Section 50. Readable policy requirements; general rules; format; legibility; readability

A. A readable policy shall not sacrifice the precision and accuracy of a legal contract in form or appearance. Revision of the policy to make it more readable must not lead to its devaluation as a legal document.

These requirements are not intended to alter the legal effect of any provision of the policy required by law or regulation.

B. A policy of more than three pages shall include a table of contents listing the principal sections and provisions and the pages on which they are found.

Defined words or terms shall be: (i) placed in a separate definition section which appears early in the policy format, except that a word or term primarily used in one section may be defined in that section; or (ii) clearly distinguishable from the general text of the policy and listed in an index or guide which identifies the location of each definition in the policy.

The policy shall be divided into logically arranged sections for ease of locating desired content. Each section shall be self-contained as to provisions relating solely to that section.

A general section may be included which contains provisions applicable to more than one section.

Captions and headings shall be clearly set apart from the general text.

The style, arrangement and overall appearance of the policy shall give no undue prominence to any portion of the text of the policy or to any endorsements or riders except as otherwise required by this chapter (14VAC5-110-10 et seq.).

C. Type size of the text of the policy form shall not be less than 10 point type, one point leaded. In determining whether a policy form is legible the commission shall consider, in addition to the requirements of size of type, the following factors:

1. Margin size;

2. Contrast and legibility of the color of the ink and paper;

3. The amount and use of space to separate sections of the policy; and

4. The use of contrasting titles or headings for sections.

D. All policy forms must achieve a minimum Flesch reading ease score of 40 or an equivalent score on any other comparable test as provided in subsection E of this section. A Flesch reading ease score shall be measured as follows:

1. Sampling. The entire policy form shall be analyzed if it contains 10,000 words or less of text. If the policy form contains more than 10,000 words, the following procedure shall be used. For each page that has 500 words or more, the readability of two 200 word samples per page may be analyzed instead of the entire policy form. If a page has less than 500 words, only one sample for that page is required. If a 200 word sample ends in the middle of a sentence, the sample may be 200 words or to the end of the next complete sentence. The samples shall be separated by at least 20 printed lines.

2. Method:

Step 1 Count the number of words in the text.

Step 2 Count the number of sentences in the text.

Step 3 Divide Step 1 by Step 2.

Step 4 Multiply the figure obtained in Step 3 by 1.015.

Step 5 Count the number of syllables.

Step 6 Divide Step 5 by Step 1.

Step 7 Multiply the figure obtained in Step 6 by 84.6.

Step 8 Add the sum of the figures obtained in Step 4 and Step 7.

Step 9 Subtract the figure obtained in Step 8 from 206.835. This is the Flesch reading ease score for the policy form.

3. Illustration: An example showing how the Flesch reading ease score is calculated follows:

Physical Examination and Autopsy

While a claim is pending, we shall have the right: (i) to have the insured examined at reasonable times and (ii) to have an autopsy made in case of death. We will pay the expense. An autopsy can be made only if it is allowed by law.

	STEP	DESCRIPTION	FIGURE
	1	Total Words	45
	2	Total Sentences	4
	3	Step 1 / Step 2	11.25
	4	Step 3 x 1.015	11.42
	5	Total Syllables	58
	6	Step 5 / Step 1	1.29
	7	Step 6 x 84.6	109.13
	8	Step 4 + Step 7	120.55
	9	206.835 - Step 8	86.3
	Flesch Reading Ease Score -- 86.3

4. Procedures: For scoring purposes the following procedures shall be used:

a. A contraction, hyphenated word, or numbers and letters (unless used to enumerate items within a sentence as shown in the illustration above, e.g. (1) and (2)) when separated by spaces, shall be counted as one word;

b. A unit of words ending with a period, semicolon, or colon, but excluding headings, captions and subcaptions, shall be counted as a sentence; and

c. A syllable means a unit of spoken language consisting of one or more letters of a word as divided by a commonly accepted dictionary. Where the dictionary shows two or more equally acceptable pronunciations of a word, the pronunciation containing fewer syllables may be used.

5. The term "text" as used in this subsection shall include all printed matter except the following:

a. The name and address of the insurer; the name, number or title of the policy; the table of contents or index; headings, captions and subcaptions; specification pages, schedules or tables; and

b. Any policy language required by state or federal law, regulation or agency interpretation; any policy language required by any collectively bargained agreement; any medical terminology; any words which are defined in the policy; provided, however, the insurer identifies the language or terminology excepted by this subdivision b, and certifies, in writing, that the language or terminology is entitled to be excepted by this subdivision b.

E. Alternative test. The commission may approve any other comparable reading test for use as an alternative to the Flesch reading ease score test if it is comparable to the Flesch reading ease score test.

Historical Notes

Derived from Regulation 18, Case No. INS800061, § 6, eff. January 1, 1977; amended eff. January 1, 1981.

Statutory Authority

§ 38.2-3404 of the Code of Virginia.