Westwood, MA. – (October 3, 2005) – MIB Group, Inc. today announced a program whereby the next of kin of victims from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita can use their Policy Locator Service without charge to search for life insurance application activity that may help locate in-force policies, where the victim�s records were destroyed by these storms. MIB, a century-old industry trade association that represents nearly 500 U.S. and Canadian insurance carriers, maintains the largest database of information on individuals who have applied for life insurance, which is used by underwriters to detect and deter fraud on policy applications.
As the flood waters recede and the recovery of the deceased continues, locating personal records of the victims and determining the aggregate benefits due to beneficiaries will become a daunting and frustrating task for those seeking information. Next of kin may be unaware of the insurance assets a victim had in place and in most instances, any records were likely lost or destroyed. Adding to the challenge is the fact that no central database exists for consumers to search industry-wide for in-force life insurance policies.
�Without a central database, searching for the existence of a policy is a company-by-company process,� says Fran Georgianna, Vice President and Chief Market and Membership Officer. �However, our Policy Locator Service tracks application activity for ten years from our member companies and those carriers issue approximately 90 percent of the individual life insurance policies written in North America.
We ask for the cooperation of the media and the respective agencies to spread the word, so that families of the victims of this disaster can use our service without charge to help locate critical benefits,� states Georgianna. �We expect our information while not a guarantee the insurance was ever issued or in-force can provide assistance for families attempting to settle the estates of loved ones,� Georgianna added.
MIB is offering these next of kin a free search using their Policy Locator Service with the completion of a �Special Affidavit in Lieu of Death Certificate,� downloadable from their web site at http://www.mib.com/hurricane.
If a record(s) of an application for insurance is found, MIB will indicate when and by which carrier along with contact information in a reply to the next of kin making the inquiry. Visit http://www.mib.com/hurricane for details about the program and what search records are contained in the database.
About MIB Group, Inc.
Headquartered in Westwood, Massachusetts, MIB Group, Inc., is the premier provider of Internet-based information and knowledge services to the risk management market space in North America and is a leading facilitator of electronic insurance commerce. MIB customers underwrite over 95 percent of the premium dollars for individual life insurance issued in the United States and Canada. MIB Group, Inc. companies include MIB, Inc. and e-Services Corporation. For more information, visit http://www.mib.com.
