Recently, the Iowa Insurance Commissioner, Susan E. Voss, issued Bulletin 08-13, which establishes new guidelines for permissible advertising and gifts that will not constitute a prohibited rebate under Iowa Code 507B. Earlier rebating guidelines were more restrictive, and disallowed the offering of any goods or services that were not specifically incorporated as part of the policy contract and made a part of the pricing of the policy.
Under the new guidelines, insurance producers, agencies and companies may give inexpensive gifts, ranging from five to twenty-five dollars, to customers so long as they provide gifts on a non-discriminatory basis and so long as the giving of the gift is not conditioned upon the purchase of a policy of insurance.
The Commissioner noted that there will be ongoing discussions regarding what constitutes a rebate under Iowa law and that Iowa’s Insurance Division will begin drafting regulations to identify specific prohibited practices. For a copy of the bulletin, click here.
