Informed Consumer

2020/7/24 – NAIC Life Insurance Illustrations Working Group Conference Call – ACLI – Pat Reeder

-Idea of the Informed Consumer

3) Have a larger discussion about the disclosure and buying process… 

Larry Gorski of the Illinois department mentioned that in states that do not regulate advertising or promotional materials, misleading statements can be rampant in those materials even if the illustrations are made pure.

—  BENJAMIN J. BOCK, Transamerica Occidental

1992– LIFE INSURANCE SALES ILLUSTRATIONS, Society of Actuaries – 16p

“The working group’s concern was how to bring about a change without damage to the marketplace.

1993-4, NAIC Proceedings

2018 – Industry Pressured To Find UL Policy Fix, insurancenewsnet.com – John Hilton 

2018 – Universal Life Insurance, a 1980s Sensation, Has Backfired – WSJ – Leslie Scism 

There is bound to be a controversial element in anything that enlightens the public to these differences and gives them a more intelligent basis for choice than they have at the present time. — Ernest J. Moorhead

1977 – DEBATE, “RESOLVED. THE LIFE INSURANCE BUSINESS, AS TRANSACTED TODAY, IS IN ITS TERMINAL STAGES, Society of Actuaries

Why?

  • Why is an “Informed Consumer” important?
    • Efficient Markets
    • Capital Formation
    • Persistency
    • Company Solvency
    • Meeting Consumer Expectations / Retirement Security
    • US Economic Stability
    • Public Relations
  • Indicators of Uninformed Consumers
    • Lawsuits
    • Complaints to State / Company
    • Media Reports
    • Market Conduct Problems
    • Government Reports / Hearings
    • Consumer Testing / Focus Groups

Why Not?

  • Personal Accountability
  • Contract
  • not my job
  •  

What?

  • What aren’t Consumer Informed about?
  • Life Insurance / Actuarial
    • Universal Life vs Whole Life
    • Performance
    • Length of Coverage / Plan of Insurance
    • Premium
    • Cost of Insurance
    • Cash Value
    • Cash Flow Mechanics
  • Law
    • Reasonable Person
    • Statute of Limitations
    • Reliance
    • Duties

WHO?

  • Who could / should Inform Consumers?
    • NAIC (National Association of Insurance Commissioners)
    • ACLI (American Council of Life Insurers)
    • Agents
    • Consumer Educators
  • Who could be blamed for an UnInformed Consumer?

HOW?

WHY? – Why is an “Informed Consumer” important?

“The most obvious is if we fail policyholder expectations, we may have policyholder suits <lawsuits>.”  — LARRY R. ROBINSON (Chairman of the ACLI Subcommittee on Cost Comparisons)

1988 – ACTUARIAL OPINION ON NON-GUARANTEED ELEMENTS, Society of Actuaries

Complaints and inquiries related to life insurance and annuity products were less frequent, and generally concerned consumer dissatisfaction with, or confusion regarding Universal Life insurance policies.

2018 – Wisconsin Insurance Report, page 90

  • <Mr. Lovendusky – ACLI> said the ACLI work group thinks that most confusion for consumers involves complex products like Universal Life, and not Simple products like term life. He said consumers are mostly confused about options, guarantees and riders. 

    2016    /4/3 – Life Insurance Illustrations Working Group, NAIC Proceedings

A popular insurance product of the 1980s and 1990s <Universal Life> has come back to bite many older Americans.

2018 – Universal Life Insurance, a 1980s Sensation, Has Backfired, Leslie Scism – Wall Street Journal

“I would urge the ACLI (American Council of Life Insurers) as a trade organization of carriers that they need to recognize this is a public relations disaster,” he <Richard M. Weber> said. 

2018 – Industry Pressured To Find UL Policy Fix, John Hilton – insurancenewsnet.com

 

  • US Economic Stability
  • Capital Formation
We are seeing a real crisis in confidence:
   – That, in my mind, is probably the worst thing that could happen.
   – There is not a company in the country that can stand runs that Commissioner Weaver was talking about, where people ask for $1 billion in policy loans and surrenders in a 2-week period.  <page 13>

—  William McCartney, William, Director of Insurance, State of Nebraska and Vice President, National Association of Insurance Commissioners

1991 – GOV – REGULATION OF INSURANCE COMPANIES AND THE ROLE OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF INSURANCE COMMISSIONERS – 286p

WHAT? -What may the Consumer not be Informed about?

….. buyer purchased a policy and did not know what the coverages, benefits and limitations were. 

1988 Proc. II 566.

NAIC – Universal Life Model Regulation, Proceeding Citations, Section 8.  Disclosure Requirements

Life insurance, because it is a nontangible product, is extremely susceptible to being perceived as whatever people think it to be.

—  LARRY SILKES

1983 – UNIVERSAL LIFE VALUATION AND NONFORFEITURE: A GENERALIZED MODEL, by SHANE A. CHALKE AND MICHAEL F. DAVLIN, 

  • Also, because most people presume that if you pay your premium continuously, your policy will remain in effect, quite a few people had a hard time understanding how or why the policy would terminate in policy year 31.
  • This was simply foreign to their way of thinking.

     

    1990-1A –  NAIC Proceedings – NAIC LIMRA – Universal Life Disclosure Form Test Market Results – 10p

Chalke and Davlin point out that a policy that provides whole life benefits assuming 10 percent interest is not a whole life plan if the guaranteed cash value is only 4 percent. Such a plan is term insurance only for a period of years. 

—  THOMAS G. KABELE

1983 – UNIVERSAL LIFE VALUATION AND NONFORFEITURE: A GENERALIZED MODEL, by SHANE A. CHALKE AND MICHAEL F. DAVLIN, 

WHO? – Who could / should Inform Consumers?

NAIC?

Industry activist Kim O’Brien became the latest to call on the National Association of Insurance Commissioners to intervene during a  conference call this week.

…..Richard M. Weber, a longtime life insurance agent and executive….. is not looking to regulators to address the UL crisis.

2018 – Industry Pressured To Find UL Policy Fix, John Hilton – insurancenewsnet.com

They are complaints about things that we can’t do anything about because the contract might be a Universal Life type product with Nonguaranteed Elements, and there is no regulatory framework to deal with those issues.

Those complaints just fall by the wayside because there is nothing that can be done.  — Mr. Gorski <Regulator> 

1996 – Nonforfeiture Law Development, Society of Actuaries – 23p

ACLI?

“I <Richard M. Weber> think ACLI needs to convene its members and say ‘Hey, guys, we need to come up with a solution.’”

ACLI’s ability “to engage on individual policyholder issues with individual life insurance companies is highly limited,” said spokesman Jack Dolan in an email.

2018 – Industry Pressured To Find UL Policy Fix, John Hilton – insurancenewsnet.com

Agents?

Our purpose in commenting today is to emphasize to Working Group members and interested parties the important role that the professional agent plays in the disclosure and consumer education regime that is at the heart of the Working Group’s efforts.

2019/8/26 – NAIFA Letter, Gary Sanders –  NAIC Life Insurance Illustrations Working Group

…key issue … perceived by the CLUs and ChFCs responding to the survey as causing the greatest problems for those working in the life insurance industry at the time.

#1 – Lack of knowledge or skills to competently perform one’s duties.

2011 – The Ethical Environment of the Life Insurance Industry: The Impact of the Recession and Slow Recovery. by Robert W. Cooper, PhD and Garry L. Frank, PhD – JOURNAL OF FINANCIAL SERVICE PROFESSIONALS

Mr. Wright <Chairman> said the Society of Actuaries report referred to the fact that companies said they had no control over what agents did.

1994-4, NAIC Proceedings

Consumer Educators?

Who? – Who could be blamed for an UnInformed Consumer?

While I agree with Angele <Khachadour> when she says that the insurance industry has failed to communicate, I also agree with the insurance industry’s response that these absurd and crazy-quilted policies have been caused in part by the Judiciary.

—  FREDERICK W. KILBOURNE

1981 –THE LIFE INSURANCE BUSINESS—THE VIEW OF CONSUMERISTS, Society of Actuaries

Some of our problems, however, have been caused by regulatory bodies. 

—  BARBARA J. LAUTZENHEISER

1981 –THE LIFE INSURANCE BUSINESS—THE VIEW OF CONSUMERISTS, Society of Actuaries

But, insurance regulators and consumerists go off the track when they want to drown the consumer with excessive information. Then it becomes counterproductive because the consumer will not look at it at all. It becomes the
same as junk mail.

It caused many problems for the industry; it caused many problems because the press got involved, and the press doesn’t understand the products as well as it thinks it does.

—  LINDA M. LANKOWSKI

1995 – PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATIONS AND NONFORFEITURE VALUES, Society of Actuaries – 14p

…..there is virtually no accountability for any of the participants in the sale, not for the company, not for the agent, and interestingly, the white paper discussed accountability on the part of the purchaser as well. Accountability is a major issue.”

—  ROBERT E. WILCOX – Chairman of the Life Insurance Disclosure Working Group (NAIC)

1994 – PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS FOR PRODUCT ILLUSTRATIONS,  Society of Actuaries

HOW?

“The working group’s concern was how to bring about a change without damage to the marketplace.

1993-4, NAIC Proceedings

MEDIA

MS. LINDA M. LANKOWSKI: I think any way that we can make illustrations more understandable to the public is certainly going to help us.

We’ve seen the problems that have occurred when Senator Howard Metzenbaum (D–OH) was given an illustration with a vanishing premium, and he had absolutely no idea that he had bought a policy that was not paid up in four years.

It caused many problems for the industry; it caused many problems because the press got involved, and the press doesn’t understand the products as well as it thinks it does.

1995 – PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATIONS AND NONFORFEITURE VALUES, Society of Actuaries – 14p

.

EDUCATION

The educational task is huge, and it’s not just with the customers; it’s with our agents also.

I would say to all of you that if you think that you don’t have any customers or any agents who fail to understand what a nonguaranteed illustration really means, you’re kidding yourself.   — Walter Miller

1991 –  Illustrations,  Society of Actuaries

If we are going to have a group of consumers of our products who are satisfied with what they get, we have to meet their expectations.

Obviously, there are two adjustment points whereby that can be accomplished.
-<1> …change the outcome to match the expectations.
-<2> …change the expectation to match the outcome.

— Robert E. Wilcox – Chairman of the Life Disclosure Working Group (NAIC),

1994 – PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS FOR PRODUCT  ILLUSTRATIONS (rsa94v20n229), Society of Actuaries

Monitoring of litigation may alert regulators to issues that the regulatory system has not yet addressed. 

2008-3, NAIC Proc

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