760 IAC 1-79-3 - Prohibited uses of senior-specific certifications and professional designations
Authority: IC 27-1-3-7; IC 27-1-15.6-33
Affected: IC 27-1-15.6-12
Sec. 3.
(a) It is a
fraudulent, coercive, and dishonest practice in the business of insurance under
IC
27-1-15.6-12(b)(8)
for an insurance producer to use a
senior-specific certification or professional designation that indicates or
implies in such a way as to mislead a purchaser or prospective purchaser that
the insurance producer has special certification or training in advising or
servicing seniors in:
(1) connection with the
solicitation, sale, or purchase of a life insurance or an annuity
product;
(2) the provision of
advice as to the value of or the advisability of purchasing a life insurance or
annuity product; or
(3) the sale of
life insurance and annuities, or selling a life insurance or annuity product;
either directly or indirectly through publications or writings, or by issuing
or promulgating analyses or reports related to a life insurance or annuity
product.
(b) The
prohibited use of senior-specific certifications or professional designations
includes, but is not limited to, use of the following:
(1) A certification or professional
designation by an insurance producer who has not actually earned or is
otherwise ineligible to use the certification or designation.
(2) A nonexistent or self-conferred
certification or professional designation.
(3) A certification or professional
designation that indicates or implies a level of occupational qualifications
obtained through education, training, or experience that the insurance producer
using the certification or designation does not have.
(4) A certification or professional
designation that was obtained from a certifying or designating organization
that:
(A) is primarily engaged in the business
of instruction in sales or marketing; or
(B) does not have reasonable:
(i) standards or procedures for assuring the
competency of its certificants or designees;
(ii) standards or procedures for monitoring
and disciplining its certificants or designees for improper or unethical
conduct; or
(iii) continuing
education requirements for its certificants or designees in order to maintain
the certificate or designation.
(c) There is a rebuttable presumption that a
certifying or designating organization is not disqualified solely for purposes
of subsection (b)(4) when the certification or designation issued from the
organization does not primarily apply to sales or marketing and when the
organization or the certification or designation in question has been
accredited by:
(1) the American National
Standards Institute;
(2) the
National Commission for Certifying Agencies; or
(3) any organization that is on the U.S.
Department of Education's list entitled "Accrediting Agencies Recognized for
Title IV Purposes".
(d)
In determining whether a combination of words or an acronym standing for a
combination of words constitutes a certification or professional designation
indicating or implying that a person has special certification or training in
advising or servicing seniors, factors to be considered shall include the
following:
(1) Use of one (1) or more words
such as "senior", "retirement", "elder", or like words combined with one (1) or
more words such as:
(A) "certified";
(B) "registered";
(C) "chartered";
(D) "advisor";
(E) "specialist";
(F) "consultant";
(G) "planner"; or
(H) like words; in the name of the
certification or professional designation.
(2) The manner in which the words listed in
subdivision (1) are combined.
(e) For purposes of this rule, a job title
within an organization that is licensed or registered by a state or federal
financial services regulatory agency is not a certification or professional
designation, unless it is used in a manner that would confuse or mislead a
reasonable consumer, when the job title:
(1)
indicates seniority or standing within the organization; or
(2) specifies an individual's area of
specialization within the organization.
For purposes of this subsection, "financial services regulatory agency" includes, but is not limited to, an agency that regulates insurers, insurance producers, broker-dealers, investment advisers, or investment companies as defined under the Investment Company Act of 1940.
(f) An
insurance producer who uses a senior-specific certification or professional
designation in violation of this section will be subject to administrative
action under IC
27-1-15.6-12.
Notes
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