Insurers should make sure that current and former producers refrain from using "rumors" about other insurers' finances to drive life and annuity replacement sales.
Iowa Insurance Commissioner Susan Voss delivers that warning in Bulletin 09-04.
Voss has addressed the bulletin to all insurers and licensed producers in Iowa.
Iowa insurance laws "expressly prohibit insurers and insurance producers from making statements that disparage other insurers or are derogatory to the financial condition of any insurer," Voss writes in the bulletin. "Such practices are considered unfair or deceptive acts or practices."
Insurers and producers also should remember Iowa rules regarding the replacement of an existing policy or contract via issuance of a new policy or via a financed purchase, Voss writes.
