2019 New Mexico Statutes
Chapter 59A - Insurance Code
Article 25 - Credit Life and Credit Health Insurance
Section 59A-25-7 - Provisions of policies and certificates; disclosure to debtors.

A. All credit life insurance and credit health insurance shall be evidenced by an individual policy, or in the case of group insurance by a certificate of insurance, which individual policy or group certificate of insurance shall be delivered to the debtor.

B. Each such individual policy or group certificate shall, in addition to other requirements of law, set forth the name and home office address of the insurer, the name or names of the debtor or in the case of a certificate under a group policy, the identity by name or otherwise of the debtor, the premium or amount of payment, if any, by the debtor separately for credit life insurance and credit health insurance, a description of the coverage including the amount and term thereof and any exceptions, limitations and restrictions, and shall state that the benefits shall be paid to the creditor to reduce or extinguish the unpaid indebtedness and, wherever the amount of insurance may exceed the unpaid indebtedness, that any such excess shall be payable to a beneficiary, other than the creditor, named by the debtor or to his estate, and provide for refund of premiums as required by Section 480 [59A-25-9 NMSA 1978] of this article.

C. The individual policy or group certificate shall be delivered to the insured debtor at the time the indebtedness is incurred except as hereinafter in this section provided.

D. If the individual policy or group certificate is not delivered to the debtor at the time the indebtedness is incurred, a copy of the application for such policy or a notice of proposed insurance, signed by the debtor and setting forth the name and home office address of the insurer, the name or names of the debtor, the premium or amount of payment by the debtor, if any, separately for credit life insurance and credit health insurance, the amount, term and a brief description of the coverage provided, shall be delivered to the debtor at the time such indebtedness is incurred. The copy of the application or such notice of proposed insurance shall also refer exclusively to insurance coverage, and shall be separate and apart from the loan, sale or other credit statement of account, instrument or agreement, unless the information required by this subsection is prominently set forth therein. Upon acceptance of the insurance by the insurer and within thirty (30) days of the date upon which the indebtedness is incurred, the insurer shall cause the individual policy or group certificate to be delivered to the debtor. The application or notice of proposed insurance shall state that upon acceptance by the insurer, the insurance shall become effective as provided in Section 477 [59A-25-6 NMSA 1978] of this article.

E. If the named insurer does not accept the risk, then the debtor shall receive a policy or certificate of insurance setting forth the name and home office address of the substituted insurer and the amount of the premium to be charged, and if the amount of premium is less than that set forth in the notice of proposed insurance an appropriate refund shall be made.

History: Laws 1984, ch. 127, § 478.

Compiler's notes. — Laws 1984, ch. 127, § 992, provided that every form of insurance document and filing lawfully in use immediately prior to the effective date of the act (January 1, 1985) may be continued to be used and is effective until the superintendent otherwise prescribes pursuant to the act and bars for one year after such date either the act or superintendent from prohibiting use of any existing form of insurance document and filing because of a provision of the act which did not exist under the prior law (Chapter 59 NMSA 1978) immediately prior to the effective date of the act.

Failure to deliver policy. — The purpose of the requirement of delivery of the policy at the time credit is extended was not to alert the debtor-insured to the limitations provision in the policy before he signed off on a promissory note; thus, the insurer would not be estopped from enforcing the provision even though it violated the delivery requirement. Willey v. United Mercantile Life Ins. Co., 1999-NMCA-137, 128 N.M. 98, 990 P.2d 211.