Connecticut General Statutes 38a-440 – Minimum nonforfeiture benefits for annuity contract holders upon cessation of payment of considerations under a contract
(a) This section shall 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, or by an employee organization, or by both, other than a plan providing individual retirement accounts or individual retirement annuities under Section 408 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or any subsequent corresponding internal revenue code of the United States, as amended from time to time, premium deposit fund, variable annuity, investment annuity, immediate annuity, contingent deferred annuity, any deferred annuity contract after annuity payments have commenced, or reversionary annuity, nor to any contract that is delivered outside this state through an agent or other representative of the company issuing the contract.
Terms Used In Connecticut General Statutes 38a-440
- Annuities: means all agreements to make periodical payments where the making or continuance of all or some of the series of the payments, or the amount of the payment, is dependent upon the continuance of human life or is for a specified term of years. See Connecticut General Statutes 38a-1
- Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
- Commissioner: means the Insurance Commissioner. See Connecticut General Statutes 38a-1
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
- Insurance: means any agreement to pay a sum of money, provide services or any other thing of value on the happening of a particular event or contingency or to provide indemnity for loss in respect to a specified subject by specified perils in return for a consideration. See Connecticut General Statutes 38a-1
- Insured: means a person to whom or for whose benefit an insurer makes a promise in an insurance policy. See Connecticut General Statutes 38a-1
- Interest rate: The amount paid by a borrower to a lender in exchange for the use of the lender's money for a certain period of time. Interest is paid on loans or on debt instruments, such as notes or bonds, either at regular intervals or as part of a lump sum payment when the issue matures. Source: OCC
- Life insurance: means insurance on human lives and insurances pertaining to or connected with human life. See Connecticut General Statutes 38a-1
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
- Policy: means any document, including attached endorsements and riders, purporting to be an enforceable contract, which memorializes in writing some or all of the terms of an insurance contract. See Connecticut General Statutes 38a-1
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
- State: means any state, district, or territory of the United States. See Connecticut General Statutes 38a-1
- United States: means the United States of America, its territories and possessions, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. See Connecticut General Statutes 38a-1
(b) In the case of contracts issued on or after the effective date specified in accordance with the provisions of subsections (k) and (l) of this section, no contract of annuity, except as stated in subsection (a) of this section, 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 contractholder, upon cessation of payment of considerations under the contract: (1) That 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 benefit on a plan stipulated in the contract of such value as is specified in subsections (d), (e), (f), (g) and (i) of this section; (2) if a contract provides for a lump sum settlement at maturity, or at any other time, that 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 subsections (d), (e), (g) and (i) of this section. The company may reserve the right to defer the payment of such cash surrender benefit for a period not to exceed six months after demand therefor with surrender of the contract after making written request and receiving written approval of the commissioner, provided such request addresses the deferral’s necessity and equitability with respect to all policyholders; (3) 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; and (4) a statement that any paid-up annuity, cash surrender or death benefits which may be available under the contract are not less than the minimum benefits required by the statutes 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. 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 two full 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 twenty dollars monthly, the company may at its option 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.
(c) The minimum values as specified in subsections (d), (e), (f), (g) and (i) of this section of any paid-up annuity, cash surrender or death benefits available under an annuity contract shall be based upon minimum nonforfeiture amounts as defined in this subsection: (1) The minimum nonforfeiture amount at any time at or prior to the commencement of any annuity payments shall be equal to an accumulation up to such time at rates of interest, as indicated in subdivision (3) of this subsection, of the net considerations, as defined in this subsection, paid prior to such time, decreased by the sum of (A) any prior withdrawals from or partial surrenders of the contract accumulated at rates of interest as indicated in subdivision (3) of this subsection; (B) an annual contract charge of fifty dollars, accumulated at rates of interest as indicated in subdivision (3) of this subsection; and (C) the amount of any indebtedness to the company on the contract, including interest due and accrued. (2) The net considerations for a given contract year used to define the minimum nonforfeiture amount shall be an amount equal to eighty-seven and one-half per cent of the gross considerations credited to the contract during that contract year. (3) The interest rate used in determining minimum nonforfeiture amounts shall be an annual rate of interest determined as the lesser of three per cent per annum or the rate calculated pursuant to subparagraphs (A) to (D), inclusive, of this subdivision, which shall be specified in the contract if the interest rate will be reset: (A) The five-year Constant Maturity Treasury Rate reported by the Federal Reserve as of a date, or average over a period of time, rounded to the nearest one-twentieth of one per cent, specified in the contract no later than fifteen months prior to the contract issue date or redetermination date under subparagraph (D) of this subdivision; (B) reduced by one hundred twenty-five basis points; (C) where the resulting interest rate is not less than 15 basis points which equals 0.15 per cent; and (D) where such interest rate applies for an initial period of time and may be redetermined for additional periods of time. 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 of time that produces the value of the five-year Constant Maturity Treasury Rate to be used at each redetermination date. (4) During the period of time or term that a contract provides substantive participation in an equity indexed benefit, the contract may increase the reduction described in subparagraph (B) of subdivision (3) of this subsection by an amount up to an additional one hundred basis points to reflect the value of the equity index benefit. The present value at the contract issue date, and at each redetermination date thereafter, of the additional reduction shall 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. If there is no such demonstration that is acceptable to the commissioner, the commissioner may disallow or limit the additional reduction. (5) The commissioner may adopt regulations, in accordance with chapter 54, to implement the provisions of subdivision (4) of this subsection 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.
(d) 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 rates specified in the contract for determining the minimum paid-up annuity benefits guaranteed in the contract.
(e) 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 per cent 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. In no event shall any cash surrender benefit 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.
(f) 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 consideration 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. In no event shall the present value of a paid-up annuity benefit be less than the minimum nonforfeiture amount at that time.
(g) For the purpose of determining the benefits calculated under subsections (e) and (f) of this section, 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 seventieth birthday or the tenth anniversary of the contract, whichever is later.
(h) 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.
(i) 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.
(j) 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 the provisions of subsections (d), (e), (f), (g) and (i) of this section, additional benefits payable (1) in the event of total and permanent disability, (2) as reversionary annuity or deferred reversionary annuity benefits, or (3) 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.
(k) On or after October 1, 1978, but prior to January 1, 1981, any company may file with the commissioner a written notice of its election to comply with the provisions of this section after a specified date and the provisions of this section shall apply to annuity contracts issued by such company on or after such specified date. On or after January 1, 1981, the provisions of this section shall apply to annuity contracts issued by any company.
(l) On or after May 23, 2003, but prior to July 1, 2005, any company may file with the commissioner a written notice of its election to comply with the provisions of this section with respect to contract forms specified in the notice and issued on and after May 23, 2003, except that (1) no such notice shall be required for a company that elects to comply with the provisions of this section as set forth in the general statutes, revision of 1958, revised to January 1, 2003, and (2) on and after July 1, 2005, the provisions of this section shall apply to all annuity contracts issued by any company on and after July 1, 2005.
(m) The commissioner may adopt regulations, in accordance with chapter 54, to (1) implement the provisions of this section, and (2) notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, prescribe nonforfeiture benefits for contingent deferred annuities that are, in the opinion of the commissioner, (A) equitable to the holders of such annuities, (B) appropriate given the risks insured, and (C) to the extent possible, consistent with the general intent of this section.