, and subject to any right reserved by the insurer in the policy and set forth in the certificate to pay at its option a part of such sum not exceeding $250 to any person appearing to the insurer to be equitably entitled thereto by reason of having incurred funeral or other expenses incident to the last illness or death of the person insured;
(7) A provision that the insurer will issue to the policyholder for delivery to each person insured an individual certificate setting forth a statement as to the insurance protection to which he is entitled, to whom the insurance benefits are payable, and the rights and conditions set forth in paragraphs (8), (9), and (10) of this section;
(8) A provision that if the insurance, or any portion of it, on a person covered under the policy ceases because of termination of employment or of membership in the class or classes eligible for coverage under the policy, such person shall be entitled to have issued to him by the insurer, without evidence of insurability, an individual policy of life insurance without disability or other supplementary benefits, provided application for the individual policy shall be made, and the 1st premium paid to the insurer, within 31 days after such termination: And provided further, that:
(A) The individual policy shall, at the option of such person, be on any 1 of the forms, except term insurance, then customarily issued by the insurer at the age and for the amount applied for;
(B) The individual policy shall be in an amount not in excess of the amount of life insurance which ceases because of such termination, provided that any amount of insurance which shall have matured on or before the date of such termination as an endowment payable to the person insured, whether in 1 sum or in installments or in the form of an annuity, shall not, for the purposes of this provision, be included in the amount which is considered to cease because of such termination; and
(C) The premium on the individual policy shall be at the insurer’s then customary rate applicable to the form and amount of the individual policy, to the class of risk to which such person then belongs, and to his age attained on the effective date of the individual policy;
(9) A provision that if the group policy terminates or is amended so as to terminate the insurance of any class of insured persons, every person insured thereunder at the date of such termination whose insurance terminates and who has been so insured for at least 5 years prior to such termination date shall be entitled to have issued to him by the insurer an individual policy of life insurance, subject to the same conditions and limitations as are provided by paragraph (8) of this section, except that the group policy may provide that the amount of such individual policy shall not exceed the smaller of:
(A) The amount of the person’s life insurance protection ceasing because of the termination or amendment of the group policy, less the amount of any life insurance for which he is or becomes eligible under any group policy issued or reinstated by the same or another insurer within 31 days after such termination; and
(B) $2,000; and
(10) A provision that if a person insured under the group policy dies during the period within which he would have been entitled to have an individual policy issued to him in accordance with subparagraph (8) or (9) of this section and before such an individual policy shall have become effective, the amount of life insurance which he would have been entitled to have issued to him under such individual policy shall be payable as a claim under the group policy, whether or not application for the individual policy or the payment of the 1st premium therefor has been made.
(June 19, 1934, 48 Stat. 1165, ch. 672, ch. V, § 11; July 2, 1940, 54 Stat. 726, ch. 518; July 12, 1950, 64 Stat. 333, ch. 457, § 2; Oct. 3, 1962, 76 Stat. 715, Pub. L. 87-740, § 1; Aug. 14, 1973, 87 Stat. 304, Pub. L. 93-89, title III, § 302; May 21, 1997, D.C. Law 11-268, § 10(j), 44 DCR 1730; Nov. 13, 2003, D.C. Law 15-39, § 2302(b), 50 DCR 5668.)
Prior Codifications
1981 Ed., § 35-515.
1973 Ed., § 35-711.
Effect of Amendments
D.C. Law 15-39, in the introductory paragraph, substituted “(1) that the standard provisions required for individual life insurance policies shall not apply to group life insurance policies; (2) that if the group life insurance policy is on a plan of insurance other than the term plan, it shall contain a nonforfeiture provision or provisions which in the opinion of the Commissioner is or are equitable to the insured persons and to the policyholder, but nothing herein shall be construed to require that group life insurance policies contain the same nonforfeiture provisions as are required for individual life insurance policies; and (3)” for “(1) that subparagraphs (6) to (10) of this section, inclusive, shall not apply to policies issued to a creditor to insure debtors of such creditor, or to policies issued pursuant to paragraph (8) of § 31-4710; (2) that the standard provisions required for individual life insurance policies shall not apply to group life insurance policies; (3) that if the group life insurance policy is on a plan of insurance other than the term plan, it shall contain a nonforfeiture provision or provisions which in the opinion of the Commissioner is or are equitable to the insured persons and to the policyholder, but nothing herein shall be construed to require that group life insurance policies contain the same nonforfeiture provisions as are required for individual life insurance policies; and (4)”.
Cross References
Copy of application, required delivery with policy, see § 31-5203.
False statements in application, effect, see § 31-4314.
Emergency Legislation
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2202(b) of Fiscal Year 2004 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2003 (D.C. Act 15-105, June 20, 2003, 50 DCR 5613).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2202(b) of Fiscal Year 2004 Budget Support Congressional Review Emergency Act of 2003 (D.C. Act 15-149, September 22, 2003, 50 DCR 8360).
Editor's Notes
Department of Insurance abolished: See Historical and Statutory Notes following § 31-4701.