(Washington, DC) - Rep. Gary L. Ackerman (D-Queens/L.I.) today sponsored legislation to force insurance companies to honor Holocaust-era insurance policies.  The legislation (H.R. 1746) will require disclosure of Holocaust-era policies by insurers and establish a federal cause of action for claims arising out of covered policies.

Insurance companies attempting to do business in the United States will be required to file with the Secretary of Commerce all the names of Holocaust-era insurance policy holders and other pertinent information, which will be put in a registry and made public.  This information from insurers is expected to help many Holocaust survivors and their families to prove the existence of a Holocaust-era insurance policy.  Any insurance company that fails to disclose this information would be penalized for each day that they were in violation of the requirement. By creating a federal cause of action, the bill,  if passed into law, will enable Holocaust survivors or their heirs to sue insurance companies in U.S. courts in order to recover wrongfully or mistakenly witheld benefits from lost or disputed insurance policies.

“Over sixty years have passed since the end of World War II, and the liberation of the Nazi death camps, and insurance companies are still failing to honor policies for Holocaust victims and survivors.  There is very little time left to bring Holocaust survivors the justice and the closure that they deserve,” said Ackerman.

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