Update on West Virginia Life Insurance Legislation

We recently published a brief post concerning West Virginia legislation relating to the obligation (or not) of life insurers to review the Social Security Death Master File (DMF) to determine when a life insurance policy becomes payable.  After the West Virginia Supreme Court held that life insurers had a duty to periodically ascertain when life insurance policies become payable, a few West Virginia legislators introduced a bill that would largely undo that decision - by specifically providing that "the obligation to pay does not arise until after a claim is made."

Instead of that legislation, however, the West Virginia legislature recently passed a bill that would make DMF searches a statutory requirement for insurers.  The bill has been sent to the Governor for action.