An insurer declines a Virginia life applicant based partly on information in a consumer report. The applicant asks what happened. Under the adverse underwriting decision provisions, what must occur?

Why A is correct

Under Va. Code §§ 38.2-610 through 38.2-612, an adverse decision resting on reported information triggers a disclosure duty: the insurer must give the applicant the reasons for the decision and information about the nature of the reported information, plus the means to obtain a copy of the report from the reporting source so the applicant can verify and, if necessary, dispute it. Confidentiality of the report does not excuse the insurer from this duty — the provisions exist precisely so applicants are not declined on information they never see.

Why the other options are wrong

• B) Total silence is contrary to the provisions; the insurer owes the applicant the reasons and information about the report regardless of report confidentiality.
• C) The duty reaches the reasons and access to the report — not the entire internal underwriting file with all working papers.
• D) Forwarding the complaint is not the insurer's discharge of the duty; the insurer itself must inform the applicant of the reasons and how to obtain the report.

Memory hook

Report-based decline = reasons plus a roadmap to the report — no black-box declines.