Virginia Administrative Code › Title 14 - INSURANCE › Agency 5 - STATE CORPORATION COMMISSION, BUREAU OF INSURANCE › Chapter 90 - RULES GOVERNING ADVERTISEMENT OF ACCIDENT AND SICKNESS INSURANCE › Section 14VAC5-90-150 - Introductory, initial or special offers

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
A.
1. An
				advertisement of an individual policy shall not directly or by implication
				represent that a contract or combination of contracts 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 that is the fact. An advertisement
				shall not contain phrases describing a "time-limited solicitation period" as
				"special," "limited," or similar words or phrases when the insurer uses the
				"time-limited solicitation periods" as the usual method of marketing accident
				and sickness insurance.
2. A
				"time-limited solicitation period" during which a particular insurance product
				may be purchased on an individual basis shall not be offered within this
				Commonwealth unless there has been a lapse of not less than four months between
				the close of the immediately preceding "time-limited solicitation period" for
				the same product and the opening of the new solicitation period; provided, a
				particular insurance product may not be offered on a "time-limited solicitation
				period" basis more than two times during any 12-month period. The advertisement
				shall indicate the date by which the applicant must mail the application, which
				shall be not less than 10 days and not more than 40 days from the date that the
				"time-limited solicitation period" is advertised for the first time. This
				section applies to all advertising media, i.e., mail, newspapers, the Internet,
				radio, television, magazines and periodicals, by any one insurer. It is
				inapplicable to solicitations of employees or members of a particular group or
				association that otherwise would be eligible under specific provisions of Title
				38.2 of the Code of Virginia for group, blanket or franchise insurance. The
				phrase "any one insurer" includes all of the affiliated companies of a group of
				insurance companies under common management or control.
3. Use of the words "enrollment" or
				"enrollment period" in connection with a "time-limited solicitation period" is
				prohibited unless the insurance product offered will be issued automatically as
				advertised upon receipt of the application and premium by the insurer or its
				agent.
4. This section prohibits
				any statement or implication to the effect 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, unless that is the fact.
5. The phrase "a particular insurance
				product" in subdivision 2 of this subsection means an insurance policy that
				provides substantially different benefits than those contained in any other
				policy. Different terms of renewability, an increase or decrease in the dollar
				amounts of benefits or an increase or decrease in any elimination period or
				waiting period from those available during a "time-limited solicitation period"
				for another policy shall not be sufficient to constitute the product being
				offered as a different product eligible for concurrent or overlapping
				"time-limited solicitation periods."