Introduction MetLife qualified for membership in the Insurance Marketplace Standards Association (IMSA) and was on the initial list of companies, announced on April 1, 1998, to receive this designation.

What is IMSA?

IMSA is a voluntary association created by the life insurance industry to promote high standards of ethical market conduct in advertising, sales and service for individual life insurance, annuity, and long-term care insurance products. In order to become an IMSA member, a company must adopt IMSA's six Principles of Ethical Market Conduct, perform a rigorous self-assessment, and undergo an assessment by an outside, independent examiner approved by IMSA.

Principles of Ethical Market Conduct

The six principles of Ethical Market Conduct are:

1. To conduct business according to high standards of honesty and fairness and to render that service to the company's customers which, in the same circumstances, the company would apply to or demand for itself.
2. To provide competent and customer-focused sales and service.
3. To engage in active and fair competition.
4.  To provide advertising and sales materials that are clear as to purpose and honest and fair as to content.
5. To provide for fair and expeditious handling of customer complaints and disputes.
6. To maintain a system of supervision and review that is reasonably designed to achieve compliance with these Principles of Ethical Market Conduct.

What are the advantages of IMSA?

1. IMSA members have demonstrated that they have appropriate policies and procedures in place relating to the sales and marketing of individual life insurance, annuity, and long-term care insurance products
2. IMSA raises the bar for market conduct and compliance standards in the industry.

What do IMSA standards mean to the consumer?

The IMSA standards help assure a consumer that a company has committed itself to honesty, fairness, and integrity in all customer contacts involving the sale and servicing of individual life insurance, annuity, and long-term care insurance products. Being a member of IMSA means, among other things, that MetLife has developed policies and procedures to assure that customers receive information they need to make decisions about purchasing policies. It means that we have a process to review our advertising and sales materials for accuracy, clarity and compliance with the law. It also means that MetLife maintains a system to respond expeditiously to customer concerns and complaints.

^* IMSA membership promotes ethical market conduct for individual life insurance, annuity, and long-term care insurance products.  For further information on IMSA, check out IMSA's website at www.imsaethics.org.