by John Darer CLU ChFC MSSC RSP CLTC
As part of this author's desire to establish best practices guidelines for structured settlement brokers and settlement planners this author and others have followed up the recent opinions of the New York State Insurance Department with similar requests to the insurance departments in other states. Eventually it is hoped that opinions will be obtained from ALL 50 states.
With respect to "no cost " qualified settlement funds I received correspondence this morning from Counsel for the Arkansas Insurance Department which, in response to a request concerning the possibility that they were faced with the same set of facts presented to New York, stated:
"After reviewing the NY Department’s opinion, I am of the opinion that the Arkansas Insurance Code would prohibit the activity described in question 1, but would not prohibit the activity in Question 2.
Both of these questions would be addressed in the Trade Practices Act. Under Ark.Code Ann. Section 23-66-206(10)(A)(ii), the payment of fees associated with the settlement fund would be considered an improper inducement. (underlined for emphasis)
In Question 2 you specifically ask if a producer may advertise the fact that he makes contributions to a specific non-profit organization. Since the contribution does not appear to be directly or indirectly tied to the purchase of an insurance product, this would not be considered as an inducement to purchase insurance."
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