Sunshine State Adopts Military Sales Rules

Members of the Florida Financial Services Commission voted Wednesday to adopt new regulations in an effort to protect military personnel from unscrupulous financial services sellers.

The new final rule declares efforts to sell individual life insurance “door to door” to active-duty military personnel on military installations to be an unfair or deceptive trade practice.

Other unfair or deceptive trade practices include selling life insurance to “captive” groups of military personnel; knowingly soliciting service members during the service members’ normally scheduled duty hours; making appointments in barracks, day rooms or other areas where the installation commander has prohibited solicitation; soliciting the sale of life insurance without getting permission from an installation commander or the commander’s designee; and knowingly taking coverage applications without first getting forms showing that the applicants have gotten any required financial counseling.

Having an insurance producer participate in any U.S. Armed Forces education or orientation program also is defined as an unfair or deceptive practice, according to the rule text.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners, Kansas City, Mo., adopted a military sales model law in June.