Office of the Revisor of Statutes
Minnesota Session Laws - 2000, Regular Session
Key: (1) language to be deleted (2) new language
CHAPTER 367-S.F.No. 3423
An act relating to insurance; requiring the
commissioner of commerce to assist Holocaust victims
to settle claims and recover proceeds from applicable
insurance policies; proposing coding for new law in
Minnesota Statutes, chapter 60A.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
Section 1. [60A.053] [HOLOCAUST VICTIMS INSURANCE RELIEF.]
Subdivision 1. [DEFINITIONS.] For purposes of this
section, the following terms have the meaning given them in this
subdivision unless the context clearly requires otherwise:
(a) "Holocaust survivor" or "Holocaust victim" means any
person who was persecuted, imprisoned or liable to imprisonment,
or had property taken or confiscated during the period of 1933
to 1945, inclusive, by Nazi Germany, its allies, or sympathizers
based on that person's race, religion, ethnicity, physical or
mental disability, sexual orientation, or similar class or
group-based animus;
(b) "related company" means an affiliate, as defined in
section 60D.15, subdivision 2; a successor in interest; or a
managing general agent, of another company or insurer;
(c) "insurer" means an entity holding a certificate of
authority or license to conduct the business of insurance in
this state, or whose contacts with this state satisfy the
constitutional requirements for jurisdiction, that sold
Holocaust-related insurance policies, whether directly or
through or as result of sales by a related company, or is itself
a related company to any person, entity, or insurance company
that sold such policies, whether the sale of the insurance
occurred before or after becoming related;
(d) "proceeds" means the face or other payout value of
policies and annuities plus reasonable interest to date of
payments, without diminution for wartime or immediate postwar
currency devaluation, legally due under any insurance policy
issued by an insurer or any related company;
(e) "international commission" means the international
commission on Holocaust era insurance claims, referenced in and
established under a memorandum of understanding originally dated
April 8, 1998, between and among various state insurance
regulators, various alien insurance companies, and worldwide
Jewish groups, which commission held its first meeting in the
state of New York on October 21, 1998, and any successor; and
(f) "Holocaust-related insurance policies" means life,
property, liability, health, annuities, dowry, educational,
casualty, or any other type of insurance policies sold to
persons in Europe, that were in effect at any time between 1933
and 1945, regardless of when the policy was initially purchased
or written.
Subd. 2. [ASSISTANCE TO HOLOCAUST VICTIMS.] (a) The
commissioner shall assist residents of this state who are
Holocaust victims or heirs or beneficiaries of Holocaust victims
to settle and resolve claims and to recover proceeds from
insurance policies that were improperly denied or processed.
(b) The commissioner may cooperate and exchange information
with other states working on the Holocaust survivor insurance
claims issue and with the international commission, and may
enter into agreements whereby a single processing office may be
established on behalf of, and to provide services to the
residents of, several states.
Subd. 3. [HOLOCAUST INSURANCE COMPANY REGISTRY.] (a) To
facilitate the work of the commissioner under this section, the
commissioner may establish and maintain a central registry to be
known as the Holocaust insurance company registry, containing
records and information relating to Holocaust-related insurance
policies, provided by insurers as required in subdivision 4.
The commissioner shall establish standards and procedures to
make the information in the registry available to the public to
the extent necessary and appropriate to determine the existence
of insurance policies and to identify beneficiaries, successors
in interest, or other persons entitled to the proceeds of the
policies, and to enable persons to claim proceeds to which they
may be entitled, while protecting the privacy of policyholders,
their survivors, and their family members. All information
received by the Holocaust insurance company registry from any
insurer, related company, or foreign government or regulator is
considered to be working papers or documents obtained in the
course of an examination that may be treated as confidential
under section 60A.031, subdivision 4, paragraph (f). To the
extent necessary and appropriate to secure access to documents
and information located in or subject to the jurisdiction of
other states and countries, the commissioner may enter into
agreements or provide assurances that any or all documents and
information received from an entity regulated by or subject to
the laws of such other state or country, or received from any
agency of the government of any state or country, will be
treated as confidential by the commissioner and will not be
disclosed to any person except with the approval of the
appropriate authority of the state or country or except as
permitted or authorized by the laws of the state or country.
Any such agreement is binding and enforceable. To the extent
necessary and appropriate to secure access to documents and
information from or in the possession of the international
commission as to which the international commission has given
assurances of confidentiality or privacy, the commissioner may
enter into agreements or to provide assurances that the
documents and information will be treated as confidential or
protected as nonpublic by the commissioner and will not be
disclosed to any person except with the approval of the
international commission or as permitted by any agreement or
assurances given by the international commission, and any such
agreement or assurance is binding and enforceable.
(b) The commissioner may cooperate and exchange information
with other states establishing similar registries and with the
international commission, and may enter into agreements whereby
a single registry may be established on behalf of, and to
provide services to the citizens and residents of, several
states.
Subd. 4. [OPERATIONS OF HOLOCAUST INSURANCE COMPANY
REGISTRY.] (a) Any insurer that sold Holocaust-related insurance
policies shall within 180 days following the effective date of
this act, or a later date the commissioner may establish, file
or cause to be filed the following information with the
commissioner for entry into the Holocaust insurance company
registry:
(1) a list of the insurance policies and, for each policy,
the names of the insureds and beneficiaries and the face amount
of the policy;
(2) for each policy, whichever of the following that
applies:
(i) that the proceeds of the policy have been paid to the
designated beneficiaries or their heirs where that person or
persons, after diligent search, could be located and identified;
(ii) that the proceeds of the policies where the
beneficiaries or heirs could not, after diligent search, be
located or identified, have been distributed to Holocaust
survivors or to qualified charitable nonprofit organizations for
the purpose of assisting Holocaust survivors;
(iii) that a court of law has approved in a legal
proceeding resolving the rights of unpaid policyholders, their
heirs, and beneficiaries, a plan for the distribution of the
proceeds; and
(iv) that the proceeds have not been distributed and the
amount of those proceeds.
(b) An insurer currently doing business in this state that
did not sell any Holocaust-related insurance policies except
through or as a result of sales by a related company is not
subject to this subdivision if a related company, whether or not
authorized and currently doing business in this state, has made
a filing with the commissioner under this subdivision.
(c) The commissioner may fund the costs of operating the
Holocaust insurance company registry by assessments upon those
insurers providing information to the registry. The
commissioner shall allocate the assessments based upon the
number of policies reported.
(d) The commissioner may conduct investigations and
examinations of insurers for the purpose of determining
compliance with this section, verifying the accuracy and
completeness of any and all information furnished to the
Holocaust insurance company registry, and developing and
securing additional information as may be necessary or
appropriate to determine those entitled to payment under any
policy and the proceeds to which the person may be entitled, if
any. An investigation under this paragraph is considered to be
an examination under section 60A.031. The costs of the
examination must be borne by the insurer investigated, or the
insurer to whom the related company is related, pursuant to
section 60A.031, subdivision 3. Examinations may be conducted
in this state, or in the state or country of residence of the
insurer or related company, or at the place or country where the
records to be examined may be located.
(e) Notwithstanding the restrictions of section 60A.03,
subdivision 9, or 60A.031, subdivision 4, the commissioner may
cooperate with and exchange information with other states with
similar Holocaust insurance company registries, with the
National Association of Insurance Commissioners, with foreign
countries, and with the international commission. The
commissioner may enter into agreements to handle the processing
of claims and registry functions of other states, and to have
other states handle all or part of the registry and claims
processing functions for this state, as the commissioner may
determine to be appropriate. The commissioner may enter into
agreements with other states and the international commission to
treat and consider information submitted to them as submitted to
this state for the purpose of complying with this section. As
part of any such agreement, the commissioner may agree to
reimburse any other state for expenses or costs incurred and to
accept reimbursement from any other state for services with
regard to residents of the other state.
(f) A finding by the commissioner that a claim subject to
the provisions of this section should be paid must be regarded
by any court as highly persuasive evidence that the claim should
be paid.
Subd. 5. [SUSPENSION OF CERTIFICATE OF AUTHORITY FOR
FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THIS SECTION.] The commissioner may, in
accordance with section 60A.052, suspend the certificate of
authority to conduct insurance business in the state of
Minnesota of any insurer that has violated this section, until
the time that the insurer complies with this section. The
suspension does not affect or relieve the insurer from its
obligations to service its existing insureds, and does not
permit the insurer to terminate its existing insureds, except
pursuant to the terms of the insurance contract, but does
prohibit the insurer from writing new business in this state
until the suspension is lifted by the commissioner.
Subd. 6. [COOPERATION WITH INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION.] The
commissioner may suspend the application of this section to any
insurer if the commissioner has determined, in consultation with
the international commission, that:
(1) the international commission has, by December 31, 2000,
established and maintained a mechanism to accomplish
identification, adjudication, and payment of insurance policy
claims of Holocaust survivors or victims and their heirs or
beneficiaries, within a reasonable period of time; and
(2) the international commission's mechanism is functioning
effectively; and
(3) the insurer is participating in the international
commission in good faith and is working through the
international commission to resolve outstanding claims with
offers of fair settlements in a reasonable time frame.
Subd. 7. [PRIVATE RIGHTS OF ACTION PRESERVED; VENUE.] Any
Holocaust survivor, or heir or beneficiary of a Holocaust
survivor or victim, who resides in this state and has a claim
against an insurer arising out of Holocaust-related insurance
policies, may bring a legal action against that insurer to
recover on that claim in the district court of the county in
which a plaintiff resides.
Subd. 8. [EXTENSION OF STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.] An action
brought by a Holocaust survivor or the heir or beneficiary of a
Holocaust survivor or victim, seeking proceeds of
Holocaust-related insurance policies, must not be dismissed for
failure to comply with the applicable statute of limitations,
provided the action is commenced on or before December 31, 2010.
Subd. 9. [TITLE OF ACT.] This section may be known as the
"Holocaust Victims Insurance Relief Act of 2000."
Subd. 10. [EXPIRATION.] This section expires December 31,
2010.
Sec. 2. [EFFECTIVE DATE.]
Section 1 is effective the day following final enactment.
Presented to the governor April 10, 2000
Signed by the governor April 13, 2000, 4:51 p.m.
Official Publication of the State of Minnesota
Revisor of Statutes