New York investigation brings flood of life insurance payments
New York investigation brings flood of life insurance payments
Life insurers paid $52.6 million in previously unpaid death benefits this week on policies in New York state, after the state’s banking and insurance regulators forced the companies to use government data to identify cases where they hadn’t paid claims, Bloomberg reported.
Nearly 8,000 beneficiaries received the money, according to a statement Tuesday from the New York Department of Financial Services. Claims are being processed on an additional 27,889 polices for which matches were found. About 1 million policies need further checking as a result of the department’s probe, according to the statement.
The longest wait for a payment was connected to a policyholder who died in 1970, according to the statement. The largest award so far was $673,485. Insurers must provide interest on delayed payments, the department said.
Insurers have faced increased scrutiny from regulators in Florida, California and other states over unpaid death benefits. MetLife Inc. (MET), the largest U.S. life insurer, took a $117 million charge in the third quarter related to unpaid death benefits, and American International Group Inc. (AIG) added about $100 million to reserves in the second quarter after changing its process for determining when policyholders die.
Life insurers paid $52.6 million in previously unpaid death benefits this week on policies in New York state, after the state’s banking and insurance regulators forced the companies to use government data to identify cases where they hadn’t paid claims, Bloomberg reported.
Nearly 8,000 beneficiaries received the money, according to a statement Tuesday from the New York Department of Financial Services. Claims are being processed on an additional 27,889 polices for which matches were found. About 1 million policies need further checking as a result of the department’s probe, according to the statement.
The longest wait for a payment was connected to a policyholder who died in 1970, according to the statement. The largest award so far was $673,485. Insurers must provide interest on delayed payments, the department said.
Insurers have faced increased scrutiny from regulators in Florida, California and other states over unpaid death benefits. MetLife Inc. (MET), the largest U.S. life insurer, took a $117 million charge in the third quarter related to unpaid death benefits, and American International Group Inc. (AIG) added about $100 million to reserves in the second quarter after changing its process for determining when policyholders die.
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