2005 Washington Revised Code RCW 48.104.060: Holocaust insurance company registry — Operations — Penalties — Funding. (Expires December 31, 2010.)

(1) Any insurer that sold life, property, liability, health, annuities, dowry, educational, or casualty insurance policies, to persons in Europe, that were in effect any time between 1933 and 1945, regardless of when the policy was initially purchased or written, shall within ninety days following July 25, 1999, or such later date as the insurance commissioner may establish, file or cause to be filed the following information with the insurance commissioner to be entered into the Holocaust insurance company registry:

     (a) A list of such insurance policies;

     (b) The insureds, beneficiaries, and face amounts of such policies;

     (c) A comparison of the names and other available identifying information of insureds and beneficiaries of such policies and the names and other identifying information of the victims of the Holocaust. The names and other identifying information of victims of the Holocaust shall be provided by the office of the insurance commissioner and may be obtained from the United States Holocaust museum and the Yad Vashem repository in Israel, or other sources;

     (d) For each such policy, whichever of the following that may apply:

     (i) That the proceeds of the policy have been paid to the designated beneficiaries or their heirs where that person or persons, after diligent search, could be located and identified;

     (ii) That the proceeds of the policies where the beneficiaries or heirs could not, after diligent search, be located or identified, have been distributed to Holocaust survivors or to qualified charitable nonprofit organizations for the purpose of assisting Holocaust survivors;

     (iii) That a court of law has certified in a legal proceeding resolving the rights of unpaid policyholders, their heirs, and beneficiaries, a plan for the distribution of the proceeds;

     (iv) That the proceeds have not been distributed and the amount of those proceeds.

     (2) The destruction of any records or other materials pertaining to such policies shall be a class C felony according to chapter 9A.20 RCW. Evidence of the destruction of such material shall be admissible in both administrative and judicial proceedings as evidence in support of any claim being made against the insurer involving the destroyed material.

     (3) An insurer currently doing business in the state that did not sell any insurance policies in Europe prior to 1945 except through or as a result of sales by a related company shall not be subject to this section if a related company, whether or not authorized and currently doing business in the state, has made a filing with the insurance commissioner under this section.

     (4) The insurance commissioner may fund the costs of operating both the Holocaust survivor assistance office and the Holocaust claims registry by assessments upon those insurers providing information to the Holocaust insurance company registry. The insurance commissioner shall establish standards and procedures to fairly allocate the costs of the Holocaust insurance company registry and Holocaust survivor assistance office among such insurers. The insurance commissioner is expressly authorized to allocate such costs based on the number of policies reported or, based on the total monetary amount of the policies as determined by their face amounts without regard to inflation, interest, or depreciation.

     (5) The insurance commissioner is authorized to conduct investigations and examinations of insurers for the purpose of determining compliance with this chapter, verifying the accuracy and completeness of any and all information furnished to the Holocaust insurance company registry and the Holocaust survivor assistance office, and developing and securing such additional information as may be necessary or appropriate to determine those entitled to payment under any policy and the proceeds to which such person may be entitled, if any. Any such investigation shall be considered to be an examination under chapter 48.03 RCW. The costs of any such examination will be borne by the insurer investigated, or the insurer to whom the related company is related, pursuant to RCW 48.03.060(2). Examinations may be conducted in this state, or in the state or country of residence of the insurer or related company, or at such other place or country where the records to be examined may be located.

     (6) The insurance commissioner may permit the Holocaust insurance company registry or the Holocaust survivor assistance office or both to accept information and to assist claimants with regard to the location and recovery of property or assets taken or confiscated from Holocaust victims other than insurance policies if the insurance commissioner finds that doing so would not adversely affect the operations of the registry or Holocaust survivor assistance office with regard to insurance policies. However, all costs and expenses, including that of personnel, attributable to such noninsurance assets shall be separately accounted for and shall not be assessed against insurers under subsections (4) and (5) of this section and shall not be paid from the general funds of the office of the insurance commissioner, but shall be paid solely from contributions or donations received for that purpose.

     (a) The insurance commissioner may accept contributions from any other person wishing to fund the operations of the Holocaust survivor assistance office or the Holocaust insurance company registry to facilitate the resolution of claims involving Holocaust victims.

     (b) The insurance commissioner is authorized to assist in the creation of an entity to accept tax deductible contributions to support activities conducted by the Holocaust survivor assistance office and the Holocaust insurance company registry.

     (c) The insurance commissioner, through the Holocaust survivor assistance office, is authorized, with the consent of the parties, to act as mediator of any dispute involving the claim of a Holocaust victim or his or her heirs or beneficiaries arising from an occurrence during the period between January 1, 1933, and December 31, 1945.

     (7) The insurance commissioner is authorized to cooperate with and exchange information with other states with similar Holocaust insurance company registries or Holocaust survivor assistance offices, with the national association of insurance commissioners, with foreign countries and with the international commission. The insurance commissioner is authorized to enter into agreements to handle the processing of claims and registry functions of other states, and to have other states handle all or part of the registry and claims processing functions for this state, as the insurance commissioner may determine to be appropriate. The insurance commissioner is authorized to enter into agreements with other states and the international commission to treat and consider information submitted to them as submitted to this state for [the] purpose of complying with this chapter. As part of any such agreement, the insurance commissioner may agree to reimburse any other state for expenses or costs incurred and such reimbursement shall be recovered by the insurance commissioner as an expense of operating the Holocaust insurance company registry and Holocaust survivor assistance office under subsections (4) and (5) of this section, and to accept reimbursement from any other state for services with regard to residents of such other state.

     (8) A finding by the insurance commissioner that a claim subject to the provisions of this section should be paid shall be regarded by any court as highly persuasive evidence that such claim should be paid.

[1999 c 8 § 6.]