§ 23-79-107 - Application -- Statements as representations.
23-79-107. Application -- Statements as representations.
(a) All statements in any application for a life or accident and health insurance policy or annuity contract, or in negotiations therefor, by or in behalf of the insured or annuitant, shall be deemed to be representations and not warranties. Misrepresentations, omissions, concealment of facts, and incorrect statements shall not prevent a recovery under the policy or contract unless either:
(1) Fraudulent;
(2) Material either to the acceptance of the risk or to the hazard assumed by the insurer; or
(3) The insurer in good faith would not have issued the policy or contract or would not have issued a policy or contract in as large an amount or at the same premium or rate or would not have provided coverage with respect to the hazard resulting in the loss if the facts had been made known to the insurer as required by the application for the policy or contract or otherwise.
(b) In any action to rescind any policy or contract or to recover thereon, if any misrepresentation with respect to a medical impairment is proved by the insurer and the insured or any other person having or claiming a right under the contract shall prevent full disclosure and proof of the nature of the medical impairment, then the misrepresentation shall be presumed to have been material.
(c) In any action to rescind any policy or contract or to recover thereon, a misrepresentation is material if there is a causal relationship between the misrepresentation and the hazard resulting in a loss under the policy or contract.