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Prudential Insurance Co. has entered into a $17 million settlement with seven states to assist conclude an investigation into how the corporate uses the Social Security Administration's Death Master File to search out life insurance policyholders who have died.

The settlement is that the latest chapter within the company's effort to indicate regulators that it's operating to implement systems designed to boost how it uses the Death Master File. Last month, the corporate settled with concerning twenty states and agreed to use new standards to how it uses the file for policies dating back to 1992 (Best's News Service, Jan. 16, 2012).

This new settlement, that was reached with insurance departments in seven states, would require the corporate to use new standards to policies going forward. The states that have signed on embrace California, Florida, Illinois, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

For the agreement to become effective, a complete of a minimum of twenty states ought to sign All states have till March thirty one to sign the agreement to become eligible to receive the distribution of the settlement payment.

Under the newest settlement, Prudential can part in enhanced search practices over a three-year amount, together with the utilization of expanded matching criteria to spot deceased policyholders, a lot of frequent matching against the Social Security Death Master File and therefore the adoption of a prescribed methodology for locating beneficiaries.

If beneficiaries can't be located, Prudential should flip the proceeds owed to beneficiaries over to the states as needed by state unclaimed property laws.

The settlement additionally involves The Prudential Insurance Company of America, Pruco Life Insurance Company, Pruco Life Insurance Company of latest Jersey, Prudential Retirement Insurance and Annuity Company and Prudential Annuities Life Assurance Corporation.

The settlement doesn't need Prudential money to admit wrongdoing.

"Our company remains committed to paying the claims of our customers," Prudential said in a very statement. "As the primary money services company to achieve agreement on the new standards developed by a task force established by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, Prudential is happy to figure with our regulators to develop and implement best practices for our trade."

Insurance regulators are investigating why life insurers allegedly use the Death Master File to chop off annuity payments once a contract holder dies, however are not using identical data to see if any death profit payments are due below life insurance policies, annuity contracts, or retained asset accounts. To date, thirty five states have coordinated with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners on investigations into whether or not industrywide practices have resulted in insurers knowing concerning policyholders' deaths whereas still continuing to draw-down premium prices from their accounts till the money reserves were diminished entirely.

Regulators have estimated that as a results of those allegedly improper payment practices, the combined damages across the affected states could exceed $1 billion (Best's News Service, May 24, 2011).