State RegulationsTN specificDifficulty 1/5
Tennessee prohibits life policy provisions that limit the time within which a legal action may be brought under the policy. What is the shortest limitation period the law permits?
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Answer & full 3-part explanation (select an option above, or peek)
Why D is correct
T.C.A. § 56-7-2308 lists among the prohibited provisions any policy term limiting the time to bring legal action to less than 5 years from the time the cause of action accrues. A Tennessee life policy may therefore shorten the suit deadline no further than 5 years, and the Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance enforces the required-provision and prohibited-provision scheme of the individual life statutes.
Why the other options are wrong
- A) 2 years is the incontestability period under T.C.A. § 56-7-2307(3), not the legal-action floor.
- B) 3 years is the life reinstatement window under T.C.A. § 56-7-2307(10), not the minimum suit period.
- C) 6 months is the backdating limit — the period by which a policy may not take effect before application under T.C.A. § 56-7-2308 — not the legal-action floor.
Memory hook
Five years to sue: anything shorter is a prohibited provision.