A producer's health insurance sales brochure prominently states that the applicant's future claims will be backed by the Virginia Life, Accident and Sickness Insurance Guaranty Association, using that reassurance to encourage the prospect to buy now. Under Va. Code § 38.2-1715, what is wrong with this brochure?

Why A is correct

Va. Code § 38.2-1715 prohibits a producer from using the existence of the Virginia Life, Accident and Sickness Insurance Guaranty Association in any sales material or as an inducement to purchase insurance. The guaranty association exists as a safety net for policyholders of insolvent insurers, and the General Assembly wanted its protection kept out of the sales pitch so consumers buy coverage on its merits. A producer who markets guaranty protection violates this solicitation ban and faces regulatory action through the Virginia Bureau of Insurance.

Why the other options are wrong

• B) An insurer's countersignature cannot cure what the statute flatly prohibits; the ban applies to the sales use itself.
• C) The solicitation ban applies to the guaranty association's existence generally, not to one product category that could be carved out.
• D) No guaranty-association approval process legitimizes sales use; the association's caps come from the Commission-approved Notice of Protection, but they may not be marketed.

Memory hook

The guaranty safety net is never a selling point — mention it in the pitch and you've broken the ban.