In a recent article in The CPA Journal, John Powers considers how decades of compliance failures in the life insurance industry have resulted in billions of dollars in unpaid benefits and uninformed beneficiaries.
“Secrets like these shouldn’t stay buried,” said John Powers, a certified fraud examiner (CFE) and president of Hudson Intelligence.
In January 2019, MetLife, one of the largest providers of life insurance and annuities, entered into a consent order with the New York State Department of Financial Services and agreed to pay restitution of more than $189 million in retroactive benefits, plus a fine of nearly $20 million, after acknowledging it had failed – for nearly 20 years – to take reasonable efforts to confirm the death of insured parties and notify policy beneficiaries. This regulatory action is only the latest proof of underreporting and nonpayment of estate and beneficiary interests resulting from systemic compliance failures in the life insurance industry.
“A series of major settlements – related to $7.5 billion in unclaimed policy benefits – should serve as cautionary examples for attorneys, executors, accountants and heirs seeking information from insurers and financial institutions on assets and accounts for estate and probate purposes,” observes Powers.
Read the full article at The CPA Journal.