La. R.S. § 22:1964 Methods, Acts, and Practices Which Are Defined As Unfair Or Deceptive

• Library: Louisiana Statutes
• Edition: 2023
• Currency: Current with changes from the 2023 Legislative Session
• Year: 2023
• Citation: La. R.S. § 22:1964

The following are declared to be unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the business of insurance:

(1) Misrepresentations and false advertising of insurance policies. Making, issuing, circulating, or causing to be made, issued, or circulated any estimate, illustration, circular or statement, sales presentation, omission, or comparison that does any of the following:

(a) Misrepresents the benefits, advantages, conditions, or terms of any policy issued or to be issued.

(b) Misrepresents the dividends or share of the surplus to be received on any policy.

(c) Makes a false or misleading statement as to the dividends or share of surplus previously paid on similar policies.

(d) Makes any misleading representation or any misrepresentation as to the financial condition of any insurer, or as to the legal reserve system upon which any life insurer operates.

(e) Misrepresents to any policyholder insured by any insurer for the purpose of inducing or tending to induce such policyholder to lapse, forfeit, or surrender his insurance.

(f) Uses any name or title of any policy or class of policies misrepresenting the true nature thereof.

(g) Makes a misrepresentation for the purpose of effecting a pledge or assignment or effecting a loan against any policy.

(h) Misrepresents any policy as being shares of stock.

(2) False information and advertising generally. Making, publishing, disseminating, circulating, or placing before the public, or causing, directly or indirectly, to be made, published, disseminated, circulated, or placed before the public, in a newspaper, magazine or other publication, or in the form of a notice, circular, pamphlet, letter or poster, or over any radio or television station, or in any other way, an advertisement, announcement or statement containing any assertion, representation or statement with respect to the business of insurance or with respect to any person in the conduct of his insurance business, which is untrue, deceptive or misleading.

(3) Defamation. Making, publishing, disseminating, or circulating, directly or indirectly, or aiding, abetting or encouraging the making, publishing, disseminating or circulating of any oral or written statement or any pamphlet, circular, article or literature which is false, or maliciously critical of or derogatory to the financial condition of an insurer, and which is calculated to injure any person engaged in the business of insurance.

(4) Boycott, coercion and intimidation. Entering into any agreement to commit or by any concerted action committing any act of boycott, coercion or intimidation resulting or tending to result in unreasonable restraint of, or a monopoly in, the business of insurance.

(5) False financial statements and false entries.

(a) Knowingly filing with any supervisory or other public official, or knowingly making, publishing, disseminating, circulating, or delivering to any person, or placing before the public, or knowingly causing directly or indirectly, to be made, published, disseminated, circulated, delivered to any person, or placed before the public, any false material statement of fact as to the financial condition of any insurer.

(b) Knowingly making any false entry of a material fact in any book, report, or statement of any insurer or knowingly omitting to make a true entry of any material fact pertaining to the business of such insurer in any book, report, or statement of such insurer, or knowingly making any false material statement to any agent or examiner lawfully appointed to examine into its condition or into any of its affairs, or any public official to which such insurer is required by law to report, or which has authority by law to examine into its condition or into any of its affairs.

(6) Stock operations and advisory board contract. Issuing or delivering or permitting agents, officers, or employees to issue or deliver, agency company stock or other capital stock, or benefit certificates or shares in any corporation, or securities or any special advisory board contracts or other contracts of any kind promising returns and profits as an inducement to insure.

(7) Unfair discrimination.

(a) Making or permitting any unfair discrimination between individuals of the same class and equal expectation of life in the rates charged for any contract of life insurance or of life annuity or in the dividends or other benefits payable thereon, or in any other of the terms and conditions of such contract, if, in determining the class, consideration may be given to the nature of the risk, plan of insurance, the actual or expected expense of conducting the business, or any other relevant factor.

(b) Making or permitting any unfair discrimination between individuals of the same class involving essentially the same hazards in the amount of premium, policy fees, or rates charged for any policy or contract of health or accident insurance or in the benefits payable thereon, or in any of the terms or conditions of such contract, or in any other manner whatever, if, in determining the class, consideration may be given to the nature of the risk, plan of insurance, the actual or expected expense of conducting the business or any other relevant factor.

(c) Violating the provisions of R.S. 22:34.

(d) Making or permitting any unfair discrimination between individuals or risks of the same class and of essentially the same hazard by refusing to insure, refusing to renew, cancelling, or limiting the amount of insurance coverage on a property or casualty risk solely because of the geographic location of the risk, unless such action is a result of the application of sound underwriting and actuarial principles related to actual or reasonably anticipated loss experience.

(e) Making or permitting any unfair discrimination between individuals or risks of the same class and of essentially the same hazards by refusing to insure, refusing to renew, cancelling, or limiting the amount of insurance coverage on the residential property risk, or the personal property contained therein, solely because of the age of the residential property.

(f) Refusing to insure, refusing to continue to insure, or limiting the amount of coverage available to an individual solely because of the sex, marital status, race, religion, or national origin of the individual. However, nothing in this Subsection shall prohibit an insurer from taking marital status into account for the purpose of defining persons eligible for dependent benefits. Nothing in this Section shall prohibit or limit the operation of fraternal benefit societies.