New Deadline Set for Holocaust Claim Filings

Florida’s Holocaust survivors and their heirs now have until September to file insurance claims with the international panel that adjusts unpaid policies, Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher reported.

The new deadline for filing a claim with the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims (ICHEIC) is Sept. 30, 2003.

The extension was granted to allow more time for potential survivors and heirs to consult additional lists published by Germany’s Remembrance, Responsibility and Future Foundation. The lists, made up of the names of Jews who took out policies before and during the Holocaust, continue to be published as part of an agreement with the Foundation and ICHEIC.

ICHEIC was established in 1998 by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, in cooperation with European insurers and regulators, Jewish organizations and the State of Israel. Its mission is to develop and implement a just claims process for unpaid insurance policies issued to victims of the Holocaust.

The commission launched a worldwide search for potential claimants and established a two-year window in which to submit claims. In order to deal with the complexity of life, education and dowry policies issued between 1920 and 1945, ICHEIC relaxed standards of proof so as to provide claims payments without full documentation.

Originally set for Feb. 15, 2002, the September 30 deadline marks the third postponement. The new extension applies to all potential claimants.

To date, ICHEIC has received thousands of claims from the U. S., including more than 3,500 from Florida. Florida is the state with the third largest number of Holocaust survivors, after New York and California.