§ 149 — Misrepresentation and defamation prohibited

(1) No company doing business in this State, and no officer, director, agent, clerk or employee thereof, broker, or any other person, shall make, issue or circulate or cause or knowingly permit to be made, issued or circulated any estimate, illustration, circular, or verbal or written statement of any sort misrepresenting the terms of any policy issued or to be issued by it or any other company or the benefits or advantages promised thereby or any misleading estimate of the dividends or share of the surplus to be received thereon, or shall by the use of any name or title of any policy or class of policies misrepresent the nature thereof. (2) No such company or officer, director, agent, clerk or employee thereof, or broker shall make any misleading representation or comparison of companies or policies, to any person insured in any company for the purpose of inducing or tending to induce a policyholder in any company to lapse, forfeit, change or surrender his insurance, whether on a temporary or permanent plan. (3) No such company, officer, director, agent, clerk or employee thereof, broker or other person shall make, issue or circulate or cause or knowingly permit to be made, issued or circulated any pamphlet, circular, article, literature or verbal or written statement of any kind which contains any false or malicious statement calculated to injure any company doing business in this State in its reputation or business. (4) No such company, or officer, director, agent, clerk or employee thereof, no agent, broker, solicitor, or company service representative, and no other person, firm, corporation, or association of any kind or character, shall make, issue, circulate, use, or utter, or cause or knowingly permit to be made, issued, circulated, used, or uttered, any policy or certificate of insurance, or endorsement or rider thereto, or matter incorporated therein by reference, or application blanks, or any stationery, pamphlet, circular, article, literature, advertisement or advertising of any kind or character, visual, or aural, including radio advertising and television advertising, or any other verbal or written statement or utterance (a) which tends to create the impression or from which it may be implied or inferred, directly or indirectly, that the company, its financial condition or status, or the payment of its claims, or the merits, desirability, or advisability of its policy forms or kinds or plans of insurance are approved, endorsed, or guaranteed by the State of Illinois or United States Government or the Director or the Department or are secured by Government bonds or are secured by a deposit with the Director, or (b) which uses or refers to any deposit with the Director or any certificate of deposit issued by the Director or any facsimile, reprint, photograph, photostat, or other reproduction of any such certificate of deposit. (5) Any company, officer, director, agent, clerk or employee thereof, broker, or other person who violates any of the provisions of this Section, or knowingly participates in or abets such violation, is guilty of a business offense and shall be required to pay a penalty of not less than $200 nor more than $10,000, to be recovered in the name of the People of the State of Illinois either by the Attorney General or by the State's Attorney of the county in which the violation occurs. The penalty so recovered shall be paid into the county treasury if recovered by the State's Attorney or into the State treasury if recovered by the Attorney General. (6) No company shall be held guilty of having violated any of the provisions of this Section by reason of the act of any agent, solicitor or employee, not an officer, director or department head thereof, unless an officer, director or department head of such company shall have knowingly permitted such act or shall have had prior knowledge thereof. (7) Any person, association, organization, partnership, business trust or corporation not authorized to transact an insurance business in this State which disseminates in or causes to be disseminated in this State any advertising, invitations to inquire, questionnaires or requests for information designed to result in a solicitation for the purchase of insurance by residents of this State is also subject to the sanctions of this Section. The phrase "designed to result in a solicitation for the purchase of insurance" includes but is not limited to: (a) the use of any form or document which provides either generalized or specific information or recommendations regardless of the insurance needs of the recipient or the availability of any insurance policy or plan; or (b) any offer to provide such information or recommendation upon subsequent contacts or solicitation either by the entity generating the material or some other person; or (c) the use of a coupon, reply card or request to write for further information; or (d) the use of an application for insurance or an offer to provide insurance coverage for any purpose; or (e) the use of any material which, regardless of the form and content used or the information imparted, is intended to result, in the generation of leads for further solicitations or the preparation of a mailing list which can be sold to others for such purpose.

Legislative History

(Source: P.A. 93-32, eff. 7-1-03.)