Insurers that use agents must supervise them, monitor replacement transactions, keep records, and provide certain signed statements and notices for life insurance and annuity applications.
Sec. 1114.052. DUTIES OF INSURERS THAT USE AGENTS. (a) An insurer that uses an agent shall comply with this section. (b) Each insurer shall maintain a system of supervision and control to ensure compliance with the requirements of this chapter. Under the system, the insurer must, at minimum: (1) inform its agents of the requirements of this chapter and incorporate the requirements of this chapter into all relevant agent training manuals prepared by the insurer; (2) provide each agent a written statement of the insurer's position with respect to the acceptability of replacements and provide guidance to the agent as to the appropriateness of these transactions; (3) review the appropriateness of each replacement transaction that the agent does not indicate is in accord with Subdivision (2); (4) implement procedures to confirm that the requirements of this chapter have been met; and (5) implement procedures to detect transactions that are replacements of existing policies or contracts by the existing insurer but that have not been reported as such by the applicant or agent. (c) Compliance with Subsection (b)(5) may include systematic customer surveys, interviews, confirmation letters, or programs of internal monitoring. (d) Each insurer must have the capacity to monitor each agent's life insurance policy and annuity contract replacements for that insurer. The insurer shall maintain records regarding the monitoring and shall produce and make the records available to the department on request. The capacity to monitor under this subsection must include the ability to produce records for: (1) each agent's life insurance replacements, including financed purchases, as a percentage of the agent's total annual sales for life insurance; (2) the number of lapses of policies by the agent as a percentage of the agent's total annual sales for life insurance; (3) each agent's annuity contract replacements as a percentage of the agent's total annual annuity contract sales; (4) the number of transactions that are unreported replacements of existing policies or contracts by the existing insurer detected by the insurer's monitoring system as required by Subsection (b)(5); and (5) replacements, indexed by replacing agent and existing insurer. (e) Each insurer shall require, with or as a part of each application for life insurance or an annuity, a signed statement by both the applicant and the agent as to whether the applicant has existing policies or contracts. (f) Each insurer shall require, with each application for life insurance or an annuity that indicates an existing policy or contract, a completed notice regarding replacements. (g) If the applicant has existing policies or contracts, each insurer must be able to produce, for at least five years after the date of termination or expiration of the proposed policy or contract, copies of any sales material required by Section 1114.051(g), the basic illustration and any supplemental illustrations related to the specific policy or contract that is purchased, and the agent's and applicant's signed statements with respect to financing and replacement. (h) The insurer shall ascertain that the sales material and illustrations required by Section 1114.051(g) meet the requirements of this chapter and are complete and accurate for the proposed policy or contract. (i) If an application does not meet the requirements of this chapter, the insurer shall notify the agent and applicant and fulfill the outstanding requirements. (j) The insurer shall maintain records required by this section in paper, photographic, microprocess, magnetic, mechanical, or electronic media or by any process that accurately reproduces the actual document. Added by Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 904 (H.B. 2762), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2007.