CHARLESTON, WV -- West Virginia Insurance Commissioner, Jane L. Cline, announced today that a regulatory settlement for some West Virginia residents is near completion. In November 2004, the insuring subsidiaries of the former UnumProvident (now Unum) entered into a regulatory settlement agreement (RSA) with 48 states, including the state of West Virginia, the District of Columbia and the United States Department of Labor, in conjunction with a multi-state market conduct examination of its claims practices. The examination report did not make any findings of violations of law or market conduct regulations but rather identified areas of concern which became the focus of specific changes and enhancements in corporate governance and to the companies' disability claims handling operations.
As part of the RSA, Unum agreed to reassess a number of denied or closed disability claims applying industry leading claims handling standards and considering updated information. As of November 30, 2007, Unum has reassessed the claims of 180 residents of West Virginia with more than 4.3 million dollars paid, or reserved to be paid, to residents of West Virginia.
Commissioner Cline stated, "This case highlights how efficient state based insurance regulatory systems are, and how effective a multi-state market conduct examination can be. Restitution was provided to these 180 policy holders without entering the court system."
Jason L. Butcher