The Governor of Maryland declared a state of emergency in two Maryland Counties: Frederick and Washington, because of severe storms and rains that occurred during the week of May 23, 2018. The Insurance Commissioner issued the subject Bulletin requiring compliance from all insurance carriers. Pursuant to our Policyholder Disaster Response Plan, we have extended the grace period for policies in the affected area to sixty (60) days for policyholders in the two counties impacted by this disaster, with no lapsing of policies with a due date of May 13, 2018, through May 19, 2018. To comply with this requirement the extension of the grace period will be through July 19, 2018. All employees should be aware of this disaster when serving policyholders affected by the disaster. After July 19, 2018, all policies will resume normal processing.

Compliance Action Item:

• At the end of the disaster period (July 19th), send a letter to all policyholders whose policy either went inactive or would have gone inactive during the disaster period and offer to reinstate their policy without evidence of insurability by paying all past-due premium.
• Claims – Review all claims from the affected area to ensure that the extension of the grace period is considered for policies that may have lapsed during the disaster period;
• Policy Administration – Review all requests for policy increases for the effect the grace period extension has on such decision to permit policy increase;
• Underwriting – Review all requests for reinstatement for policies that were affected by the disaster to determine whether to require evidence of insurability for the reinstatement.

The Department Bulletin can be viewed by accessing the following link.
Maryland Department Bulletin

Should you have any questions or require further information about this Compliance Update, please feel free to contact Gerber Life at 800-428-4947.
 

#goldencareagent
#gerber