Category Archives: Unclaimed Property

Florida Court Issues Opinion on ‘Time’ vs ‘Proof’ of Death

August 11, 2014 | Posted by Tom Berger

Please see below for an article recapping the Florida First District Court of appeals’ August 5th 2014 opinion in regard to Thrivent Financial for Lutherans v. State of Florida, Department of Financial Services (DFS).  In short, the court disagreed with … Continue reading →

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Guidance on Proposed DMF Certification Guidelines

March 5, 2014 | Posted by Tom Berger

As many are now aware, the administration recently passed legislation that will delay access to current death data on the Social Security Administration’s Death Master File (SSA DMF) for three years.  This legislation provides for a certification process that will … Continue reading →

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Are Standardized Death-Matching Guidelines on the Horizon for Insurers?

October 28, 2013 | Posted by Tom Berger

As many in the insurance industry now know, New York Life Insurance Co. (NY Life) has recently agreed to a $15 million dollar settlement to close its unclaimed property audits.  While NY Life has been considered by many to be … Continue reading →

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ANICO Ruling Casts Doubt on Ability to Circumvent State UP Audits; Is there an Implied Duty to Undertake Death Matching?

October 11, 2013 | Posted by Tom Berger

On May 7th, 2013, the California State Controller filed suit against ANICO (John Chiang vs. American National Insurance Company) seeking an order preliminarily enjoining Defendant American National Insurance Company, a Texas Corporation, (“ANICO”), and any persons acting on their behalf, including … Continue reading →

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The Impact of Proposed Legislation to Restrict Access to the SSA DMF; Making “The Perfect” the Enemy of “The Good”?

October 10, 2013 | Posted by Tom Berger

There is an old story about large numbers of government benefit checks piling up at Post Offices.  Postal carriers, leery of mail theft in marginal neighborhoods, would hold checks rather than placing them in mail boxes.  While this kept the checks out … Continue reading →

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Understanding the Importance of Feingold v. John Hancock Life Insurance Company

August 29, 2013 | Posted by Tom Berger

Please see the below for an interesting article titled ‘Win for Life Insurer in Unclaimed Property Arena” which discusses Feingold v. John Hancock Life Insurance Co., No. 13-10185 (D. Mass.). This article opens by noting the scrutiny that has recently been … Continue reading →

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Making Sense of the GAO Reports on Gaps & Errors in the SSA Death Master File

May 21, 2013 | Posted by Tom Berger

There have been many recent developments impacting the insurance industry.  This discussion covers the following: May 3rd 2013 GAO audit report identifying gaps in the SSA DMF and Verus Financial’s comments on same. May 8th 2013 GAO testimony addressing the … Continue reading →

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New Department of the Treasury proposal and Senate Bill 676 Introduced to Limit Access to the Social Security Administration’s Death Master File

April 24, 2013 | Posted by Tom Berger

Contact Tom Berger if you are an advocate, attorney or professional with insurer relationships that can benefit from our shared expertise. Requirements for using the Social Security Administration’s Death Master File (SSA DMF) to review insurer books and records in … Continue reading →

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Court Ruling Reinforces Death Matching Statute Obligation

April 3, 2013 | Posted by Tom Berger

A recent court case, “UNITED INSURANCE COMPANY OF AMERICA, THE RELIABLE LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, and RESERVE NATIONAL INSURANCE COMPANY as Plaintiffs vs COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY and THE KENTUCKY DEPARTMENT OF INSURANCE (Civil Action No 12-CI-1441)”, has reinforced the need for insurers to … Continue reading →

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John Hancock Lawsuit is a Wake-Up Call for Some Insurers

February 4, 2013 | Posted by Tom Berger

As reported in LifeHealthPRO on Feburary 1st 2013 (http://www.lifehealthpro.com/2013/02/01/hancock-hit-with-unclaimed-property-lawsuit) , John Hancock has been named in a class action lawsuit concerning their practices relating to life insurance death benefit payments.  The suit seeks damages for individuals who did not find … Continue reading →

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