A new proposed Life Insurance Replacement Declaration (LIRD) form, which must be completed before replacing a life or health insurance policy, places the onus on agents to provide clear, complete and relevant information to the consumer before terminating any existing policies, according to the Canadian Insurance Services Regulatory Organizations (CISRO) and the Canadian Council of Insurance Regulators (CCIR).
The regulators collectively are seeking feedback about the prototype LIRD form developed after it was determined that improvements were needed to meet the expectations of the CISRO/CCIR Guidance on Conduct of Insurance Business and Fair Treatment of Customers (FTC) and the CISRO Principles of Conduct for Insurance Intermediaries.
“The proposed LIRD is intended to be sufficiently flexible to cover various life and health insurance products and to not confuse agents or customers with irrelevant information,” the regulators state. They add that the working group which first determined that improvements to the form were needed, proposed that the new form be made available electronically. The working group also proposes that a separate document provide cautions to consumers advising them that they should read all relevant documents and information before terminating their existing policies.
CISRO is calling for all interested parties to review the prototype LIRD, available on its website, and provide feedback by March 31, 2023.
