Insurance Commissioner Fines Hartford Life and Annuity Insurance Company $91,500

RALEIGH, N.C., Nov. 30 -- The North Carolina Department of Insurance issued the following news release:

Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin has announced a settlement agreement with the Hartford Life and Annuity Insurance Company in the amount of $91,500. Per the N.C. Constitution Article IX, Section 7, the monetary penalty is to be placed in the state fund, which is divided equally amongst the state's public school districts.

The settlement agreement is the result of a market conduct examination undertaken by the North Carolina Department of Insurance that was made in accordance with market conduct standards established by NCDOI and procedures established by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. It included tests of the company's marketing and underwriting practices.

The examination was to review and update the status of issues referenced in the Market Conduct Report of March 9, 2007. The current compliance and target examination, which covered the period of Jan. 1, 2009 through Dec. 31, 2010, revealed a variety of apparent violations including concerns related to:

* Failure to use an Adverse Underwriting Decision (AUD) Notice that was filed with and approved by the North Carolina Department of Insurance,

* Failure to evidence a written notification of replacement sent to the replaced insurer,

* And accepting business from producers who were not properly appointed with the company.

Hartford Life and Annuity has submitted corrective action plans to address the concerns referenced above. NCDOI is working with the company on self-critical analyses over an extended period of time to confirm the company's corrective action plan is properly implemented.

A copy of the examination report is available to the public on the NCDOI website, here: Hartford Life and Annuity Insurance Company Market Conduct Examination Report 2012.( http://www.ncdoi.com/MR/Documents/Reports/Life%20and%20Health%20Companies/2012/Hartford%20Life%20and%20Annuity.TargComp.2012.pdf)

TNS hc11-121201-JF78-4124339 StaffFurigay