Virginia Code 38.2-3301.1: Delivery of individual life insurance policies.
A. For purposes of determining the commencement of the period during which the owner of an individual life insurance policy may exercise any statutory right to examine, surrender, or return the policy for cancellation, the date of delivery of the policy shall be:
Terms Used In Virginia Code 38.2-3301.1
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Insurer: means an insurance company. See Virginia Code 38.2-100
- Life insurance: includes policies that also provide (i) endowment benefits; (ii) additional benefits incidental to a loss in the event of death, dismemberment, or loss by accident or accidental means; (iii) additional benefits to safeguard the contract from lapse or to provide a special surrender value, a special benefit or an annuity, in the event of total and permanent disability of the insured; and (iv) optional modes of settlement of proceeds. See Virginia Code 38.2-102
- policy: includes annuity contracts that provide for policy loans and certificates issued by a fraternal benefit society. See Virginia Code 38.2-3300
- State: means any commonwealth, state, territory, district or insular possession of the United States. See Virginia Code 38.2-100
- United States: includes the 50 states, the District of Columbia the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-255
1. The date of the signed receipt of delivery if the life insurance policy is (i) delivered by United States mail or other postal delivery system, or (ii) physically delivered to the owner by a representative of the insurer; or
2. The date of electronic transmission of the policy, provided the electronic transmission has been effected in accordance with this title and any other state or federal laws governing the electronic transmission of documents and information. The insurer shall retain evidence of electronic transmittal for the entire period of the life insurance policy.
B. If an insurer does not deliver a policy by the means set forth in subsection A, the burden of proof shall be on the insurer to establish that the policy was delivered, in the event of a dispute with the owner of the policy.
C. Notwithstanding subsections A and B, a policy shall be deemed to have been received by the owner of the policy as of the date of its issuance if six months have passed since its issuance and the owner of the policy has paid the premiums pursuant to the contract for those six months.
2009, c. 299.