Record Adopted Standard

1.    Date Adopted: August 12, 2025

2.    Purpose and Scope: These standards apply to riders, endorsements or amendments that are used to effect all group certificate changes that are required by state or federal law, or changes that have been requested for a group annuity  named certificate by the contractholder or the insurance company in exercising rights under the group contract or changes the group contract permitted to be requested for a named certificate by the Certificateholder as applicable. Such change forms may be attached to the group annuity certificate on the certificate date of issue or after the certificate date of issue.

3.    Rules Repealed, Amended or Suspended by the Rule: None

4.    Statutory Authority:  Among the primary purposes and powers of the Interstate Insurance Product Regulation Commission (“IIPRC”) is to establish reasonable uniform standards for insurance products covered under the Interstate Insurance Product Regulation Compact (“Compact”), specifically pursuant to Article I §2, Article IV § 2 and Article VII § 1 of the Compact, as enacted into law by each IIPRC member state.

5.    Required Findings:  None

6.    Effective Date: December 1, 2025

Scope:  These standards apply to riders, endorsements or amendments that are used to effect group contract changes that are required by state or federal law, that have been requested for a group annuity contract by the contractholder, or that are the result of either party exercising their rights under the group contract. Such contract change forms may be attached to the group annuity contract on the contract date of issue or after the contract date of issue.

With respect to non-employer groups, approval of a group contract and certificate by the Commission shall not be deemed as approval to use or issue the product to a non-employer group. A non-employer group must be approved or permitted by the Compacting State as required under the applicable state laws and procedures before a product filing approved by the Commission pursuant to the applicable group Uniform Standards may be issued to a non-employer group.

Mix and Match: These standards are available to be used in combination with State Product Components as described in Section 111(b) of the Operating Procedure for the Filing and Approval of Product Filings.  These standards are available to be used in combination with IIPRC-approved or state-approved group life insurance and annuity forms.

Self-Certification:  These standards are not available to be filed using the Rule for the Self-Certification of Product Components Filed with the Interstate Insurance Product Regulation Commission.

§ 1    ADDITIONAL SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

A.    GENERAL

The following additional submission requirements shall apply:

(1)    Include all forms filed for approval with the filing. Highlight changes to a previously approved form.

(2)    If the filing is being submitted on behalf of an insurance company, include a letter or other document authorizing the firm to file on behalf of the insurance company.

(3)    If the form contains variable items, include the Statement of Variability. The submission shall also include a certification that any change or modification to a variable item shall be administered in accordance with the requirements in the Variability of Information section, including any requirements for prior approval of a change or modification.

(4)    Include a listing by filing jurisdiction of the types of  contracts with which the form will be used, including the contract or contract form numbers, the corresponding approval date for these contracts and any filing identification number.

(6)    Include a statement whether the form will be made a part of the group contract at issue or is intended for use after the date of issue of a group contract, or both.

B.    VARIABILITY OF INFORMATION

(1)    The insurance company may file a generic group contract change form to accommodate all the contract changes required.  To support the use of such form, the submission shall include a Statement of Variability providing information sufficient to identify the potential contract changes that may be made.

(2)    The insurance company shall identify items that will be considered variable. The item shall be bracketed or otherwise marked to denote variability.  The submission shall include a Statement of Variability that will discuss the conditions under which each variable item may change.

(3)    The group contract changes to be made shall be consistent with the Statement of Variability filed for such contract change form and the Statement of Variability filed for the group annuity contract for which the change is being made.

(4)    Items such as officer titles and officer signatures may be denoted as variable and may be changed without notice or prior approval.

§ 2    BENEFIT PROVISIONS

A.    GROUP CONTRACT CHANGE FORM REQUIREMENTS

(1)    The full corporate name of the insurance company shall appear on the form.

(2)    At least one signature of an insurance company officer shall appear on the form.

(3)    The form shall contain a statement that it is made a part of the group contract, and that the form provisions apply in lieu of any contract provisions to the contrary.

(4)    A form identification number shall appear at the bottom of the form in the left hand corner. The form number shall be adequate to distinguish the form from all others used by the company. The form number shall include a prefix of ICCxx (where xx represents the year the form was submitted for filing).

(5)    The form shall include:

(a)    The group contract number;

(b)    The name of the contractholder for whom the change applies;

(c)    Any changes to the premium;

(d)    The effective date of the group contract change; and

(e)    If the group contract change has an expiry date, the expiry date for the contract change.

(6)    If the group contract change eliminates or reduces benefits or rights under the contract, the form shall require the signature of the contractholder. An insurance company may eliminate the signature requirement only if allowed by state law and if the change is required by state or federal law or if it has supporting documentation, such as an application signed by the contractholder or a signed request from the contractholder, supporting the contract change.