Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 175, § 181 (2026)

Misrepresentations by insurer; penalty

✓ current as of July 2026

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Section 181. No company, no officer or agent thereof and no insurance broker or insurance adviser shall make, issue, circulate or use, or cause or permit to be made, issued, circulated or used, any written or oral statement misrepresenting the terms of any policy of insurance or any annuity or pure endowment contract issued or to be issued by any company, or the benefits or privileges promised thereunder. No company, no officer or agent thereof and no insurance broker or insurance adviser shall make to any person insured under any policy of insurance or holding any annuity or pure endowment contract any written or oral misrepresentation or misleading representation in respect to the terms, benefits or privileges of any policy of insurance or any annuity or pure endowment contract, or any written or oral incomplete or misleading comparison of any such policy or contract or of any of the terms, benefits or privileges thereof with any other such policy or contract or any of the terms, benefits or privileges thereof, in order to induce or which tends to induce such person to lapse, forfeit or surrender the policy issued to him or the contract held by him, or to alter or convert it into, or to exchange it for, any other such policy or contract. Whoever violates any provision of this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than six months.

Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect any of the provisions of section one hundred and seventy.

The insured under any policy of life or endowment insurance or the holder of any annuity or pure endowment contract who was induced to procure it by any action in violation of this section by an officer or agent of the company issuing or executing it may recover from such company all premiums paid on such policy or contract less any indebtedness to the company thereon or secured thereby and less any payments otherwise made by the company thereon, in an action brought within two years after the date of issue thereof.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 18 cases, 1994–2018 · leading case: Passatempo v. McMenimen, 960 N.E.2d 275 (Mass. 2012).

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Passatempo v. McMenimen, 960 N.E.2d 275 (Mass. 2012). · cites it 7× “93A, and whether they are timely under G. L. c. 175, § 181 (§ 181), and G. L. c.”

Loguidice v. Metro. Life Ins., 336 F.3d 1 (1st Cir. 2003). · cites it 7× “The cases in question had held that the two-year limitations period in Mass. Gen. Laws Ann. ch. 175, § 181 (1998) (permitting, inter alia, persons induced to purchase insurance policies based on misrepresentations concerning their terms to sue and recover premiums), applies to…”

McMenimen v. Passatempo, 892 N.E.2d 287 (Mass. 2008). · cites it 6× “McMenimen next filed an amended motion to dismiss in the Superior Court in December, 2005, contending that all of the remaining State law claims were barred by the third paragraph of G. L. c. 175, § 181, which he characterized as a statute of repose.”

Lipsitt v. Plaud, 994 N.E.2d 777 (Mass. 2013). · cites it 2× “175, § 181, which grants to buyers of insurance the right of rescission against insurance companies whose officers or agents induced the sale of insurance by fraud, was intended to exclude other “long-standing” common-law remedies against insurance companies and their agents for…”

Day v. Kerkorian, 814 N.E.2d 745 (Mass. App. Ct. 2004). · cites it 2× “93A, the judge addressed only the provisions of G. L. c. 175, § 181; G. L. c. 176D, § 3(1)(f); and 211 Code Mass.”

O'Connor v. Merrimack Mut. Fire Ins., 897 N.E.2d 593 (Mass. App. Ct. 2008). · cites it 2× “O’Connor then brought this action against Merrimack asserting numerous tort and contract claims as well as violations of G. L. c. 175, § 181, and G. L. c. 93A. After a jury-waived trial, the judge determined, based on the terms of the insurance policy, that Merrimack had a…”

Sullivan v. Southland Life Ins., 854 N.E.2d 138 (Mass. App. Ct. 2006). “Thus, Southland asserted, in the trial court and here, that Sullivan’s claim was for misrepresentation and time barred by G. L. c. 175, § 181. Since Sullivan did not raise misrepresentation as a claim, we need not consider whether he had a viable claim on that legal theory.”

Estrada v. Progressive Direct Ins., 53 F. Supp. 3d 484 (D. Mass. 2014). · cites it 2× “Chapter 175 Claim Count 6 alleges a claim for unfair or deceptive business practices in violation of Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 175, § 181 . That statute only creates a private cause of action under circumstances where an insured is “under any policy of life or endowment insurance or…”

Wolinetz v. Berkshire Life Ins., 361 F.3d 44 (1st Cir. 2004). “See Mass. Gen. L. ch. 175, § 181. This argument was not raised below and cannot be debuted here.”

Passatempo v. McMenimen, 458 Mass. 1007 (Mass. 2010). · cites it 2× “The basis for that motion was his argument that G. L. c. 175, § 181, which the plaintiffs in the underlying action asserted McMenimen had violated, contained a statute of repose that barred the plaintiffs’ claims against him, and that he was therefore immune from suit.”

Brown v. Sav. Bank Life Ins. Co. of Mass., 107 N.E.3d 1163 (Mass. App. Ct. 2018). “See G. L. c. 175, § 181 ; Passatempo v. McMenimen , 461 Mass.”

Grande v. PFL Life Ins., 2000 Mass. App. Div. 261 (Mass. Dist. Ct., App. Div. 2000). · cites it 10× “In March, 1999, PFL filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings on the grounds, inter alia, that Grande’s claims were time-barred by the G.L.c. 175, §181 two year statute of limitations.”

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