(215 ILCS 185/10)

Sec. 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:

"Annuity contract" does not include an annuity contract used to fund an employment-based retirement plan or program where (1) the insurer does not perform the record keeping services or (2) the insurer is not committed by the terms of the annuity contract to pay death benefits to the beneficiaries of specific plan participants.

"Date of death" means the date on which an insured, annuity owner, or retained asset account holder died.

"Date of death notice" means the date the insurer first has notice of the date of death of an insured, annuity owner, or retained asset account holder. "Date of death notice" includes, but is not limited to, the date the insurer received information or gained knowledge of a Death Master File match or any other source or record maintained or located in insurer records of the death of an insured, annuity owner, or retained asset account holder.

"Death Master File" means the United States Social Security Administration's Death Master File or any other database or service that is at least as comprehensive as the United States Social Security Administration's Death Master File for determining that a person has reportedly died.

"Death Master File match" means a match of the social security number or the name and date of birth of an insured, annuity owner, or retained asset account holder resulting from a search of the Death Master File.

"Department" means the Department of Insurance.

"Lost policy finder" means a service made available by the Department on its website or otherwise developed by the Department to assist consumers with locating unclaimed life insurance benefits.

"Policy" means any policy or certificate of life insurance that provides a death benefit, including a policy that has lapsed or been terminated. "Policy" does not include any policy or certificate of credit life or accidental death insurance or health coverages, including, but not limited to, disability and long-term care arising from the reported death of a person insured under the coverage, or any policy issued to a group master policyholder for which the insurer does not provide record keeping services.

"Record keeping services" means services provided under circumstances in which the insurer has agreed with a group policy or annuity contract customer to be responsible for obtaining, maintaining, and administering its own or its agents' systems information about each individual insured under an insured's group insurance contract, or a line of coverage thereunder, including, but not limited to, the following: (1) social security number or name and date of birth, (2) beneficiary designation information, (3) coverage eligibility, (4) benefit amount, and (5) premium payment status.

"Retained asset account" means any mechanism whereby the settlement of proceeds payable under a policy or annuity contract is accomplished by the insurer or an entity acting on behalf of the insurer depositing the proceeds into an account with check or draft writing privileges, where those proceeds are retained by the insurer or its agent pursuant to a supplementary contract not involving annuity benefits other than death benefits.

(Source: P.A. 99-893, eff. 1-1-17; 100-543, eff. 1-1-18.)