Laws among the Viatical Industry

Because the viatical and life settlement industries are relatively new and the market is becoming more popular, there have been fraud occurrences taking place. Therefore, the industry needs to be regulated to ensure the settlement companies doing business are legitimate.

The viatical industry is not regulated by the federal government. However, the California Department of Insurance, also known as CDI, has made it necessary to become licensed to legally purchase and sell investments in viaticals. If you are not licensed, but would like to apply, contact the California Department of Insurance by fax at 415-904-5729, Attention: Viatical Settlements, to request the application packet. The fee for the application to obtain your viatical settlement license is $3,272.00. The application and review processes take at least two months before a decision is made.

The California Insurance Code discusses all necessary requirements involved with viatical licensing, including licensure of a broker, any who aid the viator in selling their policy, a provider, any who purchases a policy from a policyholder, and any who requests investments in viatical settlement contracts.

To ensure that the viatical settlement company that you are doing business with is licensed, check the list of CDI licensed companies here: http://www.insurance.ca.gov/LGL/Viatical.htm.

If you have any questions regarding the regulation of viatical settlements, contact the California Department of Insurance at http://www.insurance.ca.gov/CSD/Brochure/Consumer.htm.