§ 4226 — Misrepresentations, misleading statements and incomplete comparisons by insurers

§ 4226. Misrepresentations, misleading statements and incomplete\ncomparisons by insurers. (a) No insurer authorized to do in this state\nthe business of life, or accident and health insurance, or to make\nannuity contracts shall:\n (1) issue or circulate, or cause or permit to be issued or circulated\non its behalf, any illustration, circular, statement or memorandum\nmisrepresenting the terms, benefits or advantages of any of its policies\nor contracts;\n (2) make any estimate of the dividends or share of surplus or\nadditional amounts to be received on such policies or contracts;\n (3) make any false or misleading statement of the dividends or share\nof surplus or additional amounts paid by any such insurer on similar\npolicies or contracts;\n (4) make any misleading representation, or any misrepresentation of\nthe financial condition of any such insurer or of the legal reserve\nsystem upon which it operates; or\n (5) make or deliver to any person or persons any incomplete comparison\nof any such policies or contracts for the purpose of inducing, or\ntending to induce, such person or persons to lapse, forfeit or surrender\nany insurance policy or contract.\n (6) replace the individual life insurance policies or individual\nannuity contracts of an insurer by the same or different insurer without\nconforming to the standards promulgated by regulation by the\nsuperintendent. 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 or\ninsurers shall be deemed to be an incomplete comparison if it does not\nconform to all the requirements for comparisons established by the\nsuperintendent by regulation.\n (c) In any determination, judicial or otherwise, of the incompleteness\nor misleading character of any such comparison or of representation, it\nshall not be presumed that the insured knew or knows of any of the\nprovisions or benefits contained in any insurance policy or contract.\n (d) Any such insurer that knowingly violates any provision of this\nsection, or knowingly receives any premium or other compensation in\nconsequence of such violation shall, in addition to any other penalty\nprovided in this chapter, be liable to a penalty in the amount of such\npremium or compensation, which penalty may be sued for and recovered by\nany person aggrieved for his own use and benefit, in accordance with the\nprovisions of the civil practice law and rules.\n