Bill Text: FL S0936 | 2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Holocaust Victims Assistance Act
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-04-25 - Laid on Table, companion bill(s) passed, see HB 913 (Ch. 2013-149) [S0936 Detail]
Download: Florida-2013-S0936-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2013 SB 936
By Senator Lee
24-00596C-13 2013936__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to the Holocaust Victims Assistance
3 Act; amending s. 626.9543, F.S.; revising the short
4 title; broadening the act to include financial claims
5 and assets and other property, and to address the
6 effect of nonpayment of claims or nonreturn of
7 property on victims; deleting a time limitation on
8 insurers for providing certain information to the
9 Department of Financial Services and requiring
10 insurers to provide a report under certain
11 circumstances; revising the content and timing of the
12 annual report to the Legislature; providing an
13 effective date.
14
15 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
16
17 Section 1. Subsections (1) through (4), (7), (8), and (11)
18 of section 626.9543, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
19 626.9543 Holocaust victims.—
20 (1) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the
21 “Holocaust Victims Assistance Insurance Act.”
22 (2) INTENT; PURPOSE.—It is the Legislature’s intent that
23 the potential and actual insurance claims, actual financial
24 claims, and the assets and property of Holocaust victims and
25 their heirs and beneficiaries be expeditiously identified and
26 properly paid, compensated, or returned. The Legislature also
27 intends and that Holocaust victims and their families receive
28 appropriate assistance in the filing and payment of their
29 rightful claims, and in addressing the effects of the nonpayment
30 of claims or nonreturn of confiscated assets and property on the
31 victims, including assistance with gaining access to funding
32 provided to address such effects.
33 (3) DEFINITIONS.—As used in For the purpose of this
34 section, the term:
35 (a) “Holocaust victim” means any person who lost his or her
36 life or property as a result of discriminatory laws, policies,
37 or actions targeted against discrete groups of persons between
38 1920 and 1945, inclusive, in Nazi Germany, areas occupied by
39 Nazi Germany, or countries allied with Nazi Germany.
40 (b) “Insurance policy” means, but is not limited to, life
41 insurance, property insurance, or education policies.
42 (c) “Legal relationship” means any parent, subsidiary, or
43 affiliated company with an insurer doing business in this state.
44 (d) “Proceeds” means the face or other payout value of
45 policies, and annuities, or other financial instruments or
46 assets, plus reasonable interest to the date of payment payments
47 without diminution for wartime or immediate postwar currency
48 devaluation.
49 (4) ASSISTANCE TO HOLOCAUST VICTIMS.—The department shall
50 establish a toll-free telephone number, available in appropriate
51 languages, to assist any person seeking to recover insurance
52 claims or other financial proceeds or property owed from an
53 insurance policy issued to a Holocaust victim, and to assist
54 through education to mitigate the effects of the nonpayment of
55 claims or nonreturn of property on Holocaust survivors.
56 (7) REPORTS FROM INSURERS.—
57 (a) Any insurer doing business in this state has shall have
58 an affirmative duty to ascertain the following to the extent
59 possible and report to the department within 90 days after the
60 effective date of this section and annually thereafter all
61 efforts made and the results of such efforts to ascertain:
62 1.(a) Any legal relationship with an international insurer
63 that issued an insurance policy to a Holocaust victim between
64 1920 and 1945, inclusive.
65 2.(b) The number and total value of such policies.
66 3.(c) Any claim filed by a Holocaust victim, his or her
67 beneficiary, heir, or descendant that has been paid, denied
68 payment, or is pending.
69 4.(d) Attempts made by the insurer to locate the
70 beneficiaries of any such policies for which a no claim of
71 benefits has not been made.
72 5.(e) An explanation of any denial or pending payment of a
73 claim to a Holocaust victim, his or her beneficiary, heir, or
74 descendant.
75 (b) Insurers shall timely file a new report if there are
76 any changes to the previous report, or if requested to do so by
77 the department. Insurers shall timely provide any information
78 regarding unpaid Holocaust claims or any information necessary
79 to substantiate the accuracy of such reports upon the request of
80 the department.
81 (8) REPORTS TO THE LEGISLATURE.—By July 1 of each year, the
82 department shall report to the Legislature 1 year after the
83 effective date of this section and annually thereafter:
84 (a) The number of insurers doing business in this state
85 which have a legal relationship with an international insurer
86 that could have issued a policy to a Holocaust victim between
87 1920 and 1945, inclusive.
88 (b) A list of all claims paid, denied, or pending to a
89 Holocaust victim, his or her beneficiary, heir, or descendant.
90 (c) Any efforts made on behalf of Holocaust victims to
91 secure financial reparations or other assistance A summary of
92 the length of time for the processing and disposition of a claim
93 by the insurer.
94 (11) RULES.—The department, by rule, shall provide for the
95 implementation of the provisions of this section by establishing
96 procedures and related forms for facilitating, monitoring, and
97 verifying compliance with this section and for the establishment
98 of a restitution and assistance program for Holocaust victims,
99 survivors, and their heirs and beneficiaries.
100 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2013.
