N.J. Admin. Code § 13:36-11.14

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 24, December 18, 2024

Section 13:36-11.14 - Other prohibited acts

(a) No provider or person, firm, or corporation acting on behalf of a provider, including solicitors, agents, canvassers, employees or other persons acting on behalf of such person, firm or corporation, for the purpose of selling, contracting or offering to sell prepaid funeral agreements or preneed funeral arrangements on behalf of said provider shall:

1. Directly or indirectly solicit persons in hospitals, rest homes, nursing homes or similar health care facilities by telephone or in person without first having been specifically requested to do so by that person;

2. Directly or indirectly employ any agent, employee, assistant, independent contractor or other person to solicit persons in hospitals, rest homes, nursing homes or similar health care facilities by telephone or in person without first having been specifically requested to do so by that person;

3. Solicit relatives of persons whose death is apparently impending or whose death has recently occurred for the purpose of providing any of those services for that person;

4. Solicit, accept, offer to pay or pay any commission, bonus or rebate in consideration of recommending or causing any person to use the services of a particular funeral director, or the services of a particular crematory, mausoleum or cemetery;

5. Solicit persons at their residences in person or by telephone unless that solicitation is in response to a previous request for or expression of interest in a funeral director's services made by the person solicited or by a member of that person's family; or

6. Accept any consideration for the establishment and deposit of any moneys in a funeral trust, including, but not limited to, a commission, rebate, discount, or direct or indirect price reduction on merchandise.

(b) Nothing in (a) above shall be construed to restrict the right of a provider or an agent or employee of a provider, to communicate, by direct mail or in any other way not specifically prohibited by this section, with persons or provide them with information regarding the services of the provider, or to solicit the business of any person responding to that communication and explicitly requesting further information by personal visit or telephone, or otherwise initiating further discussion of those services, or to provide services or information to persons in connection with services previously rendered.

(c) No provider or person acting on behalf of a provider shall, in the context of prepaid funeral agreements or preneed arrangements, advertise "discounts," "rebates" or other price reduction incentives:

1. Which are not actual reductions of the retail prices of a provider's current price lists; or

2. Which are based solely on a funeral insurance policy's premium rate tables.

(d) No provider shall charge prices at the time of making a prepaid funeral agreement which exceed those prices which appear on the provider's current price lists which are provided to consumers at the time of need pursuant to N.J.A.C. 13:36-9.

(e) No provider shall, in offering to provide preneed funeral arrangements or prepaid funeral agreements, use the term "trust" or "trust funded" in any name, advertisement or solicitation in a misleading manner.

(f) No provider shall fund or finance a preneed funeral arrangement or a prepaid funeral agreement through a retail installment contract or credit life insurance.

(g) No provider shall finance a preneed funeral arrangement or prepaid funeral agreement by any means other than a funeral trust or funeral insurance policy as authorized by these regulations and the preneed statutes.

(h) No provider shall knowingly sell, offer to sell or solicit any insurance product other than a funeral insurance policy in connection with a prepaid funeral agreement as provided in this subchapter and by N.J.S.A. 17B:17-5.1, for the purpose of prepaying or subsidizing, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, the future funeral expenses of any person.

(i) Any agreement to waive any portion of this subchapter shall render the agreement voidable by the purchaser and shall be a violation of this subchapter.

N.J. Admin. Code § 13:36-11.14

Amended by R.2005 d.100, effective 4/4/2005.
See: 36 New Jersey Register 4651(a), 37 New Jersey Register 1036(b).
In (a), deleted reference to licensee in the introductory paragraph.