Virginia Administrative Code › Title 14 - INSURANCE › Agency 5 - STATE CORPORATION COMMISSION, BUREAU OF INSURANCE › Chapter 41 - RULES GOVERNING ADVERTISEMENT OF LIFE INSURANCE AND ANNUITIES › Section 14VAC5-41-70 - Policies and benefits

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
A. An
				advertisement shall not use as the name or title of a policy any phrase which
				omits the words "life insurance" or "annuity," as appropriate, unless
				accompanied by other language clearly indicating it is life insurance or an
				annuity.
B. An advertisement shall
				clearly and prominently describe the true nature or type of policy
				advertised.
C. An advertisement
				shall not state, represent or imply that a prospective or current policyholder
				will receive the right to benefits that are not a part of the policy itself, or
				made an effective part of the policy by rider or other instrument approved by
				and on file with the commission.
D.
				An advertisement shall not represent, directly or indirectly, that a policy may
				be sold only to certain persons because of their occupation, association, age,
				sex, or other condition unless it can be shown that the policy advertised is,
				in fact, sold only to those persons.
E. An advertisement shall not contain
				statements indicating that because a prospect has agreed to furnish names of
				potential purchasers, he is entitled to any specific benefits not available to
				all policyholders generally.
F. An
				advertisement shall not represent an increasing or other term insurance
				provision as a return of premium, a cash surrender value, or anything other
				than a guaranteed insurance benefit for which a premium is charged.
G. An advertisement shall not state or imply
				that a policy contains features or benefits that are not found in other
				policies, unless that is true.
H.
				In any advertisement, the basic death benefit shall be shown as a single
				amount, not arbitrarily or deceptively split into two or more parts, implying
				that there is a relationship between some part of a premium or other policy
				amount and some part of the death benefit, unless that is the fact, and
				provided the relationship is not for the purpose of, or may likely have the
				effect of, misleading or deceiving.
I. If nonforfeiture values are shown in any
				advertisement, the values must be shown either for the entire amount of the
				basic death benefit or for each $1,000 of initial death benefit.
J. An advertisement shall not state or imply
				that on the death of an insured, the beneficiary will receive, or should have
				received, the cash value of a policy in addition to the face amount, unless the
				policy so provides.
K. An
				advertisement shall not state or imply in any way that interest charged on a
				policy loan or the reduction of death benefits by the amount of outstanding
				policy loans is unfair, inequitable, or in any manner an incorrect or improper
				practice.
L. The use of savings
				"passbooks" and similar misleading techniques to show a policy's cash value is
				prohibited.
M. Analogies between a
				policy's cash values and savings accounts or other investments, and between
				premium payments and contributions to savings accounts or other investments
				shall be complete and accurate. The analogy shall make clear that the
				representation is an analogy only and that cash values and premium payments are
				not identical to a savings account or other investments and
				contributions.
N. An advertisment
				shall not represent a pure endowment benefit as earnings on premiums paid or
				represent that a pure endowment benefit in a policy is other than a guaranteed
				benefit for which a specific part or all of the premium is being paid by the
				policyholder. For the purpose of this section, coupons or other devices for
				periodic payment of endowment benefits are included within the phrase "a pure
				endowment benefit."
Statutory Authority
§§ 12.1-13 and 38.2-223 of the Code of
					 Virginia.