Uniform Standards for Riders, Endorsements or Amendments Used to Effect Group Whole Life Insurance Certificate Changes
1. Date Adopted: December 3, 2023
2. Purpose and Scope: The Uniform Standards for Riders, Endorsements or Amendments Used to Effect Group Whole Life Insurance Certificate Changes apply to riders, endorsements or amendments that are used to effect all group certificate changes that are required by state or federal law, or that have been requested for a group whole life insurance named certificate by the policyholder or the insurance company in exercising rights under the group policy, or that the group policy permitted to be requested for a named certificate by the Employee, as applicable. Such change forms may be attached to the group whole life insurance certificate on the certificate date of issue or after the certificate date of issue.
3. Rules Repealed, Amended or Suspended by the Rule: None.
4. Statutory Authority: Among the primary purposes and powers of the Interstate Insurance Product Regulation Commission (“IIPRC”) is to establish reasonable uniform standards for insurance products covered under the Interstate Insurance Product Regulation Compact (“Compact”), specifically pursuant to Article I §2, Article IV § 2 and Article VII § 1 of the Compact, as enacted into law by each IIPRC member state.
5. Required Findings: None
6. Effective Date: April 1, 2024
Scope: These standards apply to riders, endorsements or amendments that are used to effect all group certificate changes that are required by state or federal law, or changes that have been requested for a group whole life insurance named certificate by the policyholder or the insurance company in exercising rights under the group policy or changes the group policy permitted to be requested for a named certificate by the Employee, as applicable. Such change forms may be attached to the group whole life insurance certificate on the certificate date of issue or after the certificate date of issue.
Mix and Match: These standards are available to be used in combination with State Product Components as described in Section 111(b) of the Operating Procedure for the Filing and Approval of Product Filings. These standards are available to be used in combination with IIPRC-approved or state-approved group life insurance and annuity forms.
Self-Certification: These standards are not available to be filed using the Rule for the Self-Certification of Product Components Filed with the Interstate Insurance Product Regulation Commission.
Terms not defined in these standards that are capitalized and italicized have the meanings specified in the Group Whole Life Insurance Policy and Certificate Standards for Employer Groups.
“Policyholder” as used in these standards means the entity to whom the group policy was issued.
§ 1 ADDITIONAL SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
The following additional submission requirements shall apply:
(1) Include all forms filed for approval with the filing. Highlight changes to a previously approved form.
(2) If the filing is being submitted on behalf of an insurance company, include a letter or other document authorizing the firm to file on behalf of the insurance company.
(3) If the form contains variable items, include the Statement of Variability. The submission shall also include a certification that any change or modification to a variable item shall be administered in accordance with the requirements in the Variability of Information section, including any requirements for prior approval of a change or modification.
(4) Include a certification signed by an insurance company officer that the form has a minimum Flesch Score of 50. See Appendix A of the respective group whole life insurance product standards with which the form will be used for the Flesch methodology.
(5) Include a listing by filing jurisdiction of the types of group certificates with which the form will be used, including the group certificate form numbers, the corresponding approval date for these certificates and any filing identification number.
(6) Include a statement whether the form will be made a part of a group certificate at issue or is intended for use after the date of issue of the certificate, or both.
(1) The insurance company may file a generic group certificate change form to accommodate all the certificate changes required to reflect the underwriting needs of an insurance company. To support the use of such form, the submission shall include a Statement of Variability providing information sufficient to identify the potential certificate changes that may be made.
(2) The insurance company shall identify items that will be considered variable. The item shall be bracketed or otherwise marked to denote variability. The submission shall include a Statement of Variability that will discuss the conditions under which each variable item may change.
(3) The group certificate changes to be made shall be consistent with the Statement of Variability filed for such certificate change form and the Statement of Variability filed for the group whole life insurance certificate for which the change is being made, as well as the insurance company’s underwriting guidelines for such certificate.
(4) Items such as officer titles and officer signatures may be denoted as variable and may be changed without notice or prior approval.
A. GROUP CERTIFICATE CHANGE FORM REQUIREMENTS
(1) The full corporate name of the insurance company shall appear on the form.
(2) At least one signature of a company officer shall appear on the form if it is added after the date of issue of the group certificate.
(3) The form shall contain a statement that it is made a part of the group certificate, and that the form provisions apply in lieu of any certificate provisions to the contrary.
(4) A form identification number shall appear at the bottom of the form in the left-hand corner. The form number shall be adequate to distinguish the form from all others used by the company. The form number shall include a prefix of ICCxx (where xx represents the year the form was submitted for filing).
(5) The form shall include:
(a) The group policy number;
(b) The information sufficient to identify the Covered Person or class of Covered Persons affected by the change;
(c) Any changes to the class of Covered Persons;
(d) For a named certificate, any changes to premiums for Contributory Insurance;
(e) The effective date of the group certificate change; and
(f) If the group certificate change has an expiry date or expiry age, the expiry date or expiry age for the certificate change.
(6) If the group certificate change is required by state or federal law or is requested by the policyholder or the insurance company in exercising rights under the group policy, and such change eliminates or reduces benefits or rights under the certificate, the form shall not require the signature of the Employee. If the group named certificate change is requested by an Employee and such change eliminates or reduces benefits or rights under the certificate, the form shall require the signature of the Employee. An insurance company may eliminate the signature requirement if it has supporting documentation, such as a signed request from the Employee, supporting the group certificate change.
Effective from 04/1/2024 —02/9/2025
Purpose of Proposed New Rules: The Uniform Standards for Riders, Endorsements or Amendments to Effect Group Whole Life Insurance Certificate Changes apply to riders, endorsements or amendments that are used to effect all group certificate changes that are required by state or federal law, or changes that have been requested for a group whole life insurance named certificate by the policyholder or the insurance company in exercising rights under the group policy or changes the group policy permitted to be requested for a named certificate by the Employee, as applicable. Such change forms may be attached to the group whole life insurance certificate on the certificate date of issue or after the certificate date of issue.
Effective 2/10/2025
Inactive
Purpose of Proposed New Rules: The purpose of these amendments is to amend the Group Term Life and Group Whole Life Uniform Standards to allow for Other than Employer Groups. See the link for the Transmittal Memo for a more detailed description of the proposed amendments.
This rule would amend the following Uniform Standards:
GROUP TERM LIFE PRODUCT LINE
1. Group Term Life Insurance Policy and Certificate Standards
2. Uniform Standards for Group Term Life Insurance Enrollment Forms and Statement of Insurability Forms
3. Uniform Standards for Group Term Life Insurance Statement of Insurability Change Form
4. Uniform Standards for Riders, Endorsements or Amendments Used to Effect Group Term Insurance Certificate Changes
5. Uniform Standards for Riders, Endorsements or Amendments Used to Effect Group Term Life Insurance Policy Changes
6. Group Term Life Insurance Uniform Standards for Accelerated Death Benefits
7. Group Term Life Insurance Uniform Standards for Accidental Death Benefits
8. Group Term Life Insurance Uniform Standards for Accidental Death and Dismemberment Benefits
9. Group Term Life Insurance Uniform Standards for Waiver of Premium While the Certificateholder is Totally Disabled
GROUP WHOLE LIFE PRODUCT LINE
1. Group Whole Life Insurance Policy and Certificate Standards
2. Uniform Standards for Group Whole Life Insurance Enrollment Forms and Statement of Insurability Forms
3. Uniform Standards for Group Whole Life Insurance Statement of Insurability Change Form
4. Uniform Standards for Riders, Endorsements or Amendments Used to Effect Group Whole Insurance Certificate Changes
5. Uniform Standards for Riders, Endorsements or Amendments Used to Effect Group Whole Life Insurance Policy Changes
6. Group Whole Life Insurance Uniform Standards for Accelerated Death Benefits
7. Group Whole Life Insurance Uniform Standards for Accidental Death Benefits
8. Group Whole Life Insurance Uniform Standards for Accidental Death and Dismemberment Benefits
9. Additional Standards for Waiver of Premium Benefits for Total Disability and Other Qualifying Events for Whole Life Insurance Policies and Certificates
10. Additional Standards for Graded Death Benefits for Whole Life Insurance Policies and Certificate
Effective 4/1/2024
to 2/9/2025
Active
Purpose of Proposed New Rules: The Uniform Standards for Riders, Endorsements or Amendments to Effect Group Whole Life Insurance Certificate Changes apply to riders, endorsements or amendments that are used to effect all group certificate changes that are required by state or federal law, or changes that have been requested for a group whole life insurance named certificate by the policyholder or the insurance company in exercising rights under the group policy or changes the group policy permitted to be requested for a named certificate by the Employee, as applicable. Such change forms may be attached to the group whole life insurance certificate on the certificate date of issue or after the certificate date of issue.