Life and Annuities Industries Seek Exclusion From MA Junk Fee Rule
The proposal would require the industries to disclose total fees before they do underwriting.
By Tracey Longo
The insurance and annuities industry have come out against a Massachusetts proposal to regulate hidden or surprise “junk” fees above the advertised price of goods or services.
The proposal by Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell would prohibit hidden “junk fees,” which she said companies use to “deceptively hike prices” on consumers above advertised prices.
The proposed regulation would require businesses, including insurance and annuities companies, to disclose the total price of a product, including all fees, interest, charges, or other necessary expenses at the time an offer is presented to a customer and before companies can collect personal information, including billing and credit card information.
Companies in the life insurance and annuity industries, however, are arguing that it is impossible for them to comply with these provisions because they need to collect personal information before quoting an accurate price.
“Insurance depends on the collection of personal information—up front, with the customer’s permission—to appropriately price the product,” industry groups said in a letter to the attorney general.
Campbell said the rule, which would govern all companies, is necessary to close existing gaps within the state’s consumer protection laws and to combat unfair and deceptive business practices across fees in various industries.
“By prohibiting junk fees and requiring transparency, these proposed regulations will not only ensure that consumers know what they are actually paying for when buying a good or service, but also level the playing field and market for those honest businesses that clearly disclose their pricing upfront,” Campbell said in a statement.
Additionally, insurers and all businesses would be mandated to provide readily available methods of cancelling contracts, including an online cancellation option and a 10-day cancellation window.
The American Council of Life Insurance (ACLI), Insured Retirement Institute (IRI) and Life Insurance Association of Massachusetts (LIAM) urged Campbell to exempt life and annuity carriers and products from the regulation, which they said would interfere with underwriting.
“Insurers must collect personal information during the underwriting process, before quoting a total price to a customer,” the groups said in a letter to the attorney general.
While the proposed rule may make sense for other industries, state insurance divisions already approve the disclosure of life insurance-related fees and advertisements, the trade groups argued.
As a result, “the inclusion of the life insurance industry in the regulation is unnecessary and inappropriate and would be harmful to our policyholders,” they said.
