§431:10D-213  Standard provisions required. 
(a)  No policy of group life insurance shall be delivered or issued for
delivery in this State unless it contains in substance the standard provisions
set forth below, or provisions that in the opinion of the commissioner are more
favorable to the individuals insured.  The policy shall provide that:



(1)  Grace period.  The policyholder is entitled to a
grace period of not fewer than thirty days, for the payment of any premium due
except the first, during which grace period the death benefit coverage shall
continue in force, unless the policyholder has given the insurer written notice
of discontinuance in advance of the date of discontinuance and in accordance
with the terms of the policy.  The policy may provide that the policyholder
shall be liable to the insurer for the payment of a pro rata premium for the
time the policy was in force during the grace period.



(2)  Incontestability.  The validity of the policy
shall not be contested, except for nonpayment of premiums, after it has been in
force for two years from its date of issue; and that no statement made by an
individual insured under the policy relating to the individual's insurability
shall be used in contesting the validity of the insurance with respect to which
the statement was made, after the insurance has been in force prior to the
contest for a period of two years during the individual's lifetime, nor unless
it is contained in a written instrument signed by the individual.



(3)  The contract, representations.  A copy of the
application, if any, of the policyholder shall be attached to the policy when
issued and become a part of the contract; all statements made by the
policyholder or by the persons insured shall be deemed representations and not
warranties, and no statement made by any person insured shall be used in any
contest unless a copy of the instrument containing the statement is or has been
furnished to such persons, or, in the event of death or incapacity of the
insured person, to the person's beneficiary or personal representative.



(4)  Insurability.  The conditions, if any, under
which the insurer reserves the right to require a person eligible for insurance
to furnish evidence of individual insurability satisfactory to the insurer as a
condition to part or all of the individual's coverage.



(5)  Misstatement of age.  An equitable adjustment of
premiums or of benefits or of both shall be made in the event the age of a
person insured has been misstated, containing a clear statement of the method of
adjustment to be used.



(6)  Beneficiary.  Any sum becoming due by reason of
the death of the individual insured shall be payable to the beneficiary
designated by the individual subject to the provisions of the policy in the
event there is no designated beneficiary, as to all or any part of the sum,
living at the death of the individual insured, and subject to any right
reserved by the insurer in the policy and set forth in the certificate to pay
at its option a part of the sum not exceeding $2,000 to any person appearing to
the insurer to be equitably entitled thereto by reason of having incurred
funeral or other expenses incident to the last illness or death of the
individual insured.



(7)  Certificates.  The insurer will issue to the
policyholder for delivery to each individual insured an individual certificate
setting forth a statement as to the insurance protection to which the
individual is entitled, to whom the insurance benefits are payable, and the
rights and conditions set forth in paragraphs (8), (9), and (10).



(8)  Conversion on termination of eligibility.  If the
insurance, or any portion of it, on an individual covered under the policy
ceases because of termination of employment or of membership in the class or
classes eligible for coverage under the policy, the individual shall be
entitled to have issued to the individual by the insurer, without evidence of
insurability, an individual policy of life insurance without disability or
other supplementary benefits; provided that:



(A)  Application for the individual policy
shall be made, and the first premium paid to the insurer, within not fewer than
thirty days, after such termination;



(B)  The individual policy shall, at the option
of the individual, be on any one of the forms then customarily issued by the
insurer at the age and for the amount applied for, except that the group policy
may exclude the option to elect term insurance;



(C)  The individual policy shall be in an
amount not in excess of the amount of life insurance that ceases because of
such termination nor less than $1,000 unless a smaller amount of coverage was
provided for the individual under the group policy less the amount of any life
insurance for which such person becomes eligible under the same or any other
group policy within not fewer than thirty days after such termination; provided
that any amount of insurance that shall have matured on or before the date of
such termination as an endowment payable to the individual insured, whether in
one sum or in installments or in the form of an annuity, shall not, for the
purposes of this provision, be included in the amount that is considered to
cease because of such termination; and



(D)  The premium on the individual policy shall
be at the insurer's then customary rate applicable to the form and amount of
the individual policy, to the class of risk to which the individual then
belongs, and to the individual's age attained on the effective date of the
individual policy.



(9)  Conversion on termination of policy.  If the
group policy terminates or is amended so as to terminate the insurance of any
class of insured individuals, every individual insured thereunder at the date
of such termination whose insurance terminates, including the insured dependent
of a covered person, and who has been so insured for at least five years prior
to the termination date shall be entitled to have issued to the individual by
the insurer an individual policy of life insurance, subject to the same
conditions and limitations as are provided by paragraph (8), except that the
group policy may provide that the amount of such individual policy shall not
exceed the smaller of:



(A)  The amount of the individual's life
insurance protection ceasing because of the termination or amendment of the
group policy, less the amount of any life insurance for which the individual is
or becomes eligible under any group policy issued or reinstated by the same or
another insurer within not fewer than thirty days of such termination; or



(B)  $10,000.



(10)  Death pending conversion.  If an individual
insured under the group policy, or the insured dependent of a covered person,
dies during the period within which the individual would have been entitled to
have an individual policy issued to the individual in accordance with
paragraphs (8) and (9), and before such an individual policy shall have become
effective, the amount of life insurance that the individual would have been
entitled to have issued to the individual under such individual policy shall be
payable as a claim under the group policy, regardless of whether the individual
policy or the payment of the first premium therefor has been made.



(b)  Subsection (a)(6) through (a)(10) shall
not apply to policies issued to a credit union to insure its members.



(c)  Subsection (a)(6), and (a)(8) through
(a)(10) shall not apply to policies issued to a creditor to insure its debtors.



(d)  If the group life insurance policy is on a
plan of insurance other than the term plan, it shall contain a nonforfeiture
provision or provisions that in the opinion of the commissioner is or are
equitable to the insured persons and to the policyholder, but such
nonforfeiture benefits are not required to be the same as those required for
individual life insurance policies. [L 1987, c 347, pt of §2; gen ch 1993; am L
2004, c 122, §54]