02-031 C.M.R. ch. 910, § 6 - General Rules and Prohibitions

A. An illustration used in the sale of a life insurance policy shall satisfy the applicable requirements of this Rule, be clearly labeled "life insurance illustration" and contain the following basic information:

(1) Name of insurer;

(2) Name and business address of producer or insurer's authorized representative, if any;

(3) Name, age and sex of proposed insured, except where a composite illustration is permitted under this Rule;

(4) Underwriting or rating classification upon which the illustration is based;

(5) Generic name of policy, the company product name, if different, and form number;

(6) Initial death benefit; and

(7) Dividend option election or application of non-guaranteed elements, if applicable.

B. When using an illustration in the sale of a life insurance policy, an insurer or its producers or other authorized representatives shall not:

(1) Represent the policy as anything other than a life insurance policy;

(2) Use or describe non-guaranteed elements in a manner that is misleading or has the capacity or tendency to mislead;

(3) State or imply that the payment or amount of non-guaranteed elements is guaranteed;

(4) Use an illustration that does not comply with the requirements of this Rule;

(5) Use an illustration that at any policy duration depicts policy performance more favorable to the policy owner than the lesser of:

(a) The disciplined current scale; or

(b) The currently payable scale.

(6) Provide an applicant with an incomplete illustration;

(7) Represent in any way that premium payments will not be required for each year of the policy in order to maintain the illustrated death benefits, unless that is the fact;

(8) Use the term "vanish" or "vanishing premium," or a similar term that implies the policy becomes paid up, to describe a plan for using non-guaranteed elements to pay a portion of future premiums;

(9) Except for policies that can never develop nonforfeiture values, use an illustration that is "lapse-supported"; or

(10) Use an illustration that is not "self-supporting."

C. If an interest rate used to determine the illustrated non-guaranteed elements is shown, it shall not be greater than the earned interest rate underlying the disciplined current scale.

Notes

02-031 C.M.R. ch. 910, § 6