SUPPLEMENT TO PROSPECTUS
DATED JULY 16, 1997
FOR LIFE OF VIRGINIA SEPARATE ACCOUNT 4
EFFECTIVE AUGUST 1, 1997
Form P1143 4/94
This supplement shall replace the Supplement to Prospectus Dated May 1, 1997,
for Life of Virginia Separate Account 4. Please keep this Supplement with your
prospectus.
General Information
Contributions and/or transfers to a Guarantee Account, as described below,
become part of the General Account of Life of Virginia. Because of exemptive and
exclusionary provisions, interests in the General Account have not been
registered under the Securities Act of 1933 (the "1933 Act"), and the General
Account is not registered as an investment company under the Investment Company
Act of 1940 (the "1940 Act"). Accordingly, neither the General Account nor any
interests therein are subject to the provisions of the 1933 Act or the 1940 Act,
and the information in this supplement has not been reviewed by the staff of the
Securities and Exchange Commission. Disclosure regarding a Guarantee Account and
the General Account, however, may be subject to certain generally applicable
provisions of the federal securities laws relating to the accuracy and
completeness of statements made in prospectuses.
The Guarantee Account
The Owner may allocate premium payments to the Guarantee Account(s) or transfer
amounts between the Guarantee Account(s) and the Investment Subdivisions of
Account 4. Upon maturity or surrender of the Policy, any amount in a Guarantee
Account is added to the Account Value in Account 4, and, after deduction of any
applicable surrender charge, is paid in a lump sum, or applied under an optional
payment plan (See Income payments).
Amounts allocated or transferred to a Guarantee Account earn interest at the
interest rate in effect for that Guarantee Account at the time of such
allocation. Each period for which a particular interest rate is guaranteed with
respect to a particular allocation is the interest rate guarantee period. With
respect to each amount allocated, the interest rate in effect at the time of the
allocation will be credited from the date of the allocation to the end of the
interest rate guarantee period, unless transferred out earlier pursuant to
participation in or termination of a Dollar-Cost Averaging program. At the end
of the interest rate guarantee period, a new interest rate will become
effective, and a new interest rate guarantee period will commence for any
remaining portion of that particular allocation. Life of Virginia currently
offers more than one choice of interest rate guarantee periods.
The guaranteed minimum interest rate for allocations to a Guarantee Account is
either 3.00% or 4.00% per year, as disclosed in the Guarantee Account rider(s)
attached to your Policy. A higher rate of interest may be credited, and Life of
Virginia reserves the right to credit bonus interest to initial premium or
additional premium allocated to a Guarantee Account participating in a
Dollar-Cost Averaging program. Any interest in excess of the guaranteed interest
rate will be determined at the sole discretion of Life of Virginia. Life of
Virginia has no obligation to credit interest in excess of the guaranteed
minimum interest rate.
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Charges
The Mortality and Expense Risk and Administrative Expense charges are not
deducted from the Guarantee Account(s). Such charges are borne solely by the
Separate Account. The Annual Policy Maintenance Charge and the Annual Death
Benefit Charge, if applicable, will be deducted from the Guarantee Account(s) if
there is no account value in the Separate Account. If there is insufficient
account value in the Separate Account at the time the charges are deducted, the
excess of these charges over the amount deducted from the Separate Account will
be deducted from the Guarantee Account(s). (See Policy Maintenance Charge).
Surrender charges apply to account values allocated to a Guarantee Account in
the same manner in which these charges apply to account values allocated to the
Separate Account.
Transfers
The Owner may transfer amounts between a Guarantee Account and the available
Investment Subdivisions of Account 4. Transfers will be effective on the date
the Owner's transfer request is received by Life of Virginia. With respect to
transfers between a Guarantee Account and the available Investment Subdivisions,
the following restrictions may be imposed:
Transfers from any particular allocation to a Guarantee Account to an
Investment Subdivision may be made only during the 30 day period beginning
with the end of the preceding interest rate guarantee period applicable to
that particular allocation. Life of Virginia may limit the amount which may
be transferred to the Investment Subdivisions. For any particular
allocation to a Guarantee Account, the limited amount will not be less than
(a) any accrued interest on that allocation, plus (b) 25% of the original
amount of that allocation.
No transfers from an Investment Subdivision to a Guarantee Account may be
made during the six month period following the transfer of any amount from
a Guarantee Account to any Investment Subdivision.
In all other respects, the rules and charges applicable to transfers between the
available Investment Subdivisions of Account 4 will apply to transfers involving
a Guarantee Account.
Dollar-Cost Averaging
As an alternative to the Dollar-Cost Averaging program described in the
prospectus (see "Dollar-Cost Averaging"), Owners may elect to have Life of
Virginia automatically transfer specified amounts from a Guarantee Account to
any available Investment Subdivision on a monthly or quarterly basis. To make
the election, Owners must complete the Dollar-Cost Averaging section of the
application or a Dollar-Cost Averaging Agreement. Money may be allocated to a
Guarantee Account as an initial or additional premium or in the form of a
transfer of Account Value from one or more Investment Subdivisions. Such
allocations must comply with all applicable minimum amount and percentage
requirements (see "Purchasing the Policies" and "Allocation of Premium
Payments") as well as the rules applicable to transfers to the Guarantee
Account(s). Apart from automatic transfers under a Dollar-Cost Averaging
program, all rules regarding transfers from the Guarantee Account(s) will apply.
Owners may designate the amount allocated to a Guarantee Account that is subject
to the Dollar-Cost Averaging program. Life of Virginia reserves the right to
limit the minimum amount of each
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automatic transfer to 10% per month of the amount so designated. Each automatic
transfer, as described above, will be made on a first-in first-out basis until
the entire value of the designated amount in a Guarantee Account is depleted.
Prior to that time, an Owner may discontinue such automatic transfers by sending
Life of Virginia written notice.
Life of Virginia reserves the right to transfer any remaining portion of an
allocation used for Dollar- Cost Averaging to a Guarantee Account with a new one
year interest rate guarantee period upon termination of the Dollar-Cost
Averaging program for that allocation. Life of Virginia also reserves the right
to discontinue or modify this alternative Dollar-Cost Averaging program at any
time for any reason on 30 days written notice to the Owner.
Surrenders
Surrenders may be made from the Guarantee Account(s) in addition to the Account
4. (See "Distributions Under the Policy.") If a partial surrender is requested,
the Owner may specify the Guarantee Account(s) from which the deduction should
be made. If no Guarantee Account is specified, the amount of the partial
surrender will be deducted first from the Investment Subdivisions of the
Separate Account on a pro-rata basis, in proportion to the Account Value in the
Separate Account. Any amount remaining will be deducted from the Guarantee
Account(s). Deductions from the Guarantee Account(s) will be taken from the
amounts (including interest credited to such amounts) which have been in the
Guarantee Account(s) for the longest period of time.
Deferral of Payment
Life of Virginia may defer payment of any amount from the Guarantee Account(s)
for up to six months. Payment will not be deferred if applicable law requires
earlier payment, or if the amount payable is to be used to pay premiums on
policies in force with Life of Virginia.
THE GUARANTEE ACCOUNT MAY NOT BE AVAILABLE IN ALL STATES OR MARKETS
Dated July 16, 1997
The Life Insurance Company of Virginia
6610 West Broad Street
Richmond, Virginia 23230
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