twisting
/ˈtwi-stiŋ/ (ame, mw)
twisting — noun
1. the dishonest practice of deceiving a person into giving up their current life c
the dishonest practice of deceiving a person into giving up their current life coverage and taking out a new one, typically at a different insurer, through false claims or misleading tactics.
Regulators in three states investigated the agency for twisting after dozens of elderly clients complained.
passive: investigated for twisting
Twisting targets older policyholders like Lara, who trusted her agent and lost benefits after switching insurers.
gerund as subject: Twisting often targets...
Min lost her policy's cash value when twisting tricked her into switching companies.
State officials fined the brokerage after an audit uncovered a pattern of twisting among its sales staff.
- policy replacement fraud
broader term covering any fraudulent replacement of insurance, not only life policies.
- churning
used more often for securities trading but sometimes applied to insurance; churning focuses on generating commissions through repeated trades, while twisting focuses on the deceptive switch itself.
用法筆記
Frequently appears in legal and regulatory contexts. The term is nearly always used as an uncountable noun referring to the practice itself, not a single instance. Distinguish from SENSE 2 (agent's misrepresentation): SENSE 1 describes the overall scheme or practice, while SENSE 2 focuses on the individual act of making false statements.
常見錯誤
2. the act of an insurance agent making false or misleading statements to a policyh
the act of an insurance agent making false or misleading statements to a policyholder on purpose, causing them to give up or cancel their current insurance policy so that it can be replaced with a different one.
The court ruled that the agent's twisting included lying about the existing policy's surrender charges.
possessive pattern: agent's twisting
Allison learned that the agent had committed twisting by falsely claiming her old plan would expire in sixty days.
Imani warned her team that twisting renewal terms could cost them their licenses, as Chen discovered.
Kabir compared his old and new policies and realized the agent had used twisting to sell him inferior coverage.
- misrepresentation
a broader legal term for any false statement; twisting is a specific sub-type that involves causing a policy to be replaced.
- agent fraud
covers a wider range of dishonest behaviours by an agent; twisting is one variety.
用法筆記
Commonly appears in legal statutes and regulatory codes governing agent conduct. The subject is typically an insurance agent or broker, never the policyholder. To distinguish from SENSE 1: SENSE 2 specifically describes the agent's act of making false statements, whereas SENSE 1 describes the broader fraudulent practice of inducing a policy switch.