Chapter 632

632.43(8)(a)4. 4. Annuity or reversionary annuity contract.

632.43(8)(a)5. 5. Term policy of uniform amount which provides no guaranteed nonforfeiture or endowment benefits of 20 years or less expiring before age 71, for which uniform premiums are payable during the entire term of the policy.

632.43(8)(a)6. 6. Term policy of decreasing amount, which provides no guaranteed nonforfeiture or endowment benefits, on which each adjusted premium, calculated under subs. (4) to (6m) is less than the adjusted premium calculated under subs. (4) to (6m) on a term policy of uniform amount providing no guaranteed nonforfeiture or endowment benefits, issued at the same age and for the same initial amount of insurance and for a term of 20 years or less expiring before age 71, for which uniform premiums are payable during the entire term of the policy.

632.43(8)(a)7. 7. Policy providing no guaranteed nonforfeiture or endowment benefits, for which any cash surrender value or present value of any paid-up nonforfeiture benefit, at the beginning of any policy year, calculated under subs. (2) to (6m), does not exceed 2.5 percent of the amount of insurance at the beginning of the same policy year.

632.43(8)(a)8. 8. Policy delivered outside this state through an agent or other representative of the company issuing the policy.

632.43(8)(b) (b) For purposes of this subsection, the age at expiry for a joint term life insurance policy is the age at expiry of the oldest life.

632.43(9) (9) After May 22, 1943, any company may file with the commissioner a written notice of its intention to comply with the provisions hereof after a specified date before January 1, 1948. After the filing of such notice, then upon such specified date, this section shall become fully effective with respect to policies thereafter issued by such company and all previously existing provisions of law inconsistent with this section shall become inapplicable to such policies. Except as herein provided, this section shall become effective January 1, 1948, and shall from and after said date supersede all provisions of law inconsistent or in conflict therewith.

632.43 History History: 1973 c. 303; 1977 c. 153 s. 1; 1977 c. 339 s. 15; Stats. 1977 s. 632.43; 1979 c. 110 s. 60 (13); 1981 c. 307; 1983 a. 189, 538; 1995 a. 225; 2009 a. 177; 2015 a. 90.

632.435 632.435 Standard nonforfeiture law for individual deferred annuities.

632.435(1) (1) No contract of annuity shall be delivered or issued for delivery in this state unless it contains in substance the following provisions or corresponding provisions which in the opinion of the commissioner are at least as favorable to the contract holder:

632.435(1)(a) (a) Upon cessation of payment of considerations under a contract, or upon the written request of the contract owner, the company shall grant a paid-up annuity on a plan stipulated in the contract of such value as is specified in subs. (5) to (8) and (10).

632.435(1)(b) (b) If a contract provides for a lump sum settlement at maturity or at any other time, upon surrender of the contract at or prior to the commencement of any annuity payments, the company shall pay in lieu of any paid-up annuity benefit a cash surrender benefit of such amount as is specified in subs. (5), (6), (8), and (10). The company may reserve the right to defer the payment of such cash surrender benefit, for a period not exceeding 6 months after demand therefor with surrender of the contract, if the company receives written approval from the commissioner upon the company’s written request, which shall address the deferral’s necessity and equitability to all policyholders.

632.435(1)(c) (c) A statement of the mortality table, if any, and interest rates used in calculating any minimum paid-up annuity, cash surrender or death benefits that are guaranteed under the contract, together with sufficient information to determine the amounts of such benefits.

632.435(1)(d) (d) A statement that any paid-up annuity, cash surrender or death benefits that may be available under the contract are not less than the minimum benefits required by any statute of the state in which the contract is delivered and an explanation of the manner in which such benefits are altered by the existence of any additional amounts credited by the company to the contract, any indebtedness to the company on the contract or any prior withdrawals from or partial surrenders of the contract.

632.435(1)(e) (e) Notwithstanding the requirements of this subsection, any deferred annuity contract may provide that if no considerations have been received under a contract for a period of 2 years and the portion of the paid-up annuity benefit at maturity on the plan stipulated in the contract arising from considerations paid prior to such period would be less than $20 monthly, the company may terminate such contract by payment in cash of the then present value of such portion of the paid-up annuity benefit, calculated on the basis of the mortality table, if any, and interest rate specified in the contract for determining the paid-up annuity benefit, and by such payment shall be relieved of any further obligation under such contract.

632.435(4) (4) 

632.435(4)(a) (a) In this subsection, “net considerations” means, for a given contract year, an amount equal to 87.5 percent of the gross considerations credited to the contract during that contract year.

632.435(4)(b) (b) The minimum nonforfeiture amount at or prior to the commencement of any annuity payments shall be equal to an accumulation up to such time, at one or more rates of interest as indicated in pars. (c) to (e), of the net considerations paid prior to such time, decreased by the sum of all of the following:

632.435(4)(b)1. 1. Any prior withdrawals from or partial surrenders of the contract accumulated at one or more rates of interest as indicated in pars. (c) to (e).

632.435(4)(b)2. 2. An annual contract charge of $50, accumulated at one or more rates of interest as indicated in pars. (c) to (e).

632.435(4)(b)3. 3. Any premium tax paid by the company for the contract, accumulated at one or more rates of interest as indicated in pars. (c) to (e).

632.435(4)(b)4. 4. The amount of any indebtedness to the company on the contract, including interest due and accrued.

632.435(4)(c) (c) The interest rate used to determine minimum nonforfeiture amounts shall be an annual rate of interest that is the lower of 3 percent and the higher of either of the following:

632.435(4)(c)1. 1. The 5-year constant maturity treasury rate reported by the federal reserve board as of a date, or average over a period, specified in the contract no longer than 15 months prior to the contract issue date or redetermination date under par. (d), less 125 basis points or, if the contract provides substantive participation in an equity indexed benefit during the period or term, the contract may increase the reduction by up to an additional 100 basis points to reflect the value of the equity index benefit, and rounded to the nearest one-twentieth of 1 percent.

632.435(4)(c)2. 2. One percent.

632.435(4)(d) (d) The interest rate determined under par. (c) shall apply for an initial period and may be redetermined for additional periods. The redetermination date, basis, and period, if any, shall be stated in the contract. The basis is the date or average over a specified period that produces the value of the 5-year constant maturity treasury rate to be used at each redetermination date. The method for determining the interest rate under par. (c) shall be specified in the contract if the interest rate will be reset.

632.435(4)(e) (e) The present value at the contract issue date, and at each redetermination date, of the additional reduction under par. (c) 1. for substantive participation in an equity index benefit may not exceed the market value of the benefit. The commissioner may require a demonstration that the present value of the additional reduction does not exceed the market value of the benefit. The commissioner may disallow or limit the additional reduction if the commissioner determines that the demonstration is unacceptable.

632.435(4)(f) (f) The commissioner may promulgate rules for the implementation of par. (e) and to provide for further adjustments to the calculation of minimum nonforfeiture amounts for contracts that provide substantive participation in an equity index benefit and for other contracts for which the commissioner determines adjustments are justified.

632.435(5) (5) Any paid-up annuity benefit available under a contract shall be such that its present value on the date annuity payments are to commence is at least equal to the minimum nonforfeiture amount on that date. Such present value shall be computed using the mortality table, if any, and the interest rate or rates specified in the contract for determining the minimum paid-up annuity benefits guaranteed in the contract.

632.435(6) (6) For contracts which provide cash surrender benefits, such cash surrender benefits available prior to maturity shall not be less than the present value as of the date of surrender of that portion of the maturity value of the paid-up annuity benefit which would be provided under the contract at maturity arising from considerations paid prior to the time of cash surrender reduced by the amount appropriate to reflect any prior withdrawals from or partial surrenders of the contract, such present value being calculated on the basis of an interest rate not more than one percent higher than the interest rate specified in the contract for accumulating the net considerations to determine such maturity value, decreased by the amount of any indebtedness to the company on the contract, including interest due and accrued, and increased by any existing additional amounts credited by the company to the contract. No cash surrender benefit shall be less than the minimum nonforfeiture amount at that time. The death benefit under such contracts shall be at least equal to the cash surrender benefit.

632.435(7) (7) For contracts which do not provide cash surrender benefits, the present value of any paid-up annuity benefit available as a nonforfeiture option at any time prior to maturity shall not be less than the present value of that portion of the maturity value of the paid-up annuity benefit provided under the contract arising from considerations paid prior to the time the contract is surrendered in exchange for, or changed to, a deferred paid-up annuity, such present value being calculated for the period prior to the maturity date on the basis of the interest rate specified in the contract for accumulating the net considerations to determine such maturity value, and increased by any existing additional amounts credited by the company to the contract. For contracts which do not provide any death benefits prior to the commencement of any annuity payments, such present values shall be calculated on the basis of such interest rate and the mortality table specified in the contract for determining the maturity value of the paid-up annuity benefit, but the present value of a paid-up annuity benefit shall be not less than the minimum nonforfeiture amount at that time.

632.435(8) (8) For the purpose of determining the benefits calculated under subs. (6) and (7), in the case of annuity contracts under which an election may be made to have annuity payments commence at optional maturity dates, the maturity date shall be deemed to be the latest date for which election shall be permitted by the contract, but shall not be deemed to be later than the anniversary of the contract next following the annuitant’s 70th birthday or the 10th anniversary of the contract, whichever is later.

632.435(9) (9) Any contract which does not provide cash surrender benefits or does not provide death benefits at least equal to the minimum nonforfeiture amount prior to the commencement of any annuity payments shall include a statement in a prominent place in the contract that such benefits are not provided.

632.435(10) (10) Any paid-up annuity, cash surrender or death benefits available at any time, other than on the contract anniversary under any contract with fixed scheduled considerations, shall be calculated with allowance for the lapse of time and the payment of any scheduled considerations beyond the beginning of the contract year in which cessation of payment of considerations under the contract occurs.

632.435(11) (11) For any contract which provides within the same contract, by rider or supplemental contract provision, both annuity benefits and life insurance benefits that are in excess of the greater of cash surrender benefits or a return of the gross considerations with interest, the minimum nonforfeiture benefits shall be equal to the sum of the minimum nonforfeiture benefits for the annuity portion and the minimum nonforfeiture benefits, if any, for the life insurance portion computed as if each portion were a separate contract. Notwithstanding subs. (5) to (8) and (10), additional benefits payable in the event of total and permanent disability, as reversionary annuity or deferred reversionary annuity benefits or as other policy benefits additional to life insurance, endowment and annuity benefits, and considerations for all such additional benefits, shall be disregarded in ascertaining the minimum nonforfeiture amounts, paid-up annuity, cash surrender and death benefits that may be required by this section. The inclusion of such additional benefits shall not be required in any paid-up benefits, unless such additional benefits separately would require minimum nonforfeiture amounts, paid-up annuity, cash surrender and death benefits.

632.435(13) (13) This section does not apply to any reinsurance, group annuity purchased under a retirement plan or plan of deferred compensation established or maintained by an employer (including a partnership or sole proprietorship), an employee organization or both (other than a plan providing individual retirement accounts or individual retirement annuities under section 408 of the U.S. internal revenue code, as now or hereafter amended), premium deposit fund, variable annuity, investment annuity, immediate annuity, deferred annuity contract after annuity payments have commenced, reversionary annuity or any contract which is delivered outside this state through an agent or other representative of the company issuing the contract.

632.435 History History: 1977 c. 153; 1979 c. 110 s. 60 (13); 2003 a. 261.

632.44 632.44 Required provisions in life insurance.

632.44(1) (1) Separate benefits. Every life insurance policy shall specify separately each benefit promised in the policy.

632.44(2) (2) Grace period. Every life insurance policy other than a group policy shall contain a provision entitling the policyholder to a grace period of not less than 31 days for the payment of any premium due except the first, during which the death benefit shall continue in force.

632.44(3) (3) Credit life.

632.44(3)(a) (a) Individual credit life insurance policies shall be for nonrenewable, nonconvertible, term insurance. This restriction does not apply when evidence of insurability is required nor when the credit transaction is for more than 5 years.

632.44(3)(b) (b) When the insured debtor has paid or has made an obligation to pay all or any part of the premium under an individual credit life insurance policy, the total charge to the debtor shall be shown in the policy issued to the insured debtor. However, the rate of charge to the debtor rather than the total charge may be shown where the indebtedness is variable from period to period and the premium is computed periodically on the outstanding balance. The policy shall contain provision for cancellation of insurance upon termination of indebtedness through prepayment and shall provide for a refund of any unearned charge to the debtor, computed on a formula filed with the commissioner.

632.44(3)(c) (c) The insurer shall fully control and be responsible for the settlement or adjustment of all claims.

632.44 History History: 1975 c. 375, 421.

632.44 Cross-reference Cross-reference: See also ss. Ins 2.05, 3.25, and 3.26, Wis. adm. code.

632.45 632.45 Contracts providing variable benefits.

632.45(1) (1) Identification. Any contract issued under s. 611.25 or under any section of chs. 600 to 646 incorporating s. 611.25 by reference which provides for payment of benefits in variable amounts shall contain a statement of the essential features of the procedure to be followed by the insurer in determining the dollar amount of the variable benefits. It shall contain appropriate nonforfeiture benefits in lieu of those under s. 632.43 or 632.435 and a grace provision appropriate to such a contract in lieu of the provision required by s. 632.44. Any such individual contract and any such certificate issued under a group contract shall state that the dollar amount may decrease or increase and shall conspicuously display on its first page a statement that the benefits thereunder are on a variable basis, with a statement where in the contract the details of the variable provisions may be found.

632.45(2) (2) Amendments. Any contract under sub. (1) shall state whether it may be amended as to investment policy, voting rights, and conduct of the business and affairs of any segregated account. Subject to any preemptive provision of federal law, any such amendment is subject to filing under s. 631.20 and approval by a majority of the policyholders in the segregated account.

632.45(3) (3) Marketing plan. Contracts under sub. (1), if they are not forms, may be issued only within the terms of a general marketing plan approved by the commissioner. The marketing plan shall be designed to protect the interests of the policyholders in regard to any voting rights and operation of the segregated account and amendment of the contract.

632.45 History History: 1975 c. 375; 1977 c. 153 s. 6; 1977 c. 339 s. 44; 1979 c. 89, 102, 177; 1989 a. 332; 2007 a. 168.

632.46 632.46 Incontestability and misstated age.

632.46(1) (1) Incontestability of individual policies. Except under sub. (3) or (4) or for nonpayment of premiums, no individual life insurance policy may be contested after it has been in force from the date of issue for 2 years during the lifetime of the person whose life is at risk.

632.46(2) (2) Incontestability of group policies. Except under sub. (3) or (4) or for nonpayment of premiums, no group life insurance policy may be contested after it has been in force for 2 years from its date of issue and no coverage of any insured thereunder may be contested on the basis of a statement made by the insured relative to his or her insurability after the coverage has been in force on the insured for 2 years during the lifetime of the insured. No such statement may be used to contest coverage unless contained in a written instrument signed by the insured person.

632.46(3) (3) Misstated age or sex.

632.46(3)(a) (a) Subject to par. (b), if the age or sex of the person whose life is at risk is misstated in an application for a policy of life insurance and the error is not adjusted during the person’s lifetime the amount payable under the policy is what the premium paid would have purchased if the age or sex had been stated correctly.

632.46(3)(b) (b) If the person whose life is at risk was, at the time the insurance was applied for, beyond the maximum age limit designated by the insurer, the insurer shall refund at least the amount of the premiums collected under the policy.

632.46(4) (4) Disability coverages and additional accident benefits. Despite subs. (1) and (2), disability coverages and additional accident benefits may be contested at any time on the ground of fraudulent misrepresentation.

632.46 History History: 1975 c. 373, 375, 422; 1979 c. 102.

632.47 632.47 Assignment of life insurance rights.

632.47(1) (1) General. Except as provided in sub. (3), the owner of any rights under a life insurance policy or annuity contract may assign any of those rights, including any right to designate a beneficiary and the rights secured under s. 632.57 or any other statute. An assignment valid under general contract law vests the assigned rights in the assignee subject, so far as reasonably necessary for the protection of the insurer, to any provisions in the insurance policy or annuity contract inserted to protect the insurer against double payment or obligation.

632.47(2) (2) Relative rights of assignee and beneficiary. The rights of a beneficiary under a life insurance policy or annuity contract are subordinate to those of an assignee, unless the beneficiary was effectively designated as an irrevocable beneficiary prior to the assignment.

632.47(3) (3) Prohibition on assignment. Assignment may be expressly prohibited by any of the following:

632.47(3)(a) (a) A group contract providing annuities as retirement benefits.

632.47(3)(b) (b) An annuity contract that is subject to transferability restrictions under any federal or state tax, employee benefit or securities law.

632.47 History History: 1975 c. 373, 375, 422; 1999 a. 30.

632.475 632.475 Life insurance policy loans.

632.475(1) (1) Definitions. In this section:

632.475(1)(a) (a) “Policy” includes a life insurance policy, a certificate issued by a fraternal benefit society and an annuity contract.

632.475(1)(b) (b) “Policy loan” means a loan by an insurer, including a premium loan, secured by the cash surrender value of a policy issued by the insurer.

632.475(1)(c) (c) “Policy year” means a year beginning on the anniversary date of a policy.

632.475(2) (2) Interest rates. A policy providing for policy loans shall contain a provision for a maximum interest rate on the loans in accordance with one but not both of the following:

632.475(2)(a) (a) A provision permitting an adjustable maximum rate established from time to time by the insurer.

632.475(2)(b) (b) A provision permitting a specified rate not exceeding 12 percent per year.

632.475(3) (3) Adjustable maximum rate. The rate of interest charged on a policy loan under sub. (2) (a) shall not exceed the higher of the following:

632.475(3)(a) (a) The rate used to compute the cash surrender values under the policy during the applicable period plus 1 percent per year.

632.475(3)(b) (b) Moody’s corporate bond yield monthly average, as published by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc., or its successor, for the month ending 2 months before the rate is applied. If the monthly average is no longer published, a comparable average shall be substituted by the commissioner by rule.

632.475(4) (4) Frequency of changes. If the maximum rate of interest is determined under sub. (2) (a) the policy shall contain a provision setting forth the frequency at which the rate is to be determined for that policy.

632.475(5) (5) Intervals and limits on changes. The maximum rate of interest for a policy subject to sub. (2) (a) shall be determined at regular intervals at least once every 12 months, but not more frequently than once in any 3-month period. At the intervals specified in the policy:

632.475(5)(a) (a) The rate being charged may be changed as permitted under sub. (3) but no such change shall be less than 0.5 percent per year; and

632.475(5)(b) (b) The rate being charged must be reduced to or below the maximum rate as determined under sub. (3) whenever the maximum is lower than the rate being charged by 0.5 percent or more per year.

632.475(6) (6) Notice. The life insurer shall:

632.475(6)(a) (a) Notify the policyholder of the initial rate of interest on the loan at the time a policy loan is made, if the loan is not a premium loan.

632.475(6)(b) (b) Notify the policyholder with respect to premium loans of the initial rate of interest on the loan as soon as it is reasonably practical to do so after making the initial loan. Notice need not be given to the policyholder when a further premium loan is added, except as provided in par. (c).

632.475(6)(c) (c) Send to policyholders with loans 30 days’ advance notice of any increase in the interest rate.

632.475(7) (7) Coverage continuation. No policy may terminate in a policy year as the sole result of a change in the loan interest rate during that policy year. The insurer shall maintain coverage until it would have terminated if there had been no change.

632.475(8) (8) Policy provisions. The pertinent provisions of subs. (2) and (4) shall be set forth in substance in the policies to which they apply.

632.475 History History: 1981 c. 51; 1983 a. 215; 2001 a. 103.

632.48 632.48 Designation of beneficiary.