Recent OGC opinions in NY are posted
The NYSID has recently posted a new round of OGC opinions. In this group are two related to life insurance.
The first: Re: Anti-money laundering program of life insurers is number 08-01-06. This opinion contains a fairly unusual discussion by a state Insurance Department of federal law. The conclusion is that neither federal or state law precludes an insurer from accepting premium on a term policy by bank check or money order. However, the opinion also states though that an insurer is not obligated under NY law to accept premium by bank check or money order, so long as the policy prohibiting such modes of payment is implemented uniformly and nothing in the policy would be an unfair trade practice. Although the opinion offers no examples of what such an unfair trade practice might be, it does say that such a finding is conceivable.
The second: Re: Licensure Requirement for Insurance Consulting is number 08-01-12. This opinion has 6 specific questions related to nonresident unlicensed fee-based consultants. The questions each receive a negative response from the Department, indicating that none of the inquired-about actions can be done without a NY license and may be sanctionable. This discussion is interesting not only for the specific facts presented, but for the scope of the "Insurance Consultant" license and the job duties for which a license is required.
