twisting

twisting — noun

1. the dishonest practice of deceiving a person into giving up their current life c

1.noun
Definition

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.

Example

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...

Common collocations
  • commit twisting
  • engage in twisting
  • twisting scheme
  • twisting investigation
  • accused of twisting
Synonyms
  • 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.

Usage Note

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.

Common Mistakes

The agent committed a twisting by lying about the policy.
The agent was found guilty of twisting for lying about the policy.
Twisting is uncountable; do not use with the indefinite article 'a'.

2. the act of an insurance agent making false or misleading statements to a policyh

2.noun
Definition

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.

Example

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.

Common collocations
  • commit twisting
  • guilty of twisting
  • charged with twisting
  • twisting by an agent
  • twisting allegation
Synonyms
  • 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.

Usage Note

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.

Common Mistakes

The company committed twisting by changing its policy terms.
The agent committed twisting by misrepresenting the policy terms to the client.
Twisting refers specifically to an agent misleading a policyholder, not to a company changing its own policy.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All three terms describe dishonest practices in financial services, but they apply to different products and situations. Twisting is specific to insurance: an agent uses lies or tricks to make a customer drop an existing life insurance policy and buy a new one, often from a different company so the agent earns a fresh commission. Churning is similar but belongs to the world of investments and securities — a broker repeatedly buys and sells assets in a client's account to generate fees, without benefiting the client. Misrepresentation is the broadest term: it covers any false statement made to induce someone to enter a contract, whether in insurance, real estate, or sales. For example, a car dealer who says a used vehicle has never been in an accident is committing misrepresentation, but not twisting or churning. In an insurance context, twisting always involves misrepresentation, but not all misrepresentation by an agent qualifies as twisting — only false statements that lead to the replacement of an existing policy count.

twisting ↗churningmisrepresentation

Common collocations

Nouns

  • twisting scheme
  • twisting case
  • twisting allegation
  • twisting law
  • twisting regulation

Phrases

  • commit twisting
  • engage in twisting
  • be charged with twisting
  • involve twisting

Prepositions

  • accused of twisting
  • guilty of twisting
  • investigation into twisting

Etymology

Old EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish (insurance regulation, early 20th century)

The insurance sense of 'twisting' is a specialized meaning that grew out of the ordinary verb 'twist' (to turn or change direction). In the early 1900s, US state insurance regulators began using the metaphor of 'twisting' someone — turning them away from their current policy toward a new one — to describe the deceptive sales practice of inducing a policyholder to switch insurers through false statements. The term first appeared in insurance law in the 1910s and 1920s as states enacted anti-twisting statutes to protect consumers. Linguistically, the word belongs to the same Old English root as 'twin' and 'twine', all carrying the sense of turning or winding.