Arkansas

Department of Labor (DOL) Fiduciary Rule and Impartial Conduct Standards (PTE84-24)

Beginning February 16, 2021, the provisions of the DOL’s new Fiduciary Rule became effective, including the expanded definition of fiduciary and Impartial Conduct Standards under new and amended prohibited transaction exemptions. The DOL provided a non-enforcement grace period that will expire on February 1, 2022. This Rule represents the most significant change to retirement investment […]

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Is it a good idea to name the insured’s estate as a beneficiary of a Life Insurance Policy?

No. When the policyowner names their estate as beneficiary, it opens the doors for creditors to make a claim on the proceeds.   All estates go through a legal process called probate.  The courts appoints an administrator or executor for the estate after an attorney files the paperwork.  The executor is responsible for gathering assets and

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Are insureds entitled to interest on delayed claims?

Almost all states have statues dealing with this issue.  In each state, the requirement is for the company to pay claims promptly (within 30 days) once their liability is clear.  Interest rates vary from state to state.  A common issue found in market conduct examination by the state regulators is lack of notice of the

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Finding Your National Producer Number (NPN)

An easy way is to go to https://nipr.com/help/look-up-your-npn. Background: The insurance regulators saw a need to identify problem producers.  In the past, individuals could move from a state where they had problems to a new state and apply for a resident license there.  When they got in trouble there, they moved on.  National Producer Number

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Beneficiary Designations

Primary: The individual named in the policy to receive death benefits if living.  The primary beneficiary’s right at the time of the insured’s death and owner’s rights end. Policy owner has the right to change beneficiaries at anytime as long as the beneficiary is not irrevocable.  Irrevocable beneficiaries must agree to change.  If the irrevocable

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How do you find a insurance company that is no longer in business?

First step is to contact the Department of Insurance in the state where you bought the policy. They keep track of that information and will know what happened to the original company. It could have been purchased by another company and in that case they can provide the name, address and phone number of the

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Rescission of a life policy at insured’s death

During the first 2 years following the date of issue, the insurance company may rescind the coverage for any material misrepresentation regardless of the cause of death. For example, if an applicant fails to disclose on the insurance application that he has diabetes but then dies from a heart attack, the company may rescind the

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Interest due on a delayed life or disability claim

With the exception of Alaska, Delaware, District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, the remaining states have a regulation regarding the payment of interest on delayed claim.  When the wording differs from state to state, the idea is to protect the beneficiary from undue claim delays while the insurance company earns interest on that claim money.

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Husband passed away and he never removed his ex-wife and added the new wife. What happens?

The beneficiary designation by the husband probably states, “(ex-wife’s name), wife of insured.” While she is no longer married to the insured, the courts have ruled that words such as “wife of the insured” is description of the relationship at the name the spouse was named. The name of the beneficiary itself is controlling. Therefore,

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DOL Fiduciary Rule Update on Rollovers Postponed to January 31, 2020

Under the Department of Labor’s (DOL) new policies, all producers (agents) that rollover funds from a  Individual Retirement Account (IRA), Pension or other similar plans to an IRA annuity or other Defined Contribution/Benefit plans must meet the 5-part test under the Prohibited Transaction Exemption (PTE).  Those requirements can be found in PTE84-24 put out by

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