{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-36-36-1204","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 36, § 36-1204","heading":"Unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive","body":"acts or practices defined.\n\nThe following are hereby defined as unfair methods of\n\ncompetition and unfair and deceptive acts or practices in the\n\nbusiness of insurance:\n\n1. Misrepresentations and false advertising of policy\n\ncontracts. Making, issuing, circulating, or causing to be made,\n\nissued or circulated, any estimate, illustration, circular or\n\nstatement misrepresenting the terms of any policy issued or to be\n\nissued or the benefits or advantages promised thereby or the\n\ndividends or share of the surplus to be received thereon, or making\n\nany false or misleading statement as to the dividends or share of\n\nsurplus previously paid on similar policies, or making any\n\nmisleading representation or any misrepresentation as to the\n\nfinancial condition of any insurer, or as to the legal reserve\n\nsystem upon which any life insurer operates, or using any name or\n\ntitle of any policy or class of policies misrepresenting the true\n\nnature thereof, or making any misrepresentation to any policyholder\n\ninsured in any company for the purpose of inducing or tending to\n\ninduce such policyholder to lapse, forfeit, or surrender his or her\n\ninsurance;\n\n2. False information and advertising generally. Making,\n\npublishing, disseminating, circulating, or placing before the\n\npublic, or causing, directly or indirectly, to be made, published,\n\ndisseminated, circulated, or placed before the public, in a\n\nnewspaper, magazine, or other publication, or in the form of a\n\nnotice, circular, pamphlet, letter or poster, or over any radio or\n\ntelevision station, or in any other way an advertisement,\n\nannouncement or statement containing any assertion, representation\n\nor statement with respect to the business of insurance or with\n\nrespect to any person in the conduct of his or her insurance\n\nbusiness which is untrue, deceptive or misleading. No insurance\n\ncompany shall issue, or cause to be issued, any policy of insurance\n\nof any type or description upon life, or property, real or personal,\n\nwhenever such policy of insurance is to be furnished or delivered to\n\nthe purchaser or bailee of any property, real or personal, as an\n\ninducement to purchase or bail such property, real or personal, and\n\nno other person shall advertise, offer or give free insurance,\n\ninsurance without cost or for less than the approved or customary\n\nrate, in connection with the sale or bailment of real or personal\n\nproperty, except as provided in Section 4101 of this title. No\n\nperson that is not an insurer shall assume or use any name which\n\ndeceptively infers or suggests that it is an insurer;\n\n3. Defamation. Making, publishing, disseminating, or\n\ncirculating, directly or indirectly, or aiding, abetting or\n\nencouraging the making, publishing, disseminating or circulating of\n\nany oral or written statement or any pamphlet, circular, article or\n\nliterature which is false, or maliciously critical of or derogatory\n\nto the financial condition of an insurer, and which is calculated to\n\ninjure any person engaged in the business of insurance;\n\n4. Boycott, coercion and intimidation. Entering into any\n\nagreement to commit, or by any concerted action committing, any act\n\nof boycott, coercion or intimidation resulting in or tending to\n\nresult in unreasonable restraint of, or monopoly in, the business of\n\ninsurance;\n\n5. False financial statements. Filing with any supervisory or\n\nother public official, or making, publishing, disseminating,\n\ncirculating or delivering to any person, or placing before the\n\npublic or causing directly or indirectly, to be made, published,\n\ndisseminated, circulated, delivered to any person or placed before\n\nthe public, any false statement of financial condition of an insurer\n\nwith intent to deceive.\n\nMaking any false entry in any book, report or statement of any\n\ninsurer with intent to deceive any agent or examiner lawfully\n\nappointed to examine into its condition or into any of its affairs,\ntly or indirectly, to be made, published,\n\ndisseminated, circulated, delivered to any person or placed before\n\nthe public, any false statement of financial condition of an insurer\n\nwith intent to deceive.\n\nMaking any false entry in any book, report or statement of any\n\ninsurer with intent to deceive any agent or examiner lawfully\n\nappointed to examine into its condition or into any of its affairs,\n\nor any public official to whom such insurer is required by law to\n\nreport, or who has authority by law to examine into its condition or\n\ninto any of its affairs, or, with like intent, willfully omitting to\n\nmake a true entry of any material fact pertaining to the business of\n\nsuch insurer in any book, report or statement of such insurer;\n\n6. Stock operations and advisory board contracts. Issuing or\n\ndelivering or permitting agents, officers, or employees to issue or\n\ndeliver agency company stock or other capital stock, or benefit\n\ncertificates or shares in any common-law corporation, or securities\n\nor any special or advisory board contracts or other contracts of any\n\nkind promising returns and profits as an inducement to insurance;\n\n7. Unfair discrimination.\n\n(a) Making or permitting any unfair discrimination between\n\nindividuals of the same class and equal expectation of\n\nlife in the rates charged for any contract of life\n\ninsurance or of life annuity or in the dividends or\n\nother benefits payable thereon, or in any other of the\n\nterms and conditions of such contract.\n\n(b) Making or permitting any unfair discrimination between\n\nindividuals of the same class and of essentially the\n\nsame hazard in the amount of premium, policy fees, or\n\nrates charged for any policy or contract of accident\n\nor health insurance or in the benefits payable\n\nthereunder, or in any of the terms or conditions of\n\nsuch contract, or in any other manner whatever.\n\n(c) As to kinds of insurance other than life and accident\n\nand health, no person shall make or permit any unfair\n\ndiscrimination in favor of particular persons, or\n\nbetween insureds or subjects of insurance having\n\nsubstantially like insuring, risk, and exposure\n\nfactors, or expense elements, in the terms or\n\nconditions of any insurance contract, or in the rate\n\nor amount of premium charged therefor. This paragraph\n\nshall not apply as to any premium rate in effect\n\npursuant to Article 9 of the Oklahoma Insurance Code;\n\n8. Rebates.\n\n(a) Except as otherwise expressly provided by law,\n\nknowingly permitting or offering to make or making any\n\ncontract of insurance or agreement as to such contract\n\nother than as plainly expressed in the contract issued\n\nthereon; or paying or allowing, or giving or offering\n\nto pay, allow or give, directly or indirectly, as\n\ninducement to any contract of insurance, any rebate of\n\npremiums payable on the contract, or any special favor\n\nor advantage in the dividends or other benefits\n\nthereon, or any valuable consideration or inducement\n\nwhatever not specified in the contract; except in\n\naccordance with an applicable rate filing, rating plan\n\nor rating system filed with and approved by the\n\nInsurance Commissioner; or giving or selling or\n\npurchasing or offering to give, sell, or purchase as\n\ninducement to such insurance, or in connection\n\ntherewith, any stocks, bonds or other securities of\n\nany company, or any dividends or profits accrued\n\nthereon, or anything of value whatsoever not specified\n\nin the contract or receiving or accepting as\n\ninducement to contracts of insurance, any rebate of\n\npremium payable on the contract, or any special favor\n\nor advantage in the dividends or other benefit to\n\naccrue thereon, or any valuable consideration or\n\ninducement not specified in the contract.\ny company, or any dividends or profits accrued\n\nthereon, or anything of value whatsoever not specified\n\nin the contract or receiving or accepting as\n\ninducement to contracts of insurance, any rebate of\n\npremium payable on the contract, or any special favor\n\nor advantage in the dividends or other benefit to\n\naccrue thereon, or any valuable consideration or\n\ninducement not specified in the contract.\n\n(b) Nothing in paragraph 7 or subparagraph (a) of this\n\nparagraph shall be construed as including within the\n\ndefinition of discrimination or rebates any of the\n\nfollowing practices:\n\n(1) in the case of any contract of life insurance or\n\nlife annuity, paying bonuses to policyholders or\n\notherwise abating their premiums in whole or in\n\npart out of surplus accumulated from\n\nnonparticipating insurance, provided that any\n\nsuch bonuses or abatement of premiums shall be\n\nfair and equitable to policyholders and for the\n\nbest interest of the company and its\n\npolicyholders,\n\n(2) in the case of life or accident and health\n\ninsurance policies issued on the industrial debit\n\nor weekly premium plan, making allowance to\n\npolicyholders who have continuously for a\n\nspecified period made premium payments directly\n\nto an office of the insurer in an amount which\n\nfairly represents the saving in collection\n\nexpense,\n\n(3) making a readjustment of the rate of premium for\n\na policy based on the loss or expense experience\n\nthereunder, at the end of the first or any\n\nsubsequent policy year of insurance thereunder,\n\nwhich may be made retroactive only for such\n\npolicy year,\n\n(4) in the case of life insurance companies, allowing\n\nits bona fide employees to receive a commission\n\non the premiums paid by them on policies on their\n\nown lives,\n\n(5) issuing life or accident and health policies on a\n\nsalary saving or payroll deduction plan at a\n\nreduced rate commensurate with the savings made\n\nby the use of such plan, and\n\n(6) paying commissions or other compensation to duly\n\nlicensed agents or brokers, or allowing or\n\nreturning to participating policyholders, members\n\nor subscribers, dividends, savings or unabsorbed\n\npremium deposits.\n\n(c) As used in this section, the word “insurance” includes\n\nsuretyship and the word “policy” includes bond;\n\n9. Coercion prohibited. Requiring as a condition precedent to\n\nthe purchase of, or the lending of money upon the security of, real\n\nor personal property, that any insurance covering such property, or\n\nliability arising from the ownership, maintenance or use thereof, be\n\nprocured by or on behalf of the vendee or by the borrower in\n\nconnection with such purchase or loan through any particular person\n\nor agent or in any particular insurer, or requiring the payment of a\n\nreasonable fee as a condition precedent to the replacement of\n\ninsurance coverage on mortgaged property at the anniversary date of\n\nthe policy; provided, however, that this provision shall not prevent\n\nthe exercise by any such vendor or lender of the right to approve or\n\ndisapprove any insurer selected to underwrite the insurance, but any\n\ndisapproval of any insurer shall be on reasonable grounds;\n\n10. Inducements. No insurer, agent, broker, solicitor, or\n\nother person shall, as an inducement to insurance or in connection\n\nwith any insurance transaction, provide in any policy for or offer,\n\nsell, buy, or offer or promise to buy, sell, give, promise, or allow\n\nto the insured or prospective insured or to any other person in his\n\nor her behalf in any manner whatsoever:\n\n(a) any employment,\n\n(b) any shares of stock or other securities issued or at\n\nany time to be issued or any interest therein or\n\nrights thereto,\n\n(c) any advisory board contract, or any similar contract,\n\nagreement or understanding, offering, providing for,\n\nor promising any special profits,\nthe insured or prospective insured or to any other person in his\n\nor her behalf in any manner whatsoever:\n\n(a) any employment,\n\n(b) any shares of stock or other securities issued or at\n\nany time to be issued or any interest therein or\n\nrights thereto,\n\n(c) any advisory board contract, or any similar contract,\n\nagreement or understanding, offering, providing for,\n\nor promising any special profits,\n\n(d) any prizes, goods, wares, merchandise, or tangible\n\nproperty of an aggregate value in excess of One\n\nHundred Dollars ($100.00), or\n\n(e) any special favor, advantage or other benefit in the\n\npayment, method of payment or credit for payment of\n\nthe premium through the use of credit cards, credit\n\ncard facilities, credit card lists, or wholesale or\n\nretail credit accounts of another person. The\n\nprovisions of this paragraph shall not apply to\n\nindividual policies insuring against loss resulting\n\nfrom bodily injury or death by accident as defined by\n\nArticle 44 of the Oklahoma Insurance Code;\n\n11. Premature disposal of premium notes prohibited. No insurer\n\nor agent thereof shall hypothecate, sell, or dispose of a promissory\n\nnote received in payment of any part of a premium on a policy of\n\ninsurance applied for prior to the delivery of the policy;\n\n12. Fraudulent statement in application. Any insurance agent,\n\nexamining physician, or other person who knowingly or willfully\n\nmakes a false or fraudulent statement or representation in or\n\nrelative to an application for insurance, or who makes any such\n\nstatement to obtain a fee, commission, money, or benefit, shall be\n\nguilty of a misdemeanor;\n\n13. Deceptive use of financial institution’s name in\n\nnotification or solicitation. Verbally or by any other means\n\nnotifying or soliciting any person in a manner that:\n\n(a) mentions the name of an unrelated and unaffiliated\n\nfinancial institution,\n\n(b) mentions an insurance product or the possible lack of\n\ninsurance coverage,\n\n(c) does not mention the actual or trade name of the\n\ninsurance agency or company on whose behalf the\n\nnotification or solicitation is provided, and\n\n(d) thereby creates an impression or implication,\n\nincluding by omission, that the financial institution\n\nor a financial-institution-authorized entity is or may\n\nbe the one making the notification or solicitation.\n\nNothing in this paragraph shall be interpreted to prohibit the\n\nreference to or use of the name of a financial institution made\n\npursuant to a contractual agreement between the insurer and the\n\nfinancial institution; and\n\n14. No insurer or prepaid vision plan organization as defined\n\nin Section 1 of this act which offers multiple prepaid vision plans\n\nmay require as a condition of participation in any one prepaid\n\nvision plan that a vision care provider participate in any of the\n\nother prepaid vision plans offered by the insurer or prepaid vision\n\nplan organization.","path":["OK Code","Title 36"],"source_url":"https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os36.pdf","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:36Z","sha256":"b4716547967ce43fe0977b3966cd6fb39dae091d4c7459301e01181f67f039bc","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-36-36-1203","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-36-36-1204.1"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}