Which unfair trade practice involves misrepresenting the terms or values of an existing policy to persuade a policyowner to lapse, surrender, exchange, convert, or replace it?

Why D is correct

T.C.A. § 56-8-104(1) treats misrepresentation that induces a policyowner to lapse, forfeit, exchange, convert, or surrender an existing policy as an unfair trade practice — the conduct the industry calls twisting. The Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance polices twisting under the same misrepresentation provision that bars other false statements made to sell or replace insurance.

Why the other options are wrong

• A) Defamation attacks a competitor's financial condition in print or speech; it does not describe misleading a policyowner about the policyowner's own contract.
• B) Boycott, coercion, and intimidation involve pressure tactics in the marketplace, not misrepresentation of an existing policy's terms to induce replacement.
• C) False statements and entries concern falsified books, records, or filings, not oral misrepresentations aimed at a policyowner's existing coverage.

Memory hook

Twisting = misrepresenting the old policy to make it twist out of the owner's hands.