Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation Division of Insurance	NEWS

Illinois Approves Race-based Insurance Settlement Agreements

SPRINGFIELD –The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, Division of Insurance, recently approved two multi-state regulatory settlement agreements involving allegations of race-based life insurance sales by American National Insurance Company and New York Life Insurance Company.

“These agreements provide Illinois policyholders of these two companies the chance to recoup premiums that were based upon the policyholder’s race,” said, Deirdre K. Manna, Acting Director of the Division of Insurance. “Insurance policies, formally known as industrial life or burial insurance, were sold to individuals seeking coverage for their funeral expenses.”

Insurance regulators have found that in certain instances, companies have charged African-American and other minority policyholders more for the coverage than was charged for non-minorities. These policies were sold over the past 60 years, but most companies ceased the practice in the 1960s.

Potential aggregate payments by the insurers involved could reach as high as $20 million. Several thousand Illinois residents may be eligible to participate.

Consumers believing that they were charged inappropriate premiums for the purchase of an industrial life insurance policy may contact New York Life at 1-866-891-0614 or American National at 1-866-229-9685 for information on how to participate in the settlement.