CA SB740

Requires insurers to match their policyholders against the Social Security Administration's Death Master File to identify deceased insureds and locate beneficiaries for life insurance policies, annuity contracts, and retained asset accounts.

Mandates insurers search for name variations, nicknames, different name orders, compound names, transposed birth dates, incomplete social security numbers, and common data entry errors when comparing records to the Death Master File.

Requires insurers to conduct a thorough search for beneficiaries within one year if no beneficiary contacts the insurer within 120 days of the insurer learning of the insured's death, and to provide claims forms within 15 days of locating a beneficiary.

Requires insurers to report and remit unclaimed proceeds to the state if a beneficiary cannot be located after a thorough search, consistent with existing escheat laws.

Makes failure to comply with these requirements knowingly or as a general practice an unfair and deceptive act subject to civil penalties under existing insurance law, effective for policies in force or issued on or after July 1, 2020.