Provides for limited death benefit life insurance policies for persons aged 60 and over; authorizes the attorney general to enforce provisions; requires an insurer to provide consumers with a prescribed "Financial Review of Policy" form when it delivers or issues for delivery in this state an insurance policy or a certificate of insurance for persons aged 60 and over.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5964
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 24, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. COOK, PEOPLES-STOKES, ZEBROWSKI, GUNTHER, HYND-
MAN, TAYLOR, BUTTENSCHON, SAYEGH, WILLIAMS, STECK -- Multi-Sponsored
by -- M. of A. DAVILA, SIMON -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Insurance
AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to limited death
benefit life insurance policies for persons aged sixty and over
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The general business law is amended by adding a new article
2 30-C to read as follows:
3 ARTICLE 30-C
4 FINANCIAL REVIEW REQUIREMENT FOR LIMITED
5 DEATH BENEFIT LIFE INSURANCE POLICIES FOR
6 PERSONS AGED SIXTY AND OVER
7 Section 647. Financial review of policy.
8 § 647. Financial review of policy. 1. Whenever a life insurance policy
9 or certificate of insurance is delivered or issued for delivery in this
10 state to an applicant at age sixty and over, which limits death benefits
11 during a period following the inception date of the policy or where the
12 accumulated premiums exceed the death benefit at any point during the
13 first ten years, the insurer shall provide the insured with a copy of a
14 "Financial Review of Policy" form of at least ten point in size. Such
15 form shall use substantially the same format and terminology shown
16 below, and shall have complete information provided for any and all
17 blank space.
18 Financial Review of Policy
19 Notice: You should review this form and your policy and
20 decide if the policy is suitable for you. If you are not
21 entirely satisfied, pursuant to New York State law, you may
22 return the policy within thirty days from the date you
23 receive it and obtain a full refund of any premiums paid.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04349-01-3
A. 5964 2
1 This is a policy offered without an attempt to classify
2 risks by determining your state of health. Premiums may have
3 been lower if health information had been obtained.
4 Applicant Information:
5 Name: Age: Sex:
6 (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)
7 Col 3
8 Prem-minus
9 iumsCol 2
10 End ofAnnualaccum-CashNet
11 PolicyPrem-ulatingSurren-gain
12 YeariuminterestDeathder(net
13 at 5%BenefitsValueloss)
14 __________________________________________________________________
15 1
16 2
17 3
18 4
19 5
20 6
21 7
22 8
23 9
24 10
25 Definitions. The following terms used in the above chart are
26 defined as:
27 1. Annual Premium -- Amount you must pay each year to keep this
28 policy in force.
29 2. Premiums Accumulating Interest at 5% -- Amount which could be
30 earned if, instead of purchasing insurance, the premium dollars
31 paid to the insurer were left to accumulate at 5% interest.
32 3. Death Benefits -- Amount that will be paid upon death, exclu-
33 sive of any supplementary benefits.
34 4. Cash Surrender Value -- Amount the insurance company will pay
35 you if you surrender your policy to the company for cash.
36 5. Net Gain or Loss -- This column shows whether your money
37 would have earned more or less at 5% interest than your life
38 insurance benefit.
39 2. Any consumer injured by a violation of this section may bring an
40 action for recovery of damages. Judgment shall be entered in favor of a
41 consumer in an amount not to exceed three times the actual damages or
42 one hundred dollars whichever is greater. The court may award reasonable
43 attorney's fees to a prevailing plaintiff.
44 3. In addition to the other remedies provided, whenever there shall be
45 a violation of this section, application may be made by the attorney
46 general in the name of the people of the state of New York to a court or
47 justice having jurisdiction by a special proceeding to issue an injunc-
48 tion, and upon notice to the defendant of not less than five days, to
49 enjoin and restrain the continuance of such violations; and if it shall
50 appear to the satisfaction of the court or justice that the defendant
51 has, in fact, violated this article, an injunction may be issued by such
52 court or justice, enjoining and restraining any further violation, with-
53 out requiring proof that any person has, in fact, been injured or
54 damaged thereby. In any such proceeding, the court may make allowances
55 to the attorney general as provided in paragraph six of subdivision (a)
A. 5964 3
1 of section eighty-three hundred three of the civil practice law and
2 rules, and direct restitution. Whenever the court shall determine that a
3 violation of this article has occurred, the court may impose a civil
4 penalty of not more than five hundred dollars for each violation. In
5 connection with any such proposed application, the attorney general is
6 authorized to take proof and make a determination of the relevant facts
7 and to issue subpoenas in accordance with the civil practice law and
8 rules.
9 § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed-
10 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.
