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ENROLLED
Senate Bill No. 653
(By Senators Minard and White)
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[Passed March 7, 2008; in effect ninety days from passage.]
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AN ACT
to amend and reenact §33-6-5a of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to application requirements for
life and accident and sickness insurance and permitting
internet sales of and applications for life and accident and
sickness insurance.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §33-6-5a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6. THE INSURANCE POLICY.
§33-6-5a. Application for life or accident and sickness insurance;
signatures required; exemptions; right of insured to
return policy.
(a) All applications for life or accident and sickness
insurance, as defined in section ten, article one of this chapter,
to be issued in this state shall:
(1) If application is made by the proposed insured, include the signature of both the proposed insured and the agent;
(2) If application is made by the proposed insured, be
completed by a licensed and appointed agent in the presence of the
proposed insured;
(3) If application is made by a spouse upon the other spouse,
include the signature of the spouse procuring the insurance and the
agent; or
(4) If application is made by any person having an insurable
interest in the life of a minor, or any person upon whom a minor is
dependent for support and maintenance, include the signature of the
person procuring the insurance and the agent.
(b) Upon the hand delivery of a policy of life or accident and
sickness insurance, a delivery receipt shall be signed and dated by
the insured and returned to the insurer for filing.
If the delivery of a policy of life or accident and sickness
insurance is by mail, it shall either: (1) Be sent by certified
mail from the insurer, return receipt requested, and the date of
receipt noted on the receipt is
the date of receipt for the
purposes of section eleven-b of this article; or (2) the insurer
shall prepare a certificate of mailing. For the purposes of this
section, a certificate of mailing means a record prepared and
retained in accordance with general business practices indicating
the date that the policy was mailed to the insured and it is
presumed that the policy was received by the insured twenty days
from the date of mailing.
(c) Any amendments to the application after it is originally
signed by the proposed insured shall be expressly disclosed in
writing to the proposed insured and his or her signature is
obtained to verify agreement with the changes: Provided, That the
failure of the insurer to notify the insured of any change, or the
failure of the insured to execute the signature, does not
invalidate the existence of insurance coverage.
(d) The following shall be exempt from the requirements of
subdivisions (1), (2), (3) and (4), subsection (a) of this section:
(1) Group life or group accident and sickness insurance
applications if the insurer accepts all prospective principal
insureds with no underwriting restrictions on the individual
proposed insureds;
(2) Group life or group accident and sickness insurance
applications if there is underwriting as to the individual proposed
insureds and the applications are completed without a licensed and
appointed agent present, but the insurer verifies the information
on the application by telephone with the proposed insured;
(3) Applications for life or accident and sickness insurance
if the insurance is solely mass marketed and the only contact with
the insured is by mail, mass media or telephone; and
(4) Applications for life or accident and sickness insurance
if the insurer is an underwriter for supplemental retirement plans
and additional retirement plans provided to eligible employees of
the governing boards of state institutions of higher education pursuant to the provisions of section four-a, article twenty-three,
chapter eighteen of this code.
(e) The taking of an application for
life or accident and
sickness insurance
and otherwise completing a transaction
electronically is exempt from the requirements of subdivision (2),
subsection (a) of this section.