State RegulationsMA specificDifficulty 2/5
Under Massachusetts law, which official is charged with administering and enforcing the statutes against unfair and deceptive insurance practices?
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Answer & full 3-part explanation (select an option above, or peek)
Why A is correct
M.G.L. c. 176D, § 5 places the administration and enforcement of the statutes against unfair and deceptive insurance practices with the Commissioner of Insurance. The Commissioner investigates complaints and suspected violations and proceeds through the cease and desist, hearing, and penalty framework of the chapter — the state's insurance regulator, not any other office, owns this enforcement duty.
Why the other options are wrong
- B) The attorney general's office is not assigned exclusive enforcement of the insurance unfair-practices chapter; M.G.L. c. 176D, § 5 vests that duty in the Commissioner.
- C) Domestic insurers are regulated parties; a self-regulatory board of the industry does not enforce the state's unfair-practices statutes.
- D) Enforcement of the unfair-practices statutes is a state function under M.G.L. c. 176D, § 5; no federal agency administers it.
Memory hook
Unfair practices land on the Commissioner's desk — the unfair-practices chapter says so.