The Vermont Statutes Online

Title 8 : Banking and Insurance

Chapter 103 : Life Insurance Policies and Annuity Contracts

Subchapter 005B : LIFE SETTLEMENTS

• § 3846. Advertising for life settlements

  (a) No person engaged in the business of life settlements shall make, issue, circulate, or cause to be made, issued, or circulated, or placed before the public, in a newspaper, magazine, or other publication, in the form of a notice, circular, pamphlet, letter, or poster or over any radio station or television station, or by Internet, or in any other way, any estimate, illustration, circular, statement, sales presentation, omission, or comparison, which:

  (1) Misrepresents or fails to adequately disclose the benefits, advantages, conditions, exclusions, limitations, or terms of any life settlement contract.

  (2) Uses any name or title of any life settlement contract or class of life settlement contracts misrepresenting the true nature thereof.

  (3) Is a misrepresentation for the purpose of inducing or tending to induce a policy owner to enter into a life settlement contract in violation of the provisions of this chapter.

  (4) Is inaccurate, untruthful, deceptive or misleading in fact or by implication. The form and content of an advertisement of a life settlement contract shall be sufficiently complete and clear so as to avoid deception. It shall not have the capacity or tendency to mislead or deceive. Whether an advertisement has the capacity or tendency to mislead or deceive shall be determined from the overall impression that the advertisement may be reasonably expected to create upon a person of average education or intelligence within the segment of the public to which it is directed.

  (5) Directly or indirectly markets, advertises, solicits, or otherwise promotes the purchase of a policy for the purpose or, or with an emphasis on entering into a life settlement contract.

  (6) Uses the word “free,” “no cost,” “without cost,” “no additional cost,” “at no extra cost,” or words of similar import in the marketing, advertising, soliciting, or otherwise promoting of the purchase of a policy.

  (b) Every life settlement licensee shall establish and at all times maintain a system of control over the content, form, and method of dissemination of all advertisements of its contracts, products, and services. All advertisements, regardless of who wrote, created, designed, or presented them, shall be the responsibility of the life settlement licensees as well as the individual who created or presented the advertisement. A system of control shall include regular routine notification, at least once a year, to agents and others authorized by the life settlement licensee who disseminate advertisements of the requirements and procedures for approval by the life settlement licensee prior to the use of any advertisements not furnished by the life settlement licensee.

  (c) The name of the life settlement licensee shall be clearly identified in all advertisements about the licensee or its life settlement contract, products, or services, and if any specific life settlement contract is advertised, the life settlement contract shall be identified either by form number or some other appropriate description. If an application is part of the advertisement, the name of the life settlement provider shall be shown on the application.

  (d) If the advertising emphasizes the dollar amounts available to policy owners, the advertising shall disclose the average purchase price as a percent of face value obtained by policy owners contracting with the licensee during the past six months.

  (e) The fact that the life settlement contract offered is made available for inspection prior to consummation of the sale, or that an offer is made to refund the payment if the policy owner is not satisfied, or that the life settlement contract includes a “free look” period that satisfies or exceeds legal requirements does not remedy any inaccurate, untruthful, deceptive or misleading statements. (Added 2009, No. 53, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 2010.)