If you had any doubt whose side the GOP is on, you shouldn’t after reading the N&O’s story about unclaimed insurance policies. The Senate has passed a bill that would essentially allow large insurers to keep the money from unclaimed life insurance policies. Many were not paid out because survivors of the insured didn’t know the policies existed. In other words, the Senate wants to let insurers scam people.
A lot of these policies were taken out years ago and the insurance companies were never notified of the death of the policy holders. However, with computers, that’s not hard to track down these days. The insurance companies point out that prior to the computer age a lot of records were kept on index cards and often didn’t have social security numbers or birth dates. That, though, seems to be their problem, not the beneficiaries.
With some of the these policies, the policy holders stopped paying. However, instead of finding out why, the companies just used the principal to keep paying the premiums until the balanced was drained. In essence, the companies stole these people’s hard earned money.
According to the N&O story, a lot of the policies “were ‘industrial life policies’ that workers bought. They paid about a dollar a month to insurance agents who knocked on their doors or showed up at factory gates.” In other words, they were policies taken out by poor people in an attempt to leave their loved ones something when they died.
This is the same GOP which ended an estate tax on multi-millionaires. They want to make sure that rich families get to keep all of their money after they die but they want poor folks to give up theirs. They’re ready to enshrine an inherited class but they’re not willing to protect the working class.
Fortunately, Treasurer Janet Cowell is trying to force the insurance companies to pay what they owe. She’s called the Senate bill exactly what it is–a “money grab.” Her office is in charge of unclaimed assets. She wants the insurance companies to go through their records, find unclaimed policies and turn the money over to the state where notice will be put on a website so beneficiaries can find the money they’re owed. Cowell knows whose side she’s on.
Other states have made the insurance companies live up to their end of the bargain. We should, too.
Thomas Mills is the founder and publisher of PoliticsNC.com. Before beginning PoliticsNC, Thomas spent twenty years as a political and public affairs consultant. Learn more >
Our legislators are about who gives them money to get elected.once elected it is all about greed to the very very very wealthy until they become very powerful and line their pockets at the little person/elderly,poor, and lower middle class expense. Eventually there will be only the very rich who don’t care about anyone but themselves and big business. look at the laws passed concerning our rural communities . Look who paid got the biggest tax hike in the sales tax revenues the sole proprietors (mom and pop business or I employee co) the little guy.
Such monies used to go to the escheats officer for the state and this officer attempted to find the beneficiaries and if there were truly none the money was given to the state universities.
My money’s on Our Janet, a model public servant.
NCGOP supports insurance companies over beneficiaries. NCGOP also outlawed mention of fracking ingredients. NCGOP made it illegal to link global warming with rise in sea levels. NCGOP has made it clear Duke Energy can take as long as it wants to clean up the Dan River and pass the costs of its infrastructure negligence on to consumers. NCGOP has worked extremely hard to disenfranchise NC voters.
Whose side are they on? Not the voters – but unfortunately, in the upside-down world that is NC, voters don’t seem to care and keep voting these crooks back into office.