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Regular Session, 2014
HOUSE BILL NO. 411
BY REPRESENTATIVE CROMER
INSURANCE/LIFE: Provides relative to unclaimed life insurance benefits
AN ACT1
To enact Subpart A-1 of Part II of Chapter 4 of Title 22 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes2
of 1950, to be comprised of R.S. 22:921 through 927, relative to unclaimed life3
insurance benefits; to require life insurers to periodically compare in-force life4
insurance policies, annuities, and retained asset accounts against a Death Master List5
for potential matches; to require life insurers to confirm the death of a potential6
match and notify the beneficiary or owner and pay the beneficiary the benefits; to7
allow life insurers to remit unclaimed benefits to the state treasurer; and to provide8
for related matters.9
Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:10
Section 1. Subpart A-1 of Part II of Chapter 4 of Title 22 of the Louisiana Revised11
Statutes of 1950, comprised of R.S. 22:921 through 927, is hereby enacted to read as12
follows: 13
SUBPART A-1. UNCLAIMED LIFE INSURANCE BENEFITS14
§921. Short title15
This Subpart shall be known and may be cited as the "Unclaimed Life16
Insurance Benefits Act".17
§922. Construction with other law18
A. This Subpart shall be construed to require the complete and proper19
disclosure, transparency, and accountability relating to any method of payment for20
life insurance death benefits regulated by the Department of Insurance; provided,21 HLS 14RS-990 ORIGINAL
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however, the commissioner of insurance shall not promulgate rules to impose1
additional duties or obligations on insurers beyond those set forth in this Subpart, or2
otherwise attempt to expand the requirements of this Subpart.3
B. Nothing in this Subpart shall be construed to supersede the Uniform4
Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act, R.S. 9:151 et seq.5
§923. Definitions6
As used in this Subpart, the following definitions shall be applicable:7
(1) "Account owner" means the owner of a retained asset account who is a8
resident of this state.9
(2) "Annuity" means any annuity contract other than an annuity used to fund10
an employment-based retirement plan or program where the insurer is not committed11
by the terms of the annuity contract to pay death benefits to the beneficiaries of12
specific plan participants.13
(3) "Asymmetric conduct" means an insurer's use of the Death Master File14
prior to August 1, 2014, in connection with searching for information regarding15
whether the annuitants under the insurer's annuities might be deceased, but not in16
connection with whether the insureds under its policies might be deceased.17
(4) "Beneficiary" means a person entitled to benefits under a policy or18
annuity.19
(5) "DMF" means the Death Master File from the United States Social20
Security Administration or any other database or service that is at least as inclusive21
as the Death Master File for determining that a person has reportedly died.22
(6) "DMF match" means a search of a DMF that results in a match of the23
social security number or the name and date of birth of an insured, annuity owner,24
or retained asset account holder.25
(7) "Insurer" means any insurance company authorized to transact life26
insurance business in this state.27 HLS 14RS-990 ORIGINAL
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(8) "Person" means the policy owner, insured, annuity owner, annuitant, or1
account owner, as applicable under the policy, annuity, or retained asset account2
subject to the provisions of this Subpart.3
(9) "Policy" means any policy or certificate of life insurance issued in this4
state, but does not include any policy or certificate of life insurance that provides a5
death benefit under any of the following:6
(a) An employee benefit plan subject to the Employee Retirement Income7
Security Act of 1974, as periodically amended, compiled at 29 U.S.C. 1002 et seq.8
(b) Any federal employee benefit program.9
(c) Government plans or church plans in the Employee Retirement Income10
Security Act as periodically amended and compiled at 29 U.S.C. 1002 et seq.11
(d) A policy or certificate of life insurance or an annuity contract that is used12
to fund a pre-need funeral contract as defined in R.S. 22:917.13
(e) A policy or certificate of credit life or accident and health insurance.14
(f) A group master policy holder for which the insurer does not provide15
record keeping services.16
(g) A home services contract as defined in R.S. 22:1806.2.17
(10) "Record keeping services" means those circumstances under which the18
insurer has agreed with a group life insurance policyholder to be responsible for19
obtaining, maintaining, and administering in its own systems information about each20
individual insured under the policyholder’s group life insurance contract including21
but not limited to the following information:22
(a) Social security number or name and date of birth.23
(b) Beneficiary designation information.24
(c) Coverage eligibility.25
(d) Benefit amount.26
(e) Premium payment status.27 HLS 14RS-990 ORIGINAL
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§924. Requirement to compare in-force policies against DMF1
A.(1) An insurer shall perform a comparison of its in-force life insurance2
policies, annuities, and retained asset accounts issued in this state against a DMF, on3
at least a semi-annual basis to identify potential DMF matches.4
(2) An insurer may comply with the requirements of this Subsection by using5
the full DMF once and thereafter using the DMF update files for future comparisons.6
(3) The comparison required by this Subsection shall not be applicable to7
policies for which the insurer does not have electronic searchable files.8
B. If an insurer learns of the possible death of a person, through a DMF9
match or otherwise, then the insurer shall within ninety days complete a good faith10
effort, which shall be documented by the insurer, to do all of the following:11
(1) Confirm the death of the person against other available records and12
information.13
(2) Review its records to determine whether the deceased person had14
purchased any other products with the insurer.15
(3) Determine whether benefits may be due in accordance with any16
applicable policy, annuity, or retained asset account.17
(4) Provide the appropriate claims forms or instructions to the beneficiary18
to make a claim, and to notify the beneficiary of the actions necessary to submit a19
valid claim. Nothing in this Section limits the insurer from requesting a valid death20
certificate as part of any claims validation process.21
C. Except as prohibited by law, the insurer may disclose only the minimum22
necessary identifying personal information about the insured or beneficiary to a23
person who the insurer reasonably believes may be able to assist the insurer in24
locating the beneficiary or a person otherwise entitled to payment of the claims25
proceeds.26
D. In the event an insurer is unable to confirm the death of a person27
following a DMF match, the insurer may consider such policy, annuity, or retained28
asset account to be in-force in accordance with its terms.29 HLS 14RS-990 ORIGINAL
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E. An insurer that has not engaged in asymmetric conduct prior to August1
1, 2014, shall not be required to comply with the requirements of this Section with2
respect to policies, annuities, or retained asset accounts issued prior to August 1,3
2014.4
F. An insurer or its service provider shall not charge any beneficiary or other5
authorized representative any fees or costs associated with a DMF search or the6
verification of a DMF match conducted pursuant to this Section.7
G. If the insurer, pursuant to the provisions of Paragraph B of this Section,8
has confirmed the death of a person insured under a policy, the benefits from a9
policy, plus any applicable accrued contractual interest, shall be first payable to the10
designated beneficiary or owners. In the event the beneficiaries or owners cannot be11
found, the benefits shall escheat to the state as unclaimed property pursuant to the12
provisions of the Uniform Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act, R.S. 9:151 et seq.13
Interest payable pursuant to R.S. 22:908 shall not be considered as unclaimed14
property under the Uniform Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act.15
H. The commissioner may adopt such rules, in accordance with the16
Administrative Procedure Act, as may be reasonably necessary to implement the17
provisions of this Section. The rules shall, at a minimum, do all of the following:18
(1) Limit an insurer's DMF comparisons under Subsection A of this Section19
to the insurer's electronic searchable files or approving a plan and timeline for the20
conversion of the insurer's files to electronic searchable files.21
(2) Exempt an insurer from the DMF comparisons required under Subsection22
A of this Section.23
(3) Permit an insurer to perform such comparisons less frequently than24
semi-annually upon demonstration of financial hardship to the insurer.25
I. Nothing in this Section limits the insurer from requiring compliance with26
the terms and conditions of the policy or annuity relative to filing and payment of27
claims.28 HLS 14RS-990 ORIGINAL
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§925. Penalty1
Failure to meet the requirements of this Subpart may be punishable as an2
unfair trade practice in accordance with R.S. 22:1961 et seq., provided; however, that3
nothing herein shall be construed to create or imply a private cause of action for a4
violation of this Subpart.5
§926. Disposition of unclaimed benefits6
A. An insurer is authorized in its discretion to report and remit the proceeds7
of an unclaimed policy, annuity, or retained asset account to the state treasurer when8
the insurer, through good faith efforts as evidenced by appropriate documentation,9
has done all of the following:10
(1) Identified a person as deceased through a DMF match through a search11
pursuant to R.S. 22:924, or other information source.12
(2) Validated such information through a secondary information source.13
(3) Conducted reasonable search efforts for the beneficiary within ninety14
days after the insurer's validation of the DMF match.15
(4) Determined that no beneficiary can be located within one year of the16
conclusion of search efforts pursuant to Paragraph (3) of this Subsection.17
B. Upon remitting the proceeds of an unclaimed policy, annuity, or retained18
asset account to the state pursuant to this Section or pursuant to the Uniform19
Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act, R.S. 9:151 et seq., an insurer shall be20
relieved from all liability to any person relating to the proceeds. This relief from21
liability shall be in addition to any other protections provided by law.22
§927. Implementation23
The commissioner is authorized to promulgate rules, in accordance with the24
Administrative Procedure Act, to implement this Subpart, provided such rules shall25
not impose any duty or requirements not stated in this Subpart.26 HLS 14RS-990 ORIGINAL
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DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
Cromer HB No. 411
Abstract: Enacts the "Unclaimed Life Insurance Benefits Act", requiring life insurers to
periodically perform a comparison of their in-force life insurance policies to the
Death Master File from the U.S. Social Security Administration to determine if
benefits may be due under the policy; provides that the proceeds of an unclaimed
policy may be remitted to the state treasurer.
Proposed law requires a life insurer to periodically compare its in-force life insurance
policies, annuities, and retained asset accounts issued in La. against a Death Master File to
identify possible matches.
Proposed law requires a life insurer, within 90 days of learning of a possible match, to
determine if benefits may be due and pay the benefits and any accrued contractual interest
to the designated beneficiaries or owners.
Proposed law allows a life insurer who is unable to find the designated beneficiaries or
owners to remit the benefits to the state treasurer through the provisions of the Uniform
Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act, R.S. 9:151 et seq.
(Adds R.S. 22:921-927)