Notwithstanding any other provision of law of this Commonwealth, no insurance institution, agent, or insurance-support organization shall utilize as its disclosure authorization form in connection with insurance transactions involving insurance policies or contracts issued after January 1, 1982, a form or statement that authorizes the disclosure of personal or privileged information about an individual to the insurance institution, agent, or insurance-support organization unless the form or statement:

Terms Used In Virginia Code 38.2-606

  • Accident and sickness insurance: means insurance against loss resulting from sickness, or from bodily injury or death by accident or accidental means, or from a combination of any or all of these perils. See Virginia Code 38.2-109
  • Individual: means any natural person who:

    1. See Virginia Code 38.2-602

  • Insurance institution: means any corporation, association, partnership, reciprocal exchange, inter-insurer, Lloyd's type of organization, fraternal benefit society, or other person engaged in the business of insurance, including health maintenance organizations, and health, legal, dental, and optometric service plans. See Virginia Code 38.2-602
  • insurance policies: shall include contracts of fidelity, indemnity, guaranty and suretyship. See Virginia Code 38.2-100
  • Insurance-support organization: means any person who regularly engages, in whole or in part, in the practice of assembling or collecting information about natural persons for the primary purpose of providing the information to an insurance institution or agent for insurance transactions, including (i) the furnishing of consumer reports or investigative consumer reports to an insurance institution or agent for use in connection with an insurance transaction or (ii) the collection of personal information from insurance institutions, agents or other insurance-support organizations for the purpose of detecting or preventing fraud, material misrepresentation or material nondisclosure in connection with insurance underwriting or insurance claim activity. See Virginia Code 38.2-602
  • Person: means any association, aggregate of individuals, business, company, corporation, individual, joint-stock company, Lloyds type of organization, organization, partnership, receiver, reciprocal or interinsurance exchange, trustee or society. See Virginia Code 38.2-100
  • Privileged information: means any individually identifiable information that (i) relates to a claim for insurance benefits or a civil or criminal proceeding involving an individual, and (ii) is collected in connection with or in reasonable anticipation of a claim for insurance benefits or civil or criminal proceeding involving an individual. See Virginia Code 38.2-602

1. Is written in plain language;

2. Is dated;

3. Specifies the types of persons authorized to disclose information about the individual;

4. Specifies the nature of the information authorized to be disclosed;

5. Names the insurance institution or agent and identifies by generic reference representatives of the insurance institution to whom the individual is authorizing information to be disclosed;

6. Specifies the purposes for which the information is collected;

7. Specifies the length of time such authorization shall remain valid, which shall be no longer than:

a. In the case of authorizations signed for the purpose of collecting information in connection with an application for an insurance policy, a policy reinstatement, or a request for change in policy benefits:

(1) Thirty months from the date the authorization is signed if the application or request involves life, accident and sickness, or disability insurance; or

(2) Two years from the date the authorization is signed if the application or request involves property or casualty insurance;

b. In the case of authorizations signed for the purpose of collecting information in connection with a claim for benefits under an insurance policy:

(1) The term of coverage of the policy if the claim is for an accident and sickness insurance benefit; or

(2) The duration of the claim if the claim is not for an accident and sickness insurance benefit; and

8. Advises the individual or a person authorized to act on behalf of the individual that the individual or the individual’s authorized representative is entitled to receive a copy of the authorization form.

1981, c. 389, § 38.1-57.9; 1986, c. 562; 2001, c. 371.

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