§ 26-16-505 — Unclaimed life insurance benefits

(a) An insurer shall perform a comparison of its insureds'
policies and retained asset accounts against a death master file
on at least a semi-annual basis by using the full death master
file once and thereafter using the death master file update
files for future comparisons in order to identify potential
matches of its insureds.
(b) Not later than ninety (90) days after a death master
file match an insurer shall:
(i) Complete and document a good faith effort to
confirm the death of the insured or retained asset account
holder against other available records and information; and
(ii) Determine whether benefits are due in accordance
with the applicable policy. If benefits are due in accordance
with the applicable policy the insurer shall complete and
document good faith efforts to locate the beneficiary. The
insurer shall also provide the appropriate claims forms or
instructions to the beneficiary to make a claim including the
need to provide an official death certificate, if applicable
under the policy.
(c) With respect to group life insurance, an insurer shall
confirm the possible death of an insured pursuant to paragraph
(b)(i) of this section when the insurer maintains at least the
following information on those covered under a policy:
(i) Social security number or name and date of birth;
(ii) Beneficiary designation;
(iii) Coverage eligibility;
(iv) Benefit amount; and
(v) Premium payment status.
(d) Every insurer shall implement procedures to account
for all of the following:
(i) 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;
(ii) Compound last names, maiden or married names and
hyphens, blank spaces or apostrophes in last names;
(iii) Transposition of the month and date within a
date of birth;
(iv) Incomplete social security numbers.
(e) To the extent permitted by law, an insurer may
disclose minimum necessary personal information about the
insured or beneficiary to a person whom the insurer reasonably
believes may be able to assist the insurer in locating the
beneficiary.
(f) 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 section.
(g) Benefits due and owing from a policy or a retained
asset account, plus any applicable accrued contractual interest,
shall first be payable to the designated beneficiary. If the
beneficiary cannot be found, the insurer shall comply with the
applicable provisions of the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act.
Interest otherwise payable as required by law shall not be
considered unclaimed property pursuant to W.S. 34-24-120(a).
(h) Once benefits and accrued contractual interest are
presumed abandoned under W.S. 34-24-108, the insurer shall
notify the state treasurer, as part of the report sent under
W.S. 34-24-118, that:
(i) A beneficiary has not submitted a claim with the
insurer; and
(ii) The insurer has complied with this section and
has been unable, after good faith efforts documented by the
insurer, to contact the beneficiary.
(j) Failure to meet any requirement of this section may
constitute an unfair trade practice and is subject to the
penalty provided in W.S. 26-1-107.
(k) As used in this section:
(i) "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;
(ii) "Death master file match" means a search of the
death master file that results in a match of the social security
number or the name and date of birth of an insured, annuity
owner or retained asset account holder;
(iii) "Policy" means any policy or certificate of
life insurance that provides a death benefit or any annuity
contract, except that the term shall not include:
(A) Any policy or certificate of life insurance
that provides a death benefit under an employee benefit plan
that is:
(I) Subject to the Employee Retirement
Income Security Act of 1974; or
(II) Part of a federal employee benefit
program.
(B) Any policy or certificate of life insurance
that is used to fund a prearranged funeral contract;
(C) Any policy or certificate of credit life or
accidental death insurance;
(D) Any policy issued to a group master
policyholder for which the insurer does not provide record
keeping services; or
(E) An annuity used to fund an employment based
retirement plan or program if the insurer:
(I) Does not perform the record keeping
services; or
(II) Is not committed by terms of the
annuity contract to pay death benefits to the beneficiaries of
specific plan participants.
(iv) "Record keeping services" means services
provided by an insurer for a group policy customer pursuant to
an agreement under which the insurer is responsible for
obtaining, maintaining and administering, in its own or its
agent's systems, at least the following information about each
individual insured under the group policy or a line of coverage
thereunder:
(A) Social security number or name and date of
birth;
(B) Beneficiary designation information;
(C) Coverage eligibility;
(D) Benefit amount; and
(E) Premium payment status.
(v) "Retained asset account" means any mechanism
whereby the settlement of proceeds payable under a policy 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.