Section 170. Enforcement procedures; advertising file; corrective advertising

A. Each insurer shall maintain at its home or principal office a complete file containing every printed, published or prepared advertisement of its individual policies and typical printed, published or prepared advertisements of its blanket, franchise and group policies hereafter disseminated in this or any other state, whether or not licensed in another state, with a notation attached to each advertisement that indicates the manner and extent of distribution and the form number of any policy advertised. The file shall be subject to regular and periodical inspection by the commission. All the advertisements shall be maintained in a file for the longer of four years or until the filing of the next regular report on examination of the insurer.

B. If the commission finds, after notice and opportunity to be heard, as provided in § 38.2-219 of the Code of Virginia, that any advertisement is in violation of the provisions of this chapter and that the violation was to substantially deceive or to mislead the public, the commission may, in addition to any other remedy or monetary penalty it may otherwise impose, order the insurer responsible for the dissemination of such advertisement to publish at the insurer's expense, a corrective advertisement in a form to be approved by the commission. If an insurer fails to publish a corrective advertisement as required by the commission, the commission may cause a corrective advertisement to be published, and the insurer shall, in addition to any other penalty that may have been imposed, reimburse the commission for the expenses incurred in connection with the publication of the advertisement.

Historical Notes

Derived from Regulation 8, Case No. 19498, § 17, eff. June 1, 1975; amended, Volume 20, Issue 25, eff. August 4, 2004; Volume 26, Issue 08, eff. January 1, 2010.

Statutory Authority

§§ 12.1-13 and 38.2-223 of the Code of Virginia.