6.6.309    VIOLATIONS AND PENALTIES

(1) Any insurer, agent, representative, officer or employee of such insurer failing to comply with the requirements of this sub-chapter shall be subject to such penalties as may be appropriate under the insurance laws of Montana.

(2) Any failure to comply with this subchapter shall be considered a violation of 33-18-204, MCA, Twisting Prohibited.

(3) Examples of violations include:

(a) any deceptive or misleading information set forth in sales material;

(b) failing to ask the applicant in completing the application the pertinent questions regarding the possibility of financing or replacement;

(c) the intentional incorrect recording of an answer;

(d) advising an applicant to respond negatively to any question regarding replacement in order to prevent notice to the existing insurer; or

(e) advising a policy or contract owner to write directly to the company in such a way as to attempt to obscure the identity of the replacing producer or company.

(4) Policy and contract owners have the right to replace existing life insurance policies or annuity contracts after indicating in or as part of the applications for new coverage that replacement is not their intention; however, patterns of such action by policy or contract owners of the same producer shall be deemed prima facie evidence of the producer's knowledge that replacement was intended in connection with the identified transactions, and these patterns of action shall be deemed prima facie evidence of the producer's intent to violate this subchapter.

(5) Where it is determined that the requirements of this subchapter have not been met, the replacing insurer shall provide to the policy owner an in-force illustration if available or policy summary for the replacement policy or available disclosure document for the replacement contract and the notice regarding replacements in Appendix A or C.

History: Sec. 33-1-313, 33-1-317, 33-1-318, 33-17-1001, MCA; IMP, Sec. 33-18-204, MCA; NEW, 1978 MAR p. 1302, Eff. 12/15/78; AMD, 2001 MAR p. 2221, Eff. 1/1/02.