Circular Letter No. 8 (1999)

March 16, 1999

TO:	ALL INSURERS AUTHORIZED TO WRITE LIFE INSURANCE AND ANNUITIES, INCLUDING LIFE INSURERS, FRATERNAL BENEFIT SOCIETIES, CHARITABLE ANNUITY SOCIETIES, SAVINGS BANK LIFE INSURANCE DEPARTMENTS AND ALL LICENSED VIATICAL SETTLEMENT COMPANIES
RE:	PROCEDURAL CHANGES IN THE APPROVAL PROCESS FOR LIFE INSURANCE AND ANNUITY POLICY FORMS: I. Required Format For Policy Form Submission Letters II. Timely Responses to Comment Letters

I. Required Format For Policy Form Submission Letters

To facilitate the policy form filing process, the Department will no longer review the substance of a submission letter to determine the number, identity, or type of policy forms being submitted. The Department will no longer accept submission letters that do not follow the format detailed below.

Effective for submissions made on or after April 15, 1999, all policy form submissions are to be made directly to the Life Bureau in Albany, New York. The filings should be addressed to:

Ms. Kathleen Nelligan, Chief Insurance Policy Examiner
Life Bureau-7^th Floor
New York State Insurance Department
Agency Building One
Empire State Plaza
Albany, New York 12257

The "Re" or the caption of the submission letter shall clearly identify each of the forms that are intended in the submission. This identification must include: the policy form identification number; a designation of the form as individual or group; a generic product description (See Appendix A for a list of acceptable generic product descriptions); and a generic form description (See Appendix B for a list of acceptable generic form descriptions). As an example, a submission of an individual whole life policy, application and rider would be identified in the "Re" or the caption of the submission letter as follows:

Form No. "XX" Individual Whole Life Policy
Form No. "YY" Individual Whole Life Application
Form No. "ZZ"  Individual Accidental Death Benefit Rider

Any additional information beyond this basic description, including references to fixed or flexible premiums or the period of coverage, (such as "life paid up at 85") which are consistent with the description on the policy cover page, is to be placed in the substance of the letter. If the submission consists of more than five forms, each of the forms should be listed in the required format on a separate attached sheet and the "Re" or caption should reference the attachment.

These procedures will enable the staff to enter policy form submission information into the Department’s computer tracking system in a more expeditious manner thereby improving the overall policy form filing process.

II. Timely Responses to Comment Letters

To expedite the policy form review process, the Life Bureau will now close policy form files if a complete written response to the questions, comments, requests for explanation or other material in a comment letter from the Bureau are not received within fifteen calendar days of the date on the comment letter.

Very truly yours,

_______________________
Martin F. Carus
Assistant Deputy Superintendent and
Chief Examiner
Life Bureau

 

Appendix A

Generic Product Description

Appendix B

Generic Form Description