DawsonTimes.com

Insurance Commissioner John W. Oxendine and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) have a new tool at https://eapps.naic.org/restitution/ to help military service members research and recover compensation resulting from a 2006 multi-state regulatory settlement agreement over life insurance sales practices to the military.

“This web application is designed to make it easier for our military service members to determine if they are eligible for compensation by simply entering their first and last name in the search engine,” Oxendine said. “If you have one of these policies or are the beneficiary of such a policy, you are entitled to a cash payment, even if the policy has already been terminated.”

More than 14,000 service members who purchased life insurance products from American-Amicable Life Insurance Company of Texas or its two affiliates — Pioneer American Insurance Company and Pioneer Security Life Insurance Company — are owed more than $2.3 million from the multi-state settlement. With this Web tool, military members can determine their eligibility for compensation by simply entering an individual’s first and last name in the search engine.

The multi-state agreement was signed by 46 states, the District of Columbia and Guam. Service member policyholders (or a named beneficiary) of a “Horizon Life” policy issued between Jan. 1, 2000, and July 28, 2006, might be entitled to compensation and/or increased policy benefits. Policyholders who have been paid a death benefit or who have received a full refund are not eligible to receive compensation.

The settlement agreement was the culmination of a 20-month investigation led by the Georgia and Texas insurance departments, the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The investigation followed allegations by state insurance regulators and federal agencies that the American-Amicable companies violated insurance and consumer protection statutes in the sale and marketing of certain life insurance products to U.S. military servicemembers.

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