OAR 836-080-0130: Dividend Statement Permitted; Required to Be Written; Prohibited and Permitted Advice

(1) An insurer may advise a policy holder of the kinds of information the insurer expects to take into consideration in determining whether to declare a dividend and the amount thereof. Any such advice is considered a “dividend statement” as the term is used in this section. A dividend statement shall not, however, be of such a nature as to make it possible to determine, directly or indirectly: (a) The amount of a dividend; (b) The percentage of premium that will be paid as a dividend; or (c) The amount or percentage of premium to be retained by the insurer after payment of dividends. (2) A dividend statement shall be in writing. It shall include a statement that is identical to the wording of the participation provision that OAR 836-080-0120 requires to be included in the policy. Such statement shall appear ahead of and have at least equal prominence with the advice regarding dividends permitted under section (1) of this rule. A dividend statement also shall contain with equal prominence the following wording or substantially equivalent wording approved by the Commissioner: “Furthermore, it is an unlawful rebate and a violation of the Oregon Insurance Code for an insured or a representative of an insured knowingly to accept a dividend pursuant to a promise to pay policyholder dividends if the promise is made before the policy is issued or if the promise is made for any unexpired portion of a policy period.” (3) A dividend statement may describe the rates or amounts of dividends previously declared or paid on similar policies, or the scales or schedules previously used to determine the rates or amounts of dividends. However, such a description shall also set forth the period covered by the policies on which such dividends were paid and state that past dividend performance is not a guarantee of future dividend performance. (4) A dividend statement may set forth a time schedule according to which the insurer intends to declare or pay a dividend, if any. [Publications: Publications referenced are available from the agency.]