§ 2123 — Misrepresentations, misleading statements and incomplete comparisons

New York § 2123

• Jurisdiction: New York
• Law ISC: Insurance
• Art. 21: Agents, Brokers, Adjusters, Consultants and Intermediaries

Text

§ 2123. Misrepresentations, misleading statements and incomplete\ncomparisons. (a) (1) No agent or representative of any insurer or health\nmaintenance organization authorized to transact life, accident or health\ninsurance or health maintenance organization business in this state,\ninsurance broker, person who has received a grant from and has been\ncertified by the health benefit exchange established pursuant to section\n1311 of the Affordable Care Act, 42 U.S.C. § 18031, to act as a\nnavigator, including any person employed by a certified navigator, or\nother person, firm, association or corporation, shall issue or circulate\nor cause or permit to be issued or circulated, any illustration,\ncircular, statement or memorandum misrepresenting the terms, benefits or\nadvantages of any policy or contract of life, accident or health\ninsurance, any annuity contract or any health maintenance organization\ncontract, delivered or issued for delivery or to be delivered or issued\nfor delivery, in this state, or shall make any misleading estimate as to\nthe dividends or share of surplus or additional amounts to be received\nin the future on such policy or contract, or shall make any false or\nmisleading statement as to the dividends or share of surplus or\nadditional amounts previously paid by any such insurer or health\nmaintenance organization on similar policies or contracts, or shall make\nany misleading representation, or any misrepresentation, as to the\nfinancial condition of any such insurer or health maintenance\norganization, or as to the legal reserve system upon which such insurer\nor health maintenance organization operates.\n (2) No such person, firm, association or corporation shall make to any\nperson or persons any incomplete comparison of any such policies or\ncontracts of any insurer, insurers, or health maintenance organization,\nfor the purpose of inducing, or tending to induce, such person or\npersons to lapse, forfeit or surrender any insurance policy or health\nmaintenance organization contract.\n (3) Any replacement of individual life insurance policies or\nindividual annuity contracts of an insurer by an agent, representative\nof the same or different insurer or broker shall conform to standards\npromulgated by regulation by the superintendent. Such regulation shall:\n (A) specify what constitutes the replacement of a life insurance\npolicy or annuity contract and the proper disclosure and notification\nprocedures to replace a policy or contract;\n (B) require notification of the proposed replacement to the insurer\nwhose policies or contracts are intended to be replaced;\n (C) require the timely exchange of illustrative and cost information\nrequired by section three thousand two hundred nine of this chapter and\nnecessary for completion of a comparison of the proposed and replaced\ncoverage; and\n (D) provide for a sixty-day period following issuance of the\nreplacement policies or contracts during which the policy or contract\nowner may return the policies or contracts and reinstate the replaced\npolicies or contracts.\n (b) Any comparison of the policies or contracts of any such insurer,\ninsurers or health maintenance organization shall be deemed to be an\nincomplete comparison if it does not conform to all the requirements for\ncomparisons established by regulation.\n (c) In the determination, judicial or otherwise, of the incompleteness\nor misleading character of any such comparison, it shall not be presumed\nthat the insured knew or knows of any of the provisions, terms or\nbenefits contained in any insurance policy or health maintenance\norganization contract.\n (d) Any agent or representative of an insurer or health maintenance\norganization, insurance broker, person who has received a grant from and\nhas been certified by the health benefit exchange established pursuant\nto section 1311 of the affordable care act, 42 U.S.C. § 18031, to act as\na navigator, including any person employed by a certified navigator, or\nany other person, firm, association or corporation who, or which, shall\nviolate any of the provisions of this section and shall knowingly\nreceive any compensation or commission for the solicitation, sale or\nnegotiation of any insurance policy, health maintenance organization or\nannuity contract induced by a violation of this section shall also be\nliable for a civil penalty in the amount received by such violator as\ncompensation or commission, which penalty may be sued for and recovered\nfor his, her, or its own use and benefit by any person induced to\npurchase an insurance policy, health maintenance organization or annuity\ncontract by such violation. In addition, such agent, representative,\nbroker, person, firm, association or corporation violating this section\nshall be liable for a civil penalty in the amount of any compensation or\ncommission lost by any agent, representative or broker as a result of a\nviolation of this section or the making of such false or misleading\nstatement, which penalty may be sued for and recovered for his, her, or\nits own use and benefit by such agent, representative or broker.\n * (e) Except with respect to a credit unemployment insurance policy,\ngroup credit life insurance policy, a group credit health, group credit\naccident or group credit health and accident policy, or similar group\ncredit insurance covering the person of the insured, state chartered\nbanking institutions, federally chartered banking institutions and any\nperson soliciting the purchase of or selling insurance on the premises\nthereof, must disclose or cause to be disclosed in writing, where\npracticable, in clear and concise language, to their customers and\nprospective customers who are solicited therefor, that any insurance\noffered or sold:\n (1) is not a deposit;\n (2) is not insured by the federal deposit insurance corporation or the\nnational credit union share insurance fund, as applicable; and\n (3) is not guaranteed by the state chartered banking institution or\nthe federally chartered banking institution.\n * NB Repealed September 10, 2029\n * (f) For the purposes of this section, the terms "state chartered\nbanking institutions" and "federally chartered banking institutions"\nshall have the same meanings as set forth in subdivision one of section\ntwelve-a of the banking law.\n * NB Repealed September 10, 2029\n