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.