|
| ||
|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE HOLOCAUST
CLAIMS PROCESS KANSAS CITY, Mo. (March 20, 2007) - The International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims (ICHEIC) announced today that its claims and appeals processes have concluded. More than $300 million in awards were distributed to more than 48,000 Holocaust survivors and their heirs. The ICHEIC was established in 1998 by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), in conjunction with several European insurance companies, European governments, representatives of several Jewish and Holocaust survivor organizations, and the State of Israel to ensure payment of valid insurance claims. The NAIC has led the states’ interaction with the ICHEIC, assisting claimants and their heirs with the process. “In the world of the Holocaust survivor and their families, there is little opportunity to obtain financial compensation for the torture and loss that is part of their wartime histories,” said ICHEIC Vice Chairman and former Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Diane Koken. “In point of fact, we will never be able to make true reparation for the horror or misery they endured, but we can and have held insurance companies responsible to pay for the promise of protection offered by Holocaust-era insurance policies.” ICHEIC was charged with expeditiously addressing, at no cost to claimants, unpaid insurance policies issued to victims of the Holocaust. It conducted an extensive worldwide outreach campaign to encourage claimants to file, and more than 70 European insurance companies and partner entities participated in the process. An extensive archival investigation and matching process resulted in member company offers to 8,000 claimants, totaling nearly $100 million on claims that originally did not name an insurance company. ICHEIC also extended $30 million in awards through its Eastern European humanitarian claims process for claims on policies written by companies nationalized or liquidated after World War II and for which no present-day successor could be identified. ICHEIC extended an additional 31,000 humanitarian awards totaling $31 million on eligible undocumented claims that contained a high level of anecdotal information regarding insurance but could not be matched against company records. These awards were made in recognition of the fact that, due to the ravages of war and the passage of time, many claims cannot be substantiated today. For more information about ICHEIC, please visit www.icheic.org.
About the NAIC Headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) is a voluntary organization of the chief insurance regulatory officials of the 50 states, the District of Columbia and the five U.S. territories. The NAIC’s overriding objective is to assist state insurance regulators in protecting consumers and helping maintain the financial stability of the insurance industry by offering financial, actuarial, legal, computer, research, market conduct and economic expertise. Formed in 1871, the NAIC is the oldest association of state officials. For more than 135 years, state-based insurance supervision has served the needs of consumers, industry and the business of insurance at-large by ensuring hands-on, frontline protection for consumers, while providing insurers the uniform platforms and coordinated systems they need to compete effectively in an ever-changing marketplace. For more information, visit NAIC on the Web at: http://www.naic.org/press_home.htm.
You are currently subscribed to the “NAIC
News Release” electronic service. To unsubscribe from NAIC Electronic Services, send a blank e-mail to NAIC Opt Out services. |
| |
|
©2007 National Association of Insurance Commissioners. All rights reserved. | ||
