A 2012 law that requires life insurance companies to make a good-faith effort to locate beneficiaries of policies they have sold would be applied retroactively under legislation that cleared the House Banking and Insurance Committee.
House Bill 408, sponsored by Rep. Chris Harris, D-Forest Hills, specifies that life insurance companies must honor life insurance policies and related agreement that they issued before and after the passage of the 2012 Unclaimed Life Insurance Benefits Act. The law requires life insurance companies to determine if a policy holder has died and then make a solid effort to locate beneficiaries of his or her policy.
HB 408 was filed by Harris this month after the state dropped its defense of the 2012 law in a case filed by several life insurance companies against the law four years ago. The companies argued that the law should not apply to policies issued before the legislation took effect.
An appeals court agreed, saying Kentucky law requires a retroactivity provision in any law that is intended to apply to a period before the law took effect.
Harris said HB 408 includes that provision, thereby ensuring that thousands of mostly low-dollar burial plans are honored.
“This bill will not require insurance companies to pay one red cent more than their contract requires them to pay. It does however require them to make a concerted effort to pay what they actually owe to our constituents,” said Harris.
Questions about the extent companies would have to go through to find beneficiaries were raised by Rep. Brad Montell, R-Shelbyville, who said many policies were sold door-to-door 50 or 60 years ago and beneficiaries of those policies may be hard to track.
“How much additional work will these smaller insurance companies expected to put into this, you know a $500 policy or $2500 policy sold 50 or 60 years ago?” Montell asked. “I want to enforce payment to beneficiaries, I just don’t want it to be unreasonable on this retroactive part of the law.”
Making a good-faith effort will not require a company to “perform miracles” and locate people who are nearly impossible to find, said Harris. “But it does require them to make a good-faith effort to find some of these beneficiaries who are owed this money and haven’t received it.”
House Banking and Insurance Chair Rep. Jeff Greer, D-Brandenburg, said smaller life insurance policies still serve a purpose in the market no matter how many decades have passed, adding “we need to tighten this up some.”
Rep. James Tipton, R-Taylorsville, told his fellow committee members that adding a retroactivity provision to the 2012 law is “the right thing” to correct what he called an “oversight”. “I am a real estate agent and one thing I’ve learned is … it’s always best to be complete,” said Tipton.
Twenty two states including Kentucky have adopted laws requiring insurers to make a good-faith effort to locate beneficiaries of death and burial benefits, said Harris.
HB 408 now goes to the full House for consideration.
Panel passes peace officer protection bill
Lawmakers serving on the House Judiciary Committee unanimously passed a bill that that would make attempted murder of a peace officer or firefighter an offense with longer prison time.
Paducah Democrat Gerald Watkins, who sponsored House Bill 137, said he was pleased with the action. If the bill becomes law, it would require that 85 percent of the defendant’s sentence be served before probation or parole.
“This common-sense piece of legislation sends a strong message,” Watkins said. “We want to protect those who protect us.”
Watkins testified that those committing these crimes are eligible for parole/probation after only serving about 20 percent of their sentence.
“Increasing prison time for those who commit these crimes is what we should be doing,” he added.
The measure, which is set to be considered by the entire House, is endorsed by the Kentucky State Fraternal Order of Police, the Kentucky Sheriff’s Association, and the Kentucky Professional Firefighter’s Association.
Autism bill gets Senate committee approval
A bill intended to foster continued improvements in services for individuals with autism spectrum disorders passed the Senate Health and Welfare Committee.
Senate Bill 185, sponsored by Senate Health and Welfare Chair Julie Raque Adams, R-Louisville, would require Kentucky to have an Advisory Council on Autism Spectrum Disorders and a state Office of Autism. The advisory council has already been created by an executive order in 2013 and the Office of Autism was established in 2014 to coordinate and enhance the services of statewide and regional agencies. The legislation would make these entities permanent by law.
Harold Kleinert, co-chair of the Advisory Council on Autism Spectrum Disorders, says that SB 185 would ensure that there aren’t gaps in providing services to individuals with an autism spectrum disorder.
“It’s a complex series of moving parts, and the way to deal with that is an advisory council that represents the key state agencies, state universities, families and self-advocates,” said Kleinert. “No single agency has within its own scope a sufficient charge to really address the lifespan needs of individuals with autism spectrum disorders and their families.”
SB 185 now moves to the Senate for consideration.
Tenant protection bill passes House
Victims of domestic violence would be able to get out of a lease with at least 30 days’ notice to their landlord under a bill that has passed the Kentucky House.
House Bill 41, sponsored by Rep. Joni Jenkins, D-Shively, would allow tenants who have a domestic violence order or interpersonal protective order against someone to get out of a rental agreement or housing lease established after the proposed law takes effect. Civil liability for the landlord’s loss of income due to the lease termination would fall to the alleged abuser, according to the bill.
The provisions would apply whether or not the alleged abuser named in a protective order is a co-tenant, the bill states.
Additionally, HB 41 would prohibit landlords from denying someone a lease based on the fact that a person has taken out an emergency protective order, domestic violence order or other type of restraining order. The bill also would prohibit landlords from using rental agreements to penalize tenants who request assistance from emergency services and allow a victim to request that locks be changed by the landlord with at least 72 hours’ notice.
HB 41 passed the chamber by a vote of 90-3. It now goes to the Senate for consideration.
From LRC Public Information