State RegulationsMA specificDifficulty 1/5
A Massachusetts life insurer discovers after a claim that the insured's age was misstated in the application. Under M.G.L. c. 175, § 132(4), what is the insurer's proper course?
Select an option to reveal the answer and the full 3-part explanation — free, no signup.
Answer & full 3-part explanation (select an option above, or peek)
Why D is correct
M.G.L. c. 175, § 132(4) prescribes the misstatement-of-age remedy: the benefit is adjusted to the amount the premiums paid would have purchased at the correct age. The policy stands; the arithmetic changes. Avoidance, claim denial, and prospective repricing all overshoot what the Massachusetts standard provision allows for an age error.
Why the other options are wrong
- A) An age misstatement does not void the policy; M.G.L. c. 175, § 132(4) requires an equitable adjustment of the benefit instead.
- B) Denying the claim and refunding premiums exceeds the remedy of M.G.L. c. 175, § 132(4); the policy continues with a recalculated benefit.
- C) Keeping the benefit unchanged and merely raising the premium prospectively is not the § 132(4) approach; the benefit itself is recomputed at the correct age.
Memory hook
Age wrong? Recalculate the benefit, do not kill the policy.