(a) (1) Every individual life insurance policy and every individual annuity contract that is initially delivered or issued for delivery in this state on and after January 1, 1990, shall have printed on the front of the policy jacket or on the cover page a notice stating that, after receipt of the policy by the owner, the policy may be returned by the owner for cancellation by mail or other delivery method to the insurer or to the agent through whom it was purchased. The period of time set forth by the insurer for return of the policy by the owner shall be clearly stated and this period shall be not less than 10 days nor more than 30 days.
(2) The owner may return the policy to the insurer by mail or other delivery method at any time during the period specified in the notice. In the case of individual nonvariable life insurance policies and individual nonvariable annuity contracts, including modified guaranteed contracts, by delivering or mailing the policy pursuant to this section during the cancellation period, the owner shall void the policy from the beginning, and the parties shall be in the same position as if no policy had been issued. All premiums paid and any policy fee paid for the policy shall be refunded by the insurer to the owner within 30 days from the date that the insurer is notified that the owner has canceled the policy. In the case of individual variable annuity contracts and individual variable life insurance policies, return of the policy during the cancellation period shall entitle the owner to a refund of the account value and any policy fee paid for the policy. The account value and policy fee shall be refunded by the insurer to the owner within 30 days from the date that the insurer is notified that the owner has canceled the policy.
(b) This section applies to all individual policies issued or delivered in this state on or after January 1, 1990, but does not apply to any policy subject to Section 10127.7. All policies subject to this section which are in effect on January 1, 1990, shall be construed to be in compliance with this section, and any provision in any policy which is in conflict with this section shall be of no force or effect.
(c) This section does not apply to individual life insurance policies issued in connection with a credit transaction or issued under a contractual policy-change or conversion privilege provision contained in a policy.
(d) General references to “policy” or “policies” in this section refer to both life insurance policies and annuity contracts.
(e) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2015.
(Repealed (in Sec. 3 ) and added by Stats. 2014, Ch. 166, Sec. 4. (AB 2347) Effective January 1, 2015. Section operative July 1, 2015, by its own provisions.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018