New York Laws
Article 32 - Insurance Contracts - Life, Accident and Health, Annuities
3240 - Unclaimed Benefits.

(1) "Account" means: (A) any mechanism, whether denoted as a retained
asset account or otherwise, whereby the settlement of proceeds payable
to a beneficiary under a policy is accomplished by the insurer or an
entity acting on behalf of the insurer placing the proceeds into an
account where the insurer retains those proceeds and the beneficiary has
check or draft writing privileges; or (B) any other settlement option
relating to the manner of distribution of the proceeds payable under a
policy.
(2) "Death index" means the death master file maintained by the United
States social security administration or any other database or service
that is at least as comprehensive as the death master file maintained by
the United States social security administration and that is acceptable
to the superintendent.
(3) "Insured" means an individual covered by a policy or an annuitant
when the annuity contract provides for benefits to be paid or other
monies to be distributed upon the death of the annuitant.
(4) "Insurer" means a life insurance company or fraternal benefit
society.
(5) "Lost policy finder" means a service made available by the
department on its website or otherwise developed by the superintendent
either on his or her own or in conjunction with other state regulators,
to assist consumers with locating unclaimed life insurance benefits.
(6) "Policy" means a life insurance policy; an annuity contract; a
certificate under a life insurance policy or annuity contract; or a
certificate issued by a fraternal benefit society; under which benefits
are to be paid upon the death of the insured, including a policy that
has lapsed or been terminated.
(b) Applicability. (1) This section shall apply to a policy:
(A) issued by a domestic insurer and any account established under or
as a result of such policy; or
(B) delivered or issued for delivery in this state by an authorized
foreign insurer and any account established under or as a result of such
policy.
(2) Notwithstanding paragraph one of this subsection:
(A) with respect to a policy delivered or issued for delivery outside
this state, a domestic insurer may, in lieu of the requirements of this
section, implement procedures that meet the minimum requirements of the
state in which the insurer delivered or issued the policy, provided that
the superintendent determines that such other requirements are no less
favorable to the policy owner and beneficiary than those required by
this section; and
(B) this section shall not apply to a lapsed or terminated policy with
no benefits payable that was searched within the eighteen months
preceding the effective date of this section or that was searched more
than eighteen months prior to the most recent search conducted by the
insurer.
(c) Identifying information. (1) Except as set forth in paragraph two
of this subsection, at no later than policy delivery or the
establishment of an account and upon any change of insured, owner,
account holder, or beneficiary, an insurer shall request information
sufficient to ensure that all benefits or other monies are distributed
to the appropriate persons upon the death of the insured or account
holder, including, at a minimum, the name, address, social security
number, date of birth, and telephone number of every owner, account
holder, insured, and beneficiary of such policy or account, as
applicable.
(2) Where an insurer issues a policy or provides for an account based
on data received directly from an insured's employer, the insurer may
obtain the beneficiary information described in paragraph one of this
subsection by communicating with the insured after receiving the data
from the insured's employer.
(d) Standards for cross-checking policies. (1) An insurer shall use
the death index to cross-check every policy and account subject to this
section no less frequently than quarterly, except as specified in
subsection (g) of this section. An insurer may perform the cross-check
using the updates made to the death index since the date of the last
cross-check performed by the insurer, provided that the insurer performs
the cross-check using the entire death index at least once a year. The
superintendent may promulgate rules and regulations that allow an
insurer to perform the cross-checks less frequently than quarterly but
not less frequently than semi-annually.
(2) The cross-checks shall be performed using: (A) the insured or
account holder's social security number; or (B) where the insurer does
not know the insured or account holder's social security number, the
name and date of birth of the insured or account holder.
(3) If an insurer only has a partial name, social security number,
date of birth, or a combination thereof, of the insured or account
holder under a policy or account, then the insurer shall use the
available information to perform the cross-check.
(4) An insurer shall implement reasonable procedures to account for
common variations in data that would otherwise preclude an exact match
with a death index.
(e) Multiple policy search procedures. (1) Upon receiving notification
of the death of an insured or account holder or in the event of a match
made by a death index cross-check pursuant to subsection (d) of this
section, an insurer shall search every policy or account subject to this
section to determine whether the insurer has any other policies or
accounts for the insured or account holder.
(2) An insurer that receives a notification of the death of an insured
or account holder, or identifies a death index match, shall notify each
United States affiliate, parent, or subsidiary, and any entity with
which the insurer contracts that may maintain or control records
relating to policies or accounts covered by this section, of the
notification or verified death index match. An insurer shall take all
steps necessary to have each affiliate, parent, subsidiary, or other
entity perform the search required by paragraph one of this subsection.
(f) Standards for locating claimants. (1) An insurer shall establish
procedures to reasonably confirm the death of an insured or account
holder and begin to locate beneficiaries within ninety days after the
identification of a potential match made by a death index cross-check or
by a search conducted by the insurer pursuant to subsection (e) of this
section. If the insurer cannot locate beneficiaries within ninety days
after the identification of a potential match, then the insurer shall
continue to search for beneficiaries until the benefits escheat in
accordance with applicable state law.
(2) Once the beneficiary or beneficiaries under the policy or account
have been located, the insurer shall provide to the beneficiary or
beneficiaries the information necessary to make a claim pursuant to the
terms of the policy or account. The insurer shall process all claims and
make prompt payments and distributions in accordance with all applicable
laws, rules, and regulations.
(3) Nothing herein shall prevent an insurer from requiring
satisfactory proof of loss, such as a death certificate, for the purpose
of verifying the death of the insured, provided that if a beneficiary

cannot obtain a death certificate, then an insurer shall accept an
alternate form of satisfactory proof of loss.
(g) This section shall not apply to:
(1) a group policy administered by the group policyholder where the
insurer does not maintain or control the records containing the
information necessary to comply with the requirements of this section;
or
(2) any other circumstance as determined to be appropriate by the
superintendent in a regulation.
(h) Lost policy finder. (1) The superintendent shall develop and
implement a lost policy finder to assist requestors with locating
unclaimed life insurance benefits. The lost policy finder shall be
available online and via other means, including but not limited to the
department's toll free telephone number. The superintendent shall assist
a requestor with using the lost policy finder, including informing the
requestor of the information an insurer may need to facilitate
responding to the request.
(2) As soon as practicable, but no later than thirty days after
receiving a request from a requestor via the lost policy finder, the
superintendent shall:
(A) forward the request to all insurers deemed necessary by the
superintendent in order to successfully respond to the request; and
(B) inform the requestor in writing that the superintendent received
the request and forwarded the request to all insurers deemed necessary
by the superintendent in order to successfully respond to the request.
(3) Upon receiving a request forwarded by the superintendent through a
lost policy finder, an insurer shall search for policies and any
accounts subject to this section that insure the life of, or are owned
by, an individual named as the decedent in the request forwarded by the
superintendent.
(4) Within sixty days of receiving the request referenced in paragraph
two of this subsection the insurer shall:
(A) report to the superintendent through the lost policy finder the
findings of the search conducted pursuant to paragraph three of this
subsection;
(B) for each identified policy and account insuring the life of, or
owned by, the individual named as the decedent in the request, provide
to a requestor who is:
(i) also the beneficiary of record on the identified policy or account
the information necessary to make a claim pursuant to the terms of the
policy or account; and
(ii) not the beneficiary of record on the identified policy or account
the requested information to the extent permissible to be disclosed in
accordance with any applicable law, rule, or regulation and take such
other steps necessary to facilitate the payment of any benefit that may
be due under the identified policy or account.
(5) The superintendent shall, within thirty days of receiving from all
insurers the information required in subparagraph (A) of paragraph four
of this subsection, inform the requestor of the results of the search.
(6) When a beneficiary identified in paragraph four of this subsection
submits a claim or claims to an insurer, the insurer shall process such
claim or claims and make prompt payments and distributions in accordance
with all applicable laws, rules, and regulations.
(7) Within thirty days of the final disposition of the request, an
insurer shall report to the superintendent through the lost policy
finder any benefits paid and any other information requested by the
superintendent.
(8) An insurer shall establish procedures to electronically receive
the lost policy finder request from, and make reports to, the
superintendent as provided for in this section. When transmitted
electronically, the date that the superintendent forwards the request
shall be deemed to be the date of receipt by the insurer; provided,
however, that if the date is a Saturday, Sunday, or a public holiday, as
defined in section twenty-four of the general construction law, then the
date of receipt shall be as provided in section twenty-five-a of the
general construction law. The superintendent may promulgate rules and
regulations that allow an insurer to apply for an exemption from the
requirement that it electronically receive the lost policy finder
request and report any benefits paid or other information the
superintendent requests pursuant to section three hundred sixteen of
this chapter.
(i) Reports. An insurer subject to this section shall include in the
report required under section seven hundred three of the abandoned
property law any information on unclaimed benefits due pursuant to this
section and the number of policies and accounts that the insurer has
identified pursuant to this section for the prior calendar year under
which any outstanding monies have not been paid or distributed by
December thirty-first of such year, except potential matches still being
investigated pursuant to paragraph one of subsection (f) of this
section. A copy of the report also shall be filed with the
superintendent.
(j) The superintendent is authorized to promulgate any rules and
regulations necessary to implement the provisions of this section in
accordance with the provisions of the state administrative procedure
act.
* NB There are 2 § 3240's

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