June 28, 2007
TO: VIATICAL AND LIFE SETTLEMENT PROVIDERS, PROVIDER REPRESENTATIVES AND BROKERS
RE: ADVERTISING, REGISTRATION AND NAME USAGE REQUIREMENTS FOR VIATICAL AND LIFE SETTLEMENT PROVIDERS AND BROKERS
Advertising Requirements
Effective September 1, 1999, viatical and life settlement providers, agents and brokers became subject to rules adopted under Article 21.21 (since recodified as Chapter 541), Texas Insurance Code, which includes advertising regulations. Texas Administrative Code §21.102 includes in its definition of advertisements communications soliciting an existing policy delivered by any medium. This includes, but is not limited to, printed materials, video and audio presentations, prepared sales presentations, telephone scripts, solicitations and letters, billboards, radio and television, proposals and websites.
Texas Administrative Code §3.1707 requires that all advertising materials used by viatical and life settlement providers and brokers to solicit viatical or life settlements be filed with the Texas Department of Insurance (Department) on or before the date they are used. Advertising materials may be submitted with an initial application for registration to the Life/Health Division. Subsequent advertising materials should be sent to the Advertising Unit, Consumer Protection Program. This information is intended to help you meet this requirement.
Please be guided by the provisions of Texas Administrative Code §21.120 in submitting advertising material to the Department. The advertising rules and other insurance-related information are available on our website at www.tdi.state.tx.us. You may contact the Advertising Unit by telephone at 512/475-1949.
Submit your advertising materials by mail, fax, or e-mail to:
Advertising Unit, Consumer Protection Program - MC 111-2A
Texas Department of Insurance
PO Box 149104
Austin, TX 78714-9104
FAX: 512/305-8192
E-mail: Advertising@tdi.state.tx.us
(attach either a Microsoft Word .doc, an Adobe .pdf file, or a website address)
Registration Requirement
Each person who conducts business as a life or viatical settlement provider, provider representative, or broker in Texas must file a completed application for a certificate of registration with the Department. Application forms for certificates of registration are available by making a request to the Texas Department of Insurance, P.O. Box 149104, Austin, Texas, 78714-9107.
Name Usage Requirements
Viatical and life settlement providers must also adhere to statutes and rules governing names used in viatical or life settlement business. Texas Administrative Code §3.1703 and §19.902 require that all names other than a present legal name used in conducting viatical or life settlement business, including advertising, be filed with the Department. If a filing is required under the Assumed Business or Professional Name Act, Texas Business and Commerce Code §36.01, et. seq., or any similar statute, a copy of the valid assumed name certificate must be filed with the Department. Submit your name lists or copies of assumed name certificates to: Life/Health Division - MC 106-1E, Texas Department of Insurance, Attention: Filings & Operations Division, P.O. Box 149104, Austin, Texas 78714-9104.
______________________________
Audrey Selden
Senior Associate Commissioner
Consumer Protection Program
For more information, contact:
Remember: TDI's Internet resources are to be used for legitimate state purposes. Occasional personal use is permitted so long as such use is incidental, is brief, does not result in additional cost to TDI or the state and does not interfere with the performance of the employee's job duties. Under no circumstances may an employee use TDI's Internet resources to access sexual, offensive, profane or otherwise inappropriate information. By using TDI computers to access Internet resources, TDI employees are consenting to the monitoring of their use of Internet resources. TDI employees do not have a privacy interest or an expectation of privacy in the use of TDI computers to access Internet resources. Refer to the TDI Operations Manual for additional information.