Title INS — California Ins. Code

All individual and group disability insurance policies and certificates, and all group life insurance policies and certificates offered for sale to individuals age 65 or older in California shall provide an examination period of 30 days after the receipt of the policy or certific…

(a) All brokers, agents, or other entities offering a contract of disability insurance to persons 65 years of age or older in this state shall provide the prospective insured with a full and accurate written comparison with existing health coverage, and shall explain the relation…

Any advertisement or other device designed to produce leads based on a response from a potential insured that is directed towards persons 65 years of age or older shall prominently disclose that an agent may contact the applicant if that is the fact. In addition, an agent who mak…

(a) The following definitions apply to this section: (1) “Senior designation” means any degree, title, credential, certificate, certification, accreditation, or approval, that expresses or implies that a broker or agent possesses expertise, training, competence, honesty, or relia…

An insurer, agent, broker, or other person engaged in the transaction of insurance shall not knowingly recommend for sale, or sell, disability insurance providing health benefits directly to a Medi-Cal beneficiary who is age 65 or older. For disability insurance providing health …

No insurer, broker, agent, or other person shall cause an insured aged 65 years or older to replace a disability insurance policy or certificate unnecessarily. (a) No insurer, broker, agent, or other entity within the jurisdiction of the department shall promote or cause overload…

No insurer, broker, agent, or other person shall knowingly recommend for purchase or sell disability insurance to a person age 65 or older which results in the insured having coverage, for medical benefits, for more than 100 percent of actual medical expenses.

(a) The commissioner shall have the administrative authority to assess penalties against insurers, brokers, agents, and other entities engaged in the transaction of insurance or any other person or entity for violations of this article. (b) Upon a showing of a violation of this a…

(a) This section applies to the sale, offering for sale, or generation of leads for the sale of life insurance, including annuities, to senior insureds or prospective insureds by any person. (b) A person who meets with a senior in the senior’s home is required to deliver a notice…

(a) Any broker, agent, or other person or other entity engaged in the transactions of insurance, other than an insurer, who violates this article is liable for an administrative penalty of no less than one thousand dollars ($1,000) for the first violation. (b) Any broker, agent, …

If any provision of this article or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of the article which can be given effect, without the invalid provision or application, and to this end th…

(a) Insurance policies or certificates of disability insurance sold to persons age 65 or older shall return to policyholders or certificate holders benefits that have a minimum loss ratio of 60 percent for individual policies and 75 percent for group policies. The loss ratio shal…

(a) Sales of disability insurance regulated by this article, as well as Medicare supplement insurance and long-term care insurance sold to persons aged 65 years or older, shall be registered by the insurer with the commissioner. The commissioner shall provide facilities for the c…

(a) “Elder” for purposes of this section means any person residing in this state who is 65 years of age or older. (b) If a life agent offers to sell to an elder any life insurance or annuity product, the life agent shall advise an elder or elder’s agent in writing that the sale o…

(a) In addition to any other reasons that a sale of an individual annuity to a senior may violate any provision of law, an annuity shall not be sold to a senior in any of the following circumstances: (1) The senior’s purpose in purchasing the annuity is to affect Medi-Cal eligibi…

The purpose of this article is to regulate trade practices in the business of insurance in accordance with the intent of Congress as expressed in the Act of Congress of March 9, 1945 (Public Law 15, Seventy-ninth Congress), by defining, or providing for the determination of, all …

This article applies to reciprocal and interinsurance exchanges, Lloyds insurers, fraternal benefit societies, fraternal fire insurers, grants and annuities societies, insurers holding certificates of exemptions, motor clubs, nonprofit hospital associations, life agents, broker-a…

No person shall engage in this State in any trade practice which is defined in this article as, or determined pursuant to this article to be, an unfair method of competition or an unfair or deceptive act or practice in the business of insurance.

The following are hereby defined as unfair methods of competition and unfair and deceptive acts or practices in the business of insurance. (a) Making, issuing, circulating, or causing to be made, issued or circulated, any estimate, illustration, circular, or statement misrepresen…

The requirements of subdivision (b) of Section 790.034, and Sections 2071.1 and 10082.3 shall apply only to policies of residential property insurance as defined in Section 10087, policies and endorsements containing those coverages prescribed in Chapter 8.5 (commencing with Sect…

(a) Regulations adopted by the commissioner pursuant to this article that relate to the settlement of claims shall take into consideration settlement practices by classes of insurers. (b) (1) Upon receiving notice of a claim, every insurer shall immediately, but no more than 15 c…

(a) Any person who engages in any unfair method of competition or any unfair or deceptive act or practice defined in Section 790.03 is liable to the state for a civil penalty to be fixed by the commissioner, not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each act, or, if the ac…

(a) It is an unfair and deceptive act or practice in the business of insurance for an insurer to advertise insurance that it will not sell. (b) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit any insurer from advertising insurance products for which it is licensed to sell …

(a) It is an unfair business practice for a health insurance agent or broker to sell, solicit, or negotiate the purchase of health insurance by any of the following methods: (1) The use of a marketing technique known as cold lead advertising when marketing a Medicare product. As …

The commissioner shall have power to examine and investigate into the affairs of every person engaged in the business of insurance in the State in order to determine whether such person has been or is engaged in any unfair method of competition or in any unfair or deceptive act o…

Whenever the commissioner shall have reason to believe that a person has been engaged or is engaging in this state in any unfair method of competition or any unfair or deceptive act or practice defined in Section 790.03, and that a proceeding by the commissioner in respect theret…

(a) Whenever the commissioner shall have reason to believe that any person engaged in the business of insurance is engaging in this state in any method of competition or in any act or practice in the conduct of the business that is not defined in Section 790.03, and that the meth…

Whenever the commissioner shall have reason to believe that any person has violated a cease and desist order issued pursuant to Section 790.05 or a court order issued pursuant to Section 790.06, after the order has become final, and while the order is still in effect, the commiss…

The powers vested in the commissioner in this article shall be additional to any other powers to enforce any penalties, fines or forfeitures, denials, suspensions or revocations of licenses or certificates authorized by law with respect to the methods, acts and practices hereby d…

No order to cease and desist issued under this article directed to any person or subsequent administrative or judicial proceeding to enforce the same shall in any way relieve or absolve such person from any administrative action against the license or certificate of such person, …

The commissioner shall, from time to time as conditions warrant, after notice and public hearing, promulgate reasonable rules and regulations, and amendments and additions thereto, as are necessary to administer this article.

(a) If an insurer or any affiliate of an insurer has failed to pay any valid claim from Holocaust survivors, the certificate of authority of the insurer shall be suspended until the insurer, or its affiliates, pays the claim or claims. (b) As used in this section: (1) “Holocaust …

The purpose of this article is to establish standards for the collection, use and disclosure of information gathered in connection with insurance transactions by insurance institutions, agents or insurance-support organizations; to maintain a balance between the need for informat…

(a) The obligations imposed by this article shall apply to those insurance institutions, agents or insurance-support organizations which, on or after October 1, 1981: (1) In the case of life or disability insurance: (A) Collect, receive or maintain information in connection with …

As used in this act: (a) (1) “Adverse underwriting decision” means any of the following actions with respect to insurance transactions involving insurance coverage that is individually underwritten: (A) A declination of insurance coverage. (B) A termination of insurance coverage.…

No insurance institution, agent or insurance-support organization shall use or authorize the use of pretext interviews to obtain information in connection with an insurance transaction; provided, however, that a pretext interview may be undertaken to obtain information from a per…

(a) An insurance institution or agent shall provide a notice of information practices to all applicants or policyholders in connection with insurance transactions as provided below: (1) In the case of a written application for insurance, a notice shall be provided no later than: …

(a) (1) In addition to the notice required by Section 791.04, an insurance institution or agent shall provide a clear and conspicuous notice to customers that accurately reflects its privacy policies and practices not less than annually during the continuation of the customer rel…

An insurance institution or agent shall clearly specify those questions designed to obtain information solely for marketing or research purposes from an individual in connection with an insurance transaction.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no insurance institution, agent or insurance-support organization may utilize as its disclosure authorization form in connection with insurance transactions a form or statement which authorizes the disclosure of personal or privileged i…

(a) No insurance institution, agent or insurance-support organization may prepare or request an investigative consumer report about an individual in connection with an insurance transaction involving an application for insurance, a policy renewal, a policy reinstatement or a chan…

(a) If any individual, after proper identification, submits a written request to an insurance institution, agent or insurance-support organization for access to recorded personal information about the individual which is reasonably described by the individual and reasonably locat…

(a) Within 30 business days from the date of receipt of a written request from an individual to correct, amend or delete any recorded personal information about the individual within its possession, an insurance institution, agent or insurance-support organization shall either: (…

(a) In the event of an adverse underwriting decision the insurance institution or agent responsible for the decision shall: (1) Either provide the applicant, policyholder, or individual proposed for coverage with the specific reason or reasons for the adverse underwriting decisio…

No insurance institution, agent or insurance-support organization may seek information in connection with an insurance transaction concerning: (a) Any previous adverse underwriting decision experienced by an individual, or (b) Any previous insurance coverage obtained by an indivi…

No insurance institution or agent may base an adverse underwriting decision in whole or in part on the following: (a) On the fact of a previous adverse underwriting decision or on the fact that an individual previously obtained insurance coverage through a residual market mechani…

An insurance institution, agent, or insurance-support organization shall not disclose any personal or privileged information about an individual collected or received in connection with an insurance transaction unless the disclosure is: (a) With the written authorization of the i…

(a) The commissioner shall have power to examine and investigate into the affairs of every insurance institution or agent doing business in this state to determine whether the insurance institution or agent has been or is engaged in any conduct in violation of this article. (b) T…

(a) Whenever the commissioner has reason to believe that an insurance institution, agent or insurance-support organization has been or is engaged in conduct in this state which violates this article, or if the commissioner believes that an insurance-support organization has been …

For the purpose of this article, an insurance-support organization transacting business outside this state that has an effect on a person residing in this state shall be deemed to have appointed the commissioner to accept service of process on its behalf, provided the commissione…