The Vermont Statutes Online
The Statutes below include the actions of the 2025 session of the General Assembly.
NOTE: The Vermont Statutes Online is an unofficial copy of the Vermont Statutes Annotated that is provided as a convenience.
(Cite as: 8 V.S.A. § 8205)
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§ 8205. Policyholder rights
(a) Policyholders shall have the right to accept or reject the transfer and novation of
their contracts of insurance. Policyholders electing to reject the assumption transaction
shall return to the transferring insurer the pre-addressed, postage-paid response
card or other written notice and indicate thereon that the assumption is rejected
(collectively referred to as the “Response Card”).
(b) Payment of any premium to the assuming company during the 12-month period after notice
is received shall be deemed to indicate the policyholder’s consent to the transfer
to the assuming insurer and a novation shall be deemed to have been effected, provided
that the premium notice states in a manner calculated to give the policyholder notice
that payment of the premium to the assuming insurer shall constitute acceptance of
the transfer, unless the policyholder reserves the right to reject the transfer. The
premium notice shall also provide a method for the policyholder to pay the premium
while reserving the right to reject the transfer. With respect to any home service
business or any other business not using premium notices, the Commissioner must approve
the disclosures and procedures used to inform policyholders of the proposed assumption
or transfer, which notice, at a minimum, must meet the requirements set forth in section 8204 of this title.
(c) After no fewer than 12 months from the mailing of the initial notice of transfer required
under subsection 8204(a) of this title, if positive consent to, or rejection of, the transfer and assumption has not been
received as provided in subsection (a) of this section or consent has not been deemed
to have occurred under subsection (b) of this section, the transferring company shall
send to the policyholder a second and final notice of transfer as provided in section 8204 of this title. If the policyholder does not accept or reject the transfer during the two-month
period immediately following the date on which the transferring insurer mails the
second and final notice of transfer, the policyholder’s consent will be deemed to
have occurred and novation of the contract will be effected. With respect to the home
service business or any other business not using premium notices, the 12- and two-month
periods shall be measured from the date of delivery of the notice of transfer pursuant
to section 8204 of this title.
(d) The transferring insurer will be deemed to have received the response card on the
date it is postmarked. A policyholder may also send his or her response card by facsimile
or other electronic transmission or by registered mail, express delivery or courier
service, in which case the response card shall be deemed to have been received by
the assuming insurer on the date of actual receipt by the transferring insurer. (Added 1993, No. 235 (Adj. Sess.), § 7.)