Rauner signs life insurance bill
August 27, 2016 by Becky Yerak, Contact Reporter, Chicago Tribune
LIife insurance companies will be required to regularly check to see if their policyholders have died under legislation signed Friday by Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner.
The Unclaimed Life Insurance Benefits Act requires insurers to, among other things, run semiannual checks against the Social Security Administration’s “death master file,” which contains the records of deaths reported to the federal agency, to determine if a policyholder has passed away and to notify beneficiaries on how to make a claim.
The act is effective Jan. 1, 2017.
Rauner signed the legislation days after Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs held a hearing in Chicago about how unpaid life insurance benefits can help families — if they know that the policies exist.
Also Friday, Rauner announced that the state Insurance Department has a free Life Policy Locator Service that helps executors, legal representatives or immediate family members find a life insurance policy or annuity contract left by a loved one who died.
After necessary information is submitted to the locator service, the Insurance Department will contact state-licensed life insurers asking them to search their records for any life insurance policies or annuity contracts of the person who died. If a policy is found, that insurance company will contact the beneficiary to complete the claim.
byerak@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @beckyyerak
