News: 2009 Press Release

Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) today released a new tool at www.naic.org to help military servicemembers research and recover compensation resulting from a 2006 multistate regulatory settlement agreement over life insurance sales practices to the military.

"When the brave men and women of our armed forces are not treated with the respect they deserve in the insurance marketplace, regulators will take action to make whole each and every person who had been targeted by inappropriate sales," said Commissioner Poizner. "I am pleased that through this website, we are able to provide an important tool to help locate and identify those who are now owed compensation. "

More than 14,000 servicemembers 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 multistate 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 multistate agreement was signed by 46 states, including California, the District of Columbia and Guam. Servicemember 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 Texas and Georgia 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.

Commissioner Poizner continues to collaborate with the NAIC Military Sales Working Group to monitor the marketplace for inappropriate sales activities to the military. For more information, visit www.naic.org/committees_ex_military.htm.