Imperial Holdings targeted by federal insurance regulators after allegations of fraud

Imperial Holdings has become the target of a federal criminal investigation after insurance regulators caught wind of allegations concerning the life insurance branch of the company – Imperial Finance and Trading. The investigation applies only to the company’s life insurance premium finance business and no other aspect of the company. A multitude of class action lawsuits have been filed against Imperial Holdings since September of last year. Many of these lawsuits are coming from shareholders who claim that the company is committing fraud. Federal regulators seized control of the company’s…

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Forecasts for the 2012 life insurance marketplace

Now that 2011 is coming to a close, life insurers are looking ahead to the new year to try to find out what they can expect from their near future. Though this process is a very cloudy one, as it is impossible to make precise forecasts about the way this market segment will perform, it is still important to try to get an image of what the future may hold. Among the more common predictions are the following: • A larger number of consumers will be starting to think about…

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CSC announces the creation of the Insurance Cybersecurity Advisory Council

The Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) has announced that it has created an Insurance Cybersecurity Advisory Council to assist in the creation of technology strategies and best practices for property and casualty insurers, life insurance companies, and annuity providers, so that they can more effectively control their risk of cyber attacks. This new Council is made up of IT and business executives from a wide range of different insurance companies and will work with the CSC in the promotion of awareness of the issue, and to help to educate the industry…

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New death benefit battle rages on with life insurance companies

Insurance companies are now facing a new battle in the challenge for data management as state regulators are now requiring that they verify their life insurance policies against the data from the Social Security Death Master File. This is only the most recent of several changes that have been made by state regulators that are designed to help to identify life insurance policy beneficiaries by working with the Social Security Death Master File and checking it against the records for the insurance policies. While the actual regulations for this effort…

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Mutual Life of Massachusetts approves $1.33 billion in dividends for consumers

Mutual Life Insurance, one of the largest insurers in Massachusetts, has announced that it will pay $1.33 billion in dividends to policyholders in 2012. The dividend is a long-standing tradition for the company, extending back to 1860 when it was first introduced. Last year, the company paid out more than $105 million. This year’s large sum is due to a number of factors, including growth in the life insurance market and less competition overall. The insurer will be doling out the money throughout 2012 to eligible policyholders. Customers that have…

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