§196.  Application for policies

A.  All applications for policies shall be signed on a written, typewritten, or printed form identical with the form of application filed with the commissioner of insurance for policies of the type to be issued and, in addition to the signature of the applicant, or his mark in case he is unable to write, must be signed by the officer or agent of the association soliciting or receiving the application.  No producer may sign any application which he has not personally solicited or received.

B.  The applications for policies must state: the age on the nearest birthday of each person for whose benefit the application is made; that no person named in the application as a beneficiary is less than one month nor more than seventy years of age; that each person named in the application as a beneficiary is in good health, free from any chronic disease, and not under treatment by any doctor and that, subject to its incontestability after one year from its date, except for nonpayment of assessments, any misrepresentation in the application in regard to the health or age of any beneficiary at the time the application is signed will forfeit all rights to policy benefits; and such other statements not inconsistent herewith as may be required by the articles or bylaws.

C.  All applications for policies must be kept on file in the office of the association.  When any policyholder shall die, the application of such policyholder shall be retained for a period of at least three years after his death and the original applications for all policies which subsequently become lapsed or forfeited shall be retained for a period of at least three years after the date of the lapse or forfeiture thereof.

D.  A policyholder in good health and not over seventy years of age who has permitted his policy to lapse may rejoin upon terms fixed in the bylaws of the association and signing a statement in regard to his health as in the original application.  Policyholders whose policies have lapsed and who are over seventy and under ninety years of age may reinstate only in the old age group.

E.  In the case of family group policies, the application must be signed by one or more members of the family group to be covered by the policy.

Acts 1958, No. 125; Redesignated from R.S. 22:336 by Acts 2008, No. 415, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2009; Acts 2009, No. 503, §1.

NOTE:  Former R.S. 22:196 redesignated as R.S. 22:1800 by Acts 2008, No. 415, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2009.