Iowa Admin. Code r. 191-15.3
Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 11, December 11, 2024
Rule 191-15.3 - Advertising(1)Form and content of advertisements. The format and content of an advertisement shall be truthful and sufficiently complete and clear to avoid deception or the capacity or tendency to misrepresent or deceive. Whether an advertisement has a capacity or tendency to misrepresent or deceive shall be determined by the overall impression that the advertisement may be reasonably expected to create upon an individual in the segment of the public to which it is primarily directed and who has average education, intelligence and familiarity with insurance terminology for products in that market. Information regarding exceptions, limitations, reductions and other restrictions required to be disclosed by this rule shall not be minimized, rendered obscure or presented in an ambiguous fashion or intermingled with the context of the advertisements so as to be confusing or misleading.
(2)Prohibited terms and disclosure requirements for health insurance.a. No advertisement shall contain or use words or phrases such as "all"; "full"; "complete"; "comprehensive"; "unlimited"; "up to"; "as high as"; "this policy will help fill some of the gaps that Medicare and your present insurance leave out"; "this policy will help to replace your income" (when used to express loss of time benefits); or similar words and phrases in a manner that exaggerates any benefits beyond the terms of the policy.b. No advertisement shall contain descriptions of a policy limitation, exception, or reduction, worded in a positive manner to imply that it is a benefit, such as describing a waiting period as a "benefit builder" or stating "even preexisting conditions are covered after two years." Words and phrases used in an advertisement to describe such policy limitations, exceptions and reductions shall fairly and accurately describe the negative features of such limitations, exceptions and reductions of the policy offered.c. No advertisement of a benefit for which payment is conditional upon confinement in a hospital or similar facility shall use words or phrases such as "tax free," "extra cash" and substantially similar phrases that have the capacity, tendency or effect of misleading the public into believing that the policy advertised will, in some way, enable an individual to make a profit from being hospitalized.d. No advertisement shall use the words "only"; "just"; "merely"; "minimum" or similar words or phrases to describe the applicability of any exceptions and reductions, such as: "This policy is subject to the following minimum exceptions and reductions."e. An advertisement that refers to either a dollar amount, or a period of time for which any benefit is payable, or the cost of the policy, or specific policy benefit, or the loss for which such benefit is payable, shall also disclose those exceptions, reductions, and limitations affecting the basic provisions of the policy without which the advertisement would have the capacity or tendency to mislead or deceive.f. An advertisement may contain a brief description of coverage in an invitation to inquire so long as it is limited to a brief description of the loss for which benefits are payable. The brief description may not refer to the cost of the policy.g. An advertisement for a policy that contains a waiting, elimination, probationary, or similar time period between the effective date of the policy and the effective date of coverage under the policy or a time period between the date a loss occurs and the date benefits begin to accrue for such loss shall prominently disclose the existence of such periods.h. An invitation to inquire shall contain a provision in the following or substantially similar form: "This policy has [exclusions] [limitations] [reduction of benefits] [terms under which the policy may be continued in force or discontinued]. For costs and complete details of the coverage, call [or write] your insurance agent or the company [whichever is applicable]."(3)Prohibited terms in life insurance and annuity policies. No advertisement for a life insurance or annuity policy shall use the terms "investment," "investment plan," "founder's plan," "charter plan," "expansion plan," "profit," "profits," "profit sharing," "interest plan," "savings," "savings plan," "retirement plan," or other similar term that has the capacity or tendency to mislead an insured or prospective insured to believe that the insurer is offering something other than an insurance policy or some benefit not available to other individuals of the same class and equal expectation of life. An advertisement shall not state that there are "no more premiums" or that premiums will "vanish" or "disappear" or use similar terms when such statement is not based on the guaranteed rates.(4)Exclusions, limitations, exceptions and reductions. Words and phrases used in an advertisement to describe policy exclusions, limitations, exceptions and reductions shall clearly, prominently and accurately indicate the negative or limited nature of the exclusions, limitations, exceptions and reductions. An advertisement for a policy providing benefits for specified illnesses only, such as cancer, or other policies providing benefits that are limited in nature shall clearly and conspicuously in prominent type state the limited nature of the policy. The statement shall be worded in language identical to or substantially similar to the following: "THIS IS A LIMITED POLICY," "THIS POLICY PROVIDES LIMITED BENEFITS," or "THIS IS A CANCER-ONLY POLICY."
(5)Use of statistics. An advertisement shall 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 shall be identified therein.(6)Introductory, initial or special offers.a. An advertisement shall not directly or by implication represent that a policy is an introductory, initial or special offer, or that a person will receive advantages not available at a later date, or that the offer is available only to a specified group of persons, unless such is the fact.b. An advertisement shall not offer a policy that utilizes a reduced initial premium rate in a manner that overemphasizes the availability and the amount of the initial reduced premium. When an insurer charges an initial premium that differs in amount from the amount of the renewal premium payable on the same mode, the advertisement shall not display the amount of the reduced initial premium either more frequently or more prominently than the renewal premium, and both the initial reduced premium and the renewal premium must be stated in each portion of the advertisement where the initial reduced premium appears. This paragraph shall not apply to annual renewable term policies.(7)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 and be accurately reproduced. The insurer, in using a testimonial, makes as its own all of the statements contained therein, and the advertisement, including such statement, is subject to these rules.b. If the person 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, such fact shall be disclosed in the advertisement. If a person is compensated for making a testimonial or endorsement, such fact shall be disclosed in the advertisement by language substantially as follows: "Paid Endorsement." The payment of substantial amounts, directly or indirectly, for "travel and entertainment" for filming or recording of TV or radio advertisements constitutes compensation and requires disclosure.c. An advertisement that states or implies that an insurer or an insurance product has been approved or endorsed by any person or other organizations must also disclose any proprietary or other relationship between the parties.(8)Disparaging and incomplete comparisons and statements. An advertisement shall not directly or indirectly make unfair or incomplete comparisons of policies or benefits or comparisons of noncomparable policies of other insurers, and shall not disparage other insurers, their policies, services or business methods, and shall not disparage or unfairly minimize competing methods of marketing insurance. An advertisement shall not contain statements that are untrue in fact, or by implication misleading, with respect to the assets, corporate structure, financial standing, age or relative position of an insurer in the insurance business.(9)Identity of insurer.a. The name of the actual insurer shall be clearly identified in all advertisements for a particular policy. An advertisement shall not use a trade name, insurance group designation, name of a parent company, name of a particular company division, service mark, slogan, symbol or other device that would have the capacity and tendency to misrepresent the true identity of an insurer.b. No advertisement shall use any combination of words, symbols, or physical materials that by its content, phraseology, shape, color or other characteristics is so similar to combinations of words, symbols, or physical materials used by a municipal, state or federal agency that it would lead a reasonable individual to believe that the advertisement is approved, endorsed or accredited by an agency of the municipal, state, or federal government.(10)Disclosure requirements for life insurance and annuities.a. 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 prominently disclosed.b. An advertisement for a policy with nonlevel premiums shall prominently describe the premium changes.c. Dividends. (1) An advertisement shall not state or imply that the payment or amount of dividends is guaranteed. If dividends for an annuity are illustrated, the illustration must be based on the insurer's illustrated scale and must contain a statement that the illustration is not to be construed as a guarantee or estimate of dividends to be paid in the future.(2) An advertisement shall not state or imply that the illustrated scale under a participating policy or pure endowments will be or can be sufficient at any future time to ensure, 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.d. An advertisement of a deferred annuity shall not state the net premium accumulation interest rate unless it discloses in close proximity thereto and with equal prominence the actual relationship between the gross and net premiums.e. An advertisement that states the projected values of a policy must use the guaranteed interest rates in determining such projected values and, in addition, may show other projected values based on interest rates that comply with the illustrated scale. Any statements containing or based upon an interest rate higher than the guaranteed accumulation interest rates shall likewise set forth with equal prominence comparable statements containing or based upon the guaranteed accumulation interest rates. If the policy does not contain a provision for a guaranteed interest rate, any advertisement showing projected values must clearly state that the rates are not guaranteed. This subrule does not apply to an illustration or supplemental illustration subject to the provisions of the Life Insurance Illustrations Model Regulation, 191-Chapter 14.f. An advertisement or presentation that does not recognize the time value of money through the use of appropriate interest adjustments shall not be used for comparing the cost of two or more life insurance policies. Such advertisement may be used for the purpose of demonstrating the cash flow pattern of a policy if such advertisement is accompanied by a statement disclosing that the advertisement does not recognize that, because of interest, a dollar in the future may not have the same value as a dollar at the time of the presentation.g. An advertisement of benefits shall not display guaranteed and nonguaranteed benefits as a single sum unless they are also shown separately in close proximity thereto.h. A statement regarding the use of life insurance cost indexes shall include an explanation that the indexes are useful only for the comparison of the relative costs of two or more similar policies.i. A life insurance cost index that reflects dividends or an equivalent level annual dividend shall be accompanied by a statement that it is based on the insurer's illustrated scale and is not guaranteed.(11)Special offers. Advertisements, applications, requests for additional information and similar materials are prohibited if they state or imply that the recipient has been individually selected to be offered insurance or has had the recipient's eligibility for the insurance individually determined in advance when the advertisement is directed to all individuals in a group or to all individuals whose names appear on a mailing list.(12)Disclosure requirement. In an advertisement that is an invitation to contract for an accident and sickness insurance policy that is guaranteed renewable, cancelable or renewable at the option of the company, the advertisement shall disclose that the insurer has the right to increase premium rates if the policy so provides.(13)Group or quasi-group implications.a. An advertisement of a particular policy shall not state or imply that prospective insureds become group or quasi-group members covered under a group policy and, as members, enjoy special rates or underwriting privileges, unless that is the fact.b. This rule prohibits the solicitation of a particular class, such as governmental employees, by use of advertisements that state or imply that the class membership entitles the member to reduced rates on a group or other basis when, in fact, the policy being advertised is sold only on an individual basis at regular rates.c. Advertisements that indicate that a particular coverage or policy is exclusively for "preferred risks" or a particular segment of the population or that a particular segment of the population is an acceptable risk, when the distinctions are not maintained in the issuance of policies, are prohibited.d. An advertisement to join an association, trust or discretionary group that is also an invitation to contract for insurance coverage shall clearly disclose that the applicant will be purchasing both membership in the association, trust or discretionary group and insurance coverage. The insurer shall solicit insurance coverage on a separate and distinct application that requires a separate signature. The separate and distinct application required need not be on a separate document or contained in a separate mailing. The insurance program shall be presented so as not to conceal the fact that the prospective members are purchasing insurance as well as applying for membership, if that is the case. Similarly, the use of terms such as "enroll" or "join" to imply group or blanket insurance coverage is prohibited when that is not the fact.e. Advertisements for group or franchise group plans that provide a common benefit or a common combination of benefits shall not imply that the insurance coverage is tailored or designed specifically for that group, unless that is the fact.(14)Compliance with Medicare supplement advertising rules. Insurers and producers shall comply with the Medicare supplement advertising rules set forth in 191-Chapter 37.Iowa Admin. Code r. 191-15.3
ARC 7964B, lAB 7/15/09, effective 8/19/09Adopted by IAB March 20, 2024/Volume XLVI, Number 19, effective 4/24/2024