Okla. Admin. Code § 365:10-3-33

Current through Vol. 42, No. 8, January 2, 2025

Section 365:10-3-33 - Disclosure requirements

(a)Disclosure must be clear. The information required to be disclosed by this section shall 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.

(b)Contain complete information. No advertisement shall 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 insurer 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.

(c)Disclosure of unique terms. In the event an advertisement uses "Non-Medical," "No Medical Examination Required," or similar terms where issue is not guaranteed, such terms shall be accompanied by a further disclosure of equal prominence and juxtaposition thereto to the effect that issuance of the policy may depend upon the answers to the health questions set forth in the application.

(d)Life insurance. An advertisement shall 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.

(e)Describe type of policy. An advertisement shall prominently describe the type of policy advertised.

(f)Direct marketing. An advertisement of an insurance policy marketed by direct response techniques shall not state or imply that because there is no insurance producer or commission involved there will be a cost saving 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.

(g)Graded policies shall display limited benefits. 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. An advertisement of or for a life insurance policy under which the death benefit varies with the length of time the policy has been in force shall accurately describe and clearly call attention to the amount of minimum death benefit under the policy.

(h)Prohibited terms. An advertisement for the types of policies described in (f) and (g) of this subsection shall not use the words "inexpensive," "low cost," or other phrases or words of similar import when such policies are being marketed to persons who are fifty years of age or older, where the policy is guaranteed issue.

(i)Premiums.

(1) An advertisement for a policy with non-level premiums shall prominently describe the premium changes.

(2) An advertisement in which the insurer describes a policy where it reserves the right to change the amount of the premium during the policy term, but which does not prominently describe this feature, is deemed to be deceptive and misleading and is prohibited.

(3) An advertisement shall not contain a statement or representation that premiums paid for a life insurance policy can be withdrawn under the terms of the policy. Reference may be made to amounts paid into an advance premium fund, which are intended to pay premiums at a future time, to the effect that they may be withdrawn under the conditions of the prepayment agreement. Reference may also be made to withdrawal rights under any unconditional premium refund offer.

(4) An advertisement which represents a pure endowment benefit as a "profit" or "return" on the premium paid rather than as a policy benefit for which a specified premium is paid is deemed to be deceptive and misleading and is prohibited.

(j)Accurate cash value and savings accounts analogies. Analogies between a life insurance policy's cash values and savings accounts or other investments and between premium payments and contributions to savings accounts or other investments must be complete and accurate.

(k)Policy loans. 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)Nonforfeiture values. If nonforfeiture values are shown in any advertisement, the values must be shown either for the entire amount of the basic life policy death benefit or for each $1,000 of initial death benefit.

(m)Use of "free". The words "free," "no cost," "without cost," "no additional cost," "at no extra cost," or words of similar import shall not be used with respect to any benefit or service being made available with a policy unless true. If there is no charge to the insured, then the identity of the payor must be prominently disclosed. An advertisement may specify the charge for a benefit or a service or may state that a charge is included in the premium or use other appropriate language.

(n)Use of "financial planner". No insurance producer may use terms such as "financial planner," "Investment advisor," "financial consultant," or "financial counseling" in such a way as to imply that he or she is generally engaged in an advisory business in which compensation is unrelated to sales unless such actually is the case.

(o)Non-guaranteed policy elements.

(1) An advertisement shall not utilize or describe non-guaranteed policy elements in a manner which is misleading or has the capacity or tendency to mislead.

(2) An advertisement shall not state or imply that the payment or amount of non-guaranteed policy elements is guaranteed. If non-guaranteed policy elements are illustrated, they must be based on the insurer's current scale and the illustration must contain a statement to the effect that they are not to be construed as guarantees or estimates of amounts to be paid in the future.

(3) An advertisement that includes any illustrations or statements containing or based upon non-guaranteed elements shall set forth with equal prominence comparable illustrations or statements containing or based upon the guaranteed elements.

(4) If an advertisement refers to any non-guaranteed policy element, it shall indicate that the insurer treserves the right to change any such element at any time and for any reason. However, if an insurer has agreed to limit this right in any way; such as, for example, if it has agreed to change these elements only at certain intervals or only if there is a change in the insurer's current or anticipated experience, the advertisement may indicate any such limitation on the insurer's right.

(5) An advertisement shall not refer to dividends as "tax free" or use words of similar import, unless the tax treatment of dividends is fully explained and the nature of the dividend as a return of premium is indicated clearly.

(p)share of company assets. An advertisement shall not state that a purchaser of a policy will share in or receive a stated percentage or portion of the earnings on the general account assets of the company.

(q)Testimonials, appraisals, analysis or endorsement by third parties.

(1) Testimonials, appraisals or analysis used in advertisements must be genuine; represent that current opinion of the author; be applicable to the policy advertised, if any; and be accurately reproduced with sufficient completeness to avoid misleading or deceiving prospective insureds as to the nature or scope of the testimonial, appraisal, analysis or endorsement. In using testimonials, appraisals or analysis; the insurer or insurance producer makes as its own all of the statements contained therein, and such statements are subject to all the provisions of this section.

(2) If the individual making a testimonial, appraisal, analysis 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 shall be prominently disclosed in the advertisement.

(3) An advertisement shall 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 from making such endorsement or testimonial, such fact shall be disclosed in the advertisement.

(r)Accurate statistical information. 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.

(s)Policies sold to students.

(1) The envelope in which insurance solicitation material is contained may be addressed to the parents of students. The address may not include any combination of words which imply that the correspondence is from a school, college, university or their education or training institution nor may it imply that the institution has endorsed the material or supplied the insurer with information about the student unless such is a correct and truthful statement.

(2) All advertisements including but not limited to informational flyers used in the solicitation of insurance must be identified clearly as coming from an insurer or insurance producer, if such is the case, and these entities must be clearly identified as such.

(3) The return address on the envelope may not imply that the soliciting insurer or insurance producer is affiliated with a university, college, school or other educational or training institution, unless true.

(t)Introductory, initial or special offers and enrollment periods.

(1) An advertisement of an individual policy or combination of such policy shall 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 shall 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.

(2) An advertisement shall 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.

(3) An advertisement shall 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 shall be followed by an asterisk or other appropriate symbol which refers the reader to the specific portion of the advertisement which contains the full rate schedule for the policy being advertised.

(4) An enrollment period during which a particular insurance policy may be purchased on an individual basis shall not be offered within this State unless there has been a lapse of not less than three (3) months between the close of the immediately preceding enrollment period for the same policy and the opening of the new enrollment period. The advertisement shall specify the date by which the application must mail the application, which shall not be 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 paragraph applies to all advertising media; i.e., mail, newspapers, radio, television, magazines and periodicals-by any one insurer or insurance producer. The phrase "any one insurer" includes all the affiliated companies of a group of insurance companies under common management or control. This paragraph 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 his request. It is also inapplicable to solicitations of employees or members of a particular group or association which otherwise would be eligible under specified 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 paragraph shall be applied separately to each sponsoring organization.

(u)Implied membership. An advertisement of a particular policy shall 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.

(v)Comparisons or disparaging other policies prohibited. An advertisement shall not make unfair or incomplete comparisons of policies, benefits, dividends or rates of other insurers. An advertisement shall not disparage other insurers, insurance producers, policies, services or methods or marketing.

(w)Individual deferred annuity products or deposit funds. For individual deferred annuity products or deposit funds, the following shall apply:

(1) 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 shall 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.

(2) If an advertisement states the net premium accumulation interest rate, whether guaranteed or not, it shall also disclose in close proximity thereto and with equal prominence, the actual relationship between the gross and the net premiums.

(3) 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 shall prominently state that cash surrender benefits are not provided.

(x)Life insurance with annuities. An advertisement of a life insurance product and an annuity as a single policy or life insurance policy with an annuity rider shall include the following disclosure or substantially similar statement at the point of sale before the application is taken; provided, however, if the policy contains an unconditional refund provision of at least ten days, then the disclosure statement shall be delivered with or prior to the delivery of the policy, or upon the applicant's request, whichever occurs sooner. The disclosure shall include the first five policy years, the tenth and twentieth policy years, at least one age from sixty to seventy and the scheduled commencement of annuity payments:

	Gross Annual	Premium	Guaranteed Cash
Year	Life %	Annuity %	Value of Annuity
1	%	%	$
2	%	%	$
3	%	%	$
4	%	%	$
5	%	%	$
10	%	%	$
20	%	%	$
etc.	%	%	$

Information in the disclosure statement shall be based on gross premium. The life and annuity percentages of the total gross premium shall equal 100% for each required duration. The guaranteed cash value of the annuity shall be the value at the end of the contract year. A copy of the disclosure statement shall be provided to the applicant

(y)Pre-need funeral contracts. An advertisement for the solicitation or sale of a preneed funeral contract or prearrangement as defined in (a) of this section which is funded or is to be funded by a life insurance policy or annuity contract shall adequately disclose the following:

(1) the fact that a life insurance policy or annuity contract is involved or being used to fund a prearrangement as defined in (a) of this section, and

(2) the nature of the relationship amount the soliciting agent or agents, the provider of the funeral or cemetery merchandise or services, the administrator and any other person.

Okla. Admin. Code § 365:10-3-33