Public Act 100-0543
 
HB0302 EnrolledLRB100 05672 SMS 16166 b


  
    AN ACT concerning regulation.
  
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
 
represented in the General Assembly:
  


 
 
    Section 5. The Unclaimed Life Insurance Benefits Act is 
amended  by changing Sections 10, 15, 30, and 35 as follows:
 
    (215 ILCS 185/10)

    Sec. 10. Definitions.  As used in this Act:
    "Annuity contract" does not include an annuity contract 
used to fund an employment-based retirement plan or program 
where (1) the insurer does not perform the record keeping 
services or (2) the insurer is not committed by the terms of 
the annuity contract to pay death benefits to the beneficiaries 
of specific plan participants.
    "Date of death" means the date on which an insured, annuity 
owner, or retained asset account holder died.
    "Date of death notice" means the date the insurer first has 
notice of the date of death of an insured, annuity owner, or 
retained asset account holder. "Date of death notice" includes, 
but is not limited to, the date the insurer received 
information or gained knowledge of a Death Master File match or 
any other source or record maintained or located in insurer 
records of the death of an insured, annuity owner, or retained 
asset account holder.
    "Death Master File" means the United States Social Security 
Administration's Death Master File or any other database or 
service that is at least as comprehensive as the United States 
Social Security Administration's Death Master File for 
determining that a person has reportedly died.
    "Death Master File match" means a match of the social 
security number or the name and date of birth of an insured, 
annuity owner, or retained asset account holder resulting from 
a search of the Death Master File.
    "Department" means the Department of Insurance.
    "Lost policy finder" means a service made available by the 
Department on its website or otherwise developed by the 
Department to assist consumers with locating unclaimed life 
insurance benefits.
    "Policy" means any policy or certificate of life insurance 
that provides a death benefit, including a policy that has 
lapsed or been terminated. "Policy" does not include any policy 
or certificate of credit life or accidental death insurance or 
health coverages, including, but not limited to, disability and 
long-term care arising from the reported death of a person 
insured under the coverage, or any policy issued to a group 
master policyholder for which the insurer does not provide 
record keeping services.
    "Record keeping services" means services provided under 
circumstances in which the insurer has agreed with a group 
policy or annuity contract customer to be responsible for 
obtaining, maintaining, and administering its own or its 
agents' systems information about each individual insured 
under an insured's group insurance contract, or a line of 
coverage thereunder, including, but not limited to, the 
following: (1) social security number or name and date of 
birth, (2) beneficiary designation information, (3) coverage 
eligibility, (4) benefit amount, and (5) premium payment 
status.
    "Retained asset account" means any mechanism whereby the 
settlement of proceeds payable under a policy or annuity 
contract is accomplished by the insurer or an entity acting on 
behalf of the insurer depositing the proceeds into an account 
with check or draft writing privileges, where those proceeds 
are retained by the insurer or its agent pursuant to a 
supplementary contract not involving annuity benefits other 
than death benefits.

(Source: P.A. 99-893, eff. 1-1-17.)
 
    (215 ILCS 185/15)

    Sec. 15. Insurer conduct. 
    (a) An insurer shall initially perform a comparison of its 
insureds', annuitants', and retained asset account holders' 
in-force policies, annuity contracts, and retained asset 
accounts in force on or after January 1, 2017 by using the full 
Death Master File. The initial comparison shall be completed on 
or before December 31, 2017, unless extended by the Department 
pursuant to administrative rule.  An insurer required to perform 
a comparison of its insureds', annuitants', and retained asset 
account holders' in-force policies, annuity contracts, and 
retained asset accounts in force on or after January 1, 2012 
shall perform a comparison of policies, annuity contracts, and 
retained asset accounts in force between January 1, 2012 and 
December 31, 2016 on or before December 31, 2018 by using the 
full Death Master File. An insurer required to perform a 
comparison of electronic searchable files concerning its 
insureds', annuitants', and retained asset account holders' 
in-force policies, annuity contracts, and retained asset 
accounts in force on or after January 1, 2000 shall perform a 
comparison of policies, annuity contracts, and retained asset 
accounts in force between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2016 
on or before December 31, 2018 by using the full Death Master 
File. Thereafter, an insurer shall perform a comparison on at 
least a semi-annual basis using the Death Master File update 
files for comparisons to identify potential matches of its 
insureds, annuitants, and retained asset account holders. In 
the event that one of the insurer's lines of business conducts 
a search for matches of its insureds, annuitants, and retained 
asset account holders against the Death Master File at 
intervals more frequently than semi-annually, then all lines of 
the insurer's business shall conduct searches for matches 
against the Death Master File with the same frequency. Within 6 
months after acquisition of policies, annuity contracts, or 
retained asset accounts from another insurer, the acquiring 
insurer shall compare all newly acquired policies, annuity 
contracts, and retained asset accounts that were not searched 
by the previous insurer in compliance with this Act against the 
complete Death Master File to identify potential matches of its 
insureds, annuitants, and retained asset account holders. Upon 
any subsequent acquisition of policies, annuity contracts, or 
retained asset accounts from another insurer, when the previous 
insurer has already conducted a search of the newly acquired 
policies, annuity contracts, and retained asset accounts using 
the complete Death Master File, the acquiring insurer shall 
compare all newly acquired policies, annuity contracts, and 
retained asset accounts using all of the Death Master File 
updates since the time the previous insurer conducted the 
complete search to identify potential matches of its insureds, 
annuitants, and retained asset account holders. 
    An insured, an annuitant, or a retained asset account 
holder is presumed dead if the date of his or her death is 
indicated by the comparison required in this subsection (a), 
unless the insurer has competent and substantial evidence that 
the person is living, including, but not limited to, a contact 
made by the insurer with the person or his or her legal 
representative.
    For those potential matches identified as a result of a 
Death Master File match, the insurer shall within 120 days 
after the date of death notice, if the insurer has not been 
contacted by a beneficiary, determine whether benefits are due 
in accordance with the applicable policy or contract and, if 
benefits are due in accordance with the applicable policy or 
contract:
        (1) use good faith efforts, which shall be documented 
    by the insurer, to locate the beneficiary or beneficiaries; 
    the Department shall establish by administrative rule 
    minimum standards for what constitutes good faith efforts 
    to locate a beneficiary, which shall include: (A) searching 
    insurer records; (B) the appropriate use of First Class 
    United States mail, e-mail addresses, and telephone calls; 
    and (C) reasonable efforts by insurers to obtain updated 
    contact information for the beneficiary or beneficiaries; 
    good faith efforts shall not include additional attempts to 
    contact the beneficiary at an address already confirmed not 
    to be current; and
        (2) provide the appropriate claims forms or 
    instructions to the beneficiary or beneficiaries to make a 
    claim, including the need to provide an official death 
    certificate if applicable under the policy or annuity 
    contract.
    (b) Insurers shall implement procedures to account for the 
following when conducting searches of the Death Master File:
        (1) common nicknames, initials used in lieu of a first 
    or middle name, use of a middle name, compound first and 
    middle names, and interchanged first and middle names;
        (2) compound last names, maiden or married names, and 
    hyphens, blank spaces, or apostrophes in last names;
        (3) transposition of the "month" and "date" portions of 
    the date of birth; and
        (4) incomplete social security numbers.
    (c) To the extent permitted by law, an insurer may disclose 
the minimum necessary personal information about the insured, 
annuity owner, retained asset account holder, or beneficiary to 
a person whom the insurer reasonably believes may be able to 
assist the insurer with locating the beneficiary or a person 
otherwise entitled to payment of the claims proceeds.
    (d) An insurer or its service provider shall not charge any 
beneficiary or other authorized representative for any fees or 
costs associated with a Death Master File search or 
verification of a Death Master File match conducted pursuant to 
this Act.
    (e) The benefits from a policy, annuity contract, or a 
retained asset account, plus any applicable accrued interest, 
shall first be payable to the designated beneficiaries or 
owners and, in the event the beneficiaries or owners cannot be 
found, shall be reported and delivered to the State Treasurer 
pursuant to the Uniform Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act. 
Nothing in this subsection (e) is intended to alter the amounts 
reportable under the existing provisions of the Uniform 
Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act or to allow the 
imposition of additional statutory interest under Article XIV 
of the Illinois Insurance Code.
    (f) Failure to meet any requirement of this Section with 
such frequency as to constitute a general business practice is 
a violation of Section 424 of the Illinois Insurance Code. 
Nothing in this Section shall be construed to create or imply a 
private cause of action for a violation of this Section.

(Source: P.A. 99-893, eff. 1-1-17.)
 
    (215 ILCS 185/30)

    Sec. 30. Administrative rules. (a) The Department shall 
adopt rules to administer and implement this Act, including 
defining "electronic searchable files" for the purposes of this 
Act.
    (b) The Department may limit an insurer's Death Master File 
comparisons required under Section 15 of this Act to the 
insurer's electronic searchable files or approve a plan and 
timeline for conversion of the insurer's files to searchable 
electronic files upon a demonstration of hardship by the 
insurer.

(Source: P.A. 99-893, eff. 1-1-17.)
 
    (215 ILCS 185/35)

    Sec. 35. Application.  
    (a) Except as provided in subsections (b), (c), and (d), 
the The provisions of this Act apply to policies, annuity 
contracts, and retained asset accounts in force at any time on 
or after January 1, 2012 the effective date of this Act.

    (b)   For an insurer that has entered into a written 
agreement with the State Treasurer on or before December 31, 
2018 to resolve an unclaimed property examination pursuant to 
the Uniform Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act, the 
provisions of this Act apply to policies, annuity contracts, 
and retained asset accounts in force on or after January 1, 
2017.
    (c)   Notwithstanding subsection (a), the provisions of this 
Act shall apply to policies, annuity contracts, and retained 
asset accounts in force at any time on or after January 1, 2000 
to the extent that an insurer has electronic searchable files 
concerning such policies, annuity contracts, and retained 
asset accounts.
    (d)   This Act does not apply to a lapsed or terminated 
policy with no benefits payable that was compared against the 
Death Master File within the 18 months following the date of 
the lapse or termination of the applicable policy or that was 
searched more than 18 months prior to the most recent 
comparison against the Death Master File conducted by the 
insurer. 
(Source: P.A. 99-893, eff. 1-1-17.)
 
    Section 10. The Vital Records Act is amended  by adding 
Section 24.6 as follows:
 
    (410 ILCS 535/24.6 new)
    Sec. 24.6. Access to records; State Treasurer. Any 
information contained in the vital records shall be made 
available at no cost to the State Treasurer for administrative 
purposes related to the Uniform Disposition of Unclaimed 
Property Act.
 
    Section 15. The Uniform Disposition of Unclaimed Property 
Act is amended  by changing Section 20 as follows:
 


    (765 ILCS 1025/20)  (from Ch. 141, par. 120)



    Sec. 20. Determination of claims. 

    (a) The State Treasurer shall consider any claim filed 
under this
Act and may, in his discretion, hold a hearing and 
receive evidence
concerning it.  Such hearing shall be conducted 
by the State Treasurer or by a
hearing officer designated by 
him.  No hearings shall be held if the
payment of the claim is 
ordered by a court, if the claimant is under court

jurisdiction, or if the claim is paid under Article XXV of the 
Probate Act
of 1975. The State Treasurer or hearing officer 
shall prepare a finding and a
decision in writing on each 
hearing, stating the substance of any evidence
heard by him, 
his findings of fact in respect thereto, and the reasons for

his decision.  The State Treasurer shall review the findings and 
decision of
each hearing conducted by a hearing officer and 
issue a final written decision.
 The final decision shall be a 
public record. Any claim of an interest in
property that is 
filed pursuant to this Act shall be considered and a finding

and decision shall be issued by the Office of the State 
Treasurer in a timely
and expeditious manner.

    (b) If the claim is allowed, and after deducting an amount 
not to
exceed $20 to cover the cost of notice publication and 
related clerical
expenses, the State Treasurer shall make 
payment forthwith.

    (c) In order to carry out the purpose of this Act, no 
person or company
shall be entitled to a fee for discovering 
presumptively abandoned property during the period beginning 
on the date the property was presumed abandoned under this Act 
and ending 24 months after the payment or delivery of the 
property to
until it has been in the custody of the Unclaimed 
Property Division
of the Office of the State Treasurer for at 
least 24 months.  Fees
for discovering property that has been in 
the custody of that division for
more than 24 months shall be 
limited to not more than 10% of the amount
collected.

    (d) A person or company attempting to collect a contingent 
fee for
discovering, on behalf of an owner, presumptively 
abandoned property must be
licensed as a private detective 
pursuant to the Private Detective, Private
Alarm, Private 
Security, Fingerprint Vendor, and Locksmith Act of 2004.

    (e) This Section shall not apply to the fees of an attorney 
at law duly
appointed to practice in a state of the United 
States who is employed by a
claimant with regard to probate 
matters on a contractual basis or to contest a denial of a 
claim for recovery of the property.

    (f) Any person or company offering to identify, discover, 
or collect presumptively abandoned property or property which 
may become presumptively abandoned on behalf of the putative 
owner of such property in exchange for a fee, must provide the 
owner with a written disclosure.  The disclosure shall be set 
forth in a clear and conspicuous manner and at a minimum shall 
state the following:
        Each state maintains an office of unclaimed property.  
    Generally, if for a number of years an owner of property 
    has not communicated directly with the holder of the 
    property, and has not otherwise indicated an interest in or 
    claimed the property, the property will be delivered to a 
    state administered unclaimed property program.  Upon such 
    delivery, the owner will be able to recover the property 
    from the state administered program without charge by the 
    state.  The unclaimed asset referred to in this Agreement 
    has not yet been reported or remitted to any state 
    unclaimed property office.  Since you reside (or resided) in 
    Illinois, you may obtain information about the Illinois 
    unclaimed property program by logging onto its website at 
    www.illinoistreasurer.gov www.treasurer.il.gov.
        A person or company may not charge a fee greater than 
    25% of the property's value for the recovery of that 
    property where the property is not yet reportable under 
    this Act and the designated owner of that property, as 
    reflected within the books and records of the holder, is 
    living.
        A person or company may not charge a fee greater than 
    33% of the property's value for the recovery of that 
    property where the property is not yet reportable under 
    this Act and the recovery of that property involves 
    documentation of the owner's death or any elements of 
    estate or trust administration. 
(Source: P.A. 95-613, eff. 9-11-07; 95-1003, eff. 6-1-09.)