215 ILCS 185/15 — Illinois Code / Chapter 215 / Act 185 / Section 15
Section 15
Status: in_force

(215 ILCS 185/15) Sec. 15. Insurer conduct. (a) An insurer shall initially perform a comparison of its insureds', annuitants', and retained asset account holders' in-force policies, annuity contracts, and retained asset accounts in force on or after January 1, 2017 by using the full Death Master File. The initial comparison shall be completed on or before December 31, 2017. An insurer required to perform a comparison of its insureds', annuitants', and retained asset account holders' in-force policies, annuity contracts, and retained asset accounts in force on or after January 1, 2012 shall perform a comparison of policies, annuity contracts, and retained asset accounts in force between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2016 on or before December 31, 2018 by using the full Death Master File. An insurer required to perform a comparison of electronic searchable files concerning its insureds', annuitants', and retained asset account holders' in-force policies, annuity contracts, and retained asset accounts in force on or after January 1, 2000 shall perform a comparison of policies, annuity contracts, and retained asset accounts in force between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2016 on or before December 31, 2018 by using the full Death Master File. Thereafter, an insurer shall perform a comparison on at least a semi-annual basis using the Death Master File update files for comparisons to identify potential matches of its insureds, annuitants, and retained asset account holders. In the event that one of the insurer's lines of business conducts a search for matches of its insureds, annuitants, and retained asset account holders against the Death Master File at intervals more frequently than semi-annually, then all lines of the insurer's business shall conduct searches for matches against the Death Master File with the same frequency. Within 6 months after acquisition of policies, annuity contracts, or retained asset accounts from another insurer, the acquiring insurer shall compare all newly acquired policies, annuity contracts, and retained asset accounts that were not searched by the previous insurer in compliance with this Act against the complete Death Master File to identify potential matches of its insureds, annuitants, and retained asset account holders. Upon any subsequent acquisition of policies, annuity contracts, or retained asset accounts from another insurer, when the previous insurer has already conducted a search of the newly acquired policies, annuity contracts, and retained asset accounts using the complete Death Master File, the acquiring insurer shall compare all newly acquired policies, annuity contracts, and retained asset accounts using all of the Death Master File updates since the time the previous insurer conducted the complete search to identify potential matches of its insureds, annuitants, and retained asset account holders. An insured, an annuitant, or a retained asset account holder is presumed dead if the date of his or her death is indicated by the comparison required in this subsection (a), unless the insurer has competent and substantial evidence that the person is living, including, but not limited to, a contact made by the insurer with the person or his or her legal representative. For those potential matches identified as a result of a Death Master File match, the insurer shall within 120 days after the date of death notice, if the insurer has not been contacted by a beneficiary, determine whether benefits are due in accordance with the applicable policy or contract and, if benefits are due in accordance with the applicable policy or contract: (1) use good faith efforts, which shall be documented by the insurer, to locate the