News

Guidelines for Treatment of Insurance Consumers Affected by Illinois Tornadoes

April 20, 2015

As a result of the recent severe storms and tornadoes in Illinois and the subsequent declaration by Gov. Bruce Rauner on April 15 of DeKalb and Ogle counties as disaster areas, Accident Fund Holdings (AFHI) and its subsidiaries have been made aware that insurance consumers may experience disruption of mail delivery and displacement from their residences, businesses, and other properties.  To help provide safeguard for consumers and to ensure that Illinois consumers affected by this disaster do not suffer unnecessary hardship, AFHI and its subsidiaries have implemented the following safeguards listed below:

• Moratorium on cancellations and nonrenewals. For any cancellation or nonrenewal notice issued on or after April 9, 2015, on any in-force policy issued to an affected policyholder or respecting affected property, AFHI and its subsidiaries shall withdraw the cancellation or nonrenewal and reinstate the policy with no lapse in coverage.  In addition, AFHI and its subsidiaries shall not issue any new cancellation or nonrenewal notices to affected policyholders or for affected property until June 9, 2015, or a later time if deemed reasonable given an individual consumer’s circumstance.
• Other insurance-related time-period extensions. AFHI and its subsidiaries will grant to affected policyholders an extension of any and all policy provisions or other requirements that impose a time limit for an insured or claimant to perform any act, including the submission of a claim or proof of loss, reporting of information, submission of bills, or payment of funds.  Such extension shall be for a minimum of 60 days from the last date allowed or required under the terms of the contract or allowed or required by the insurer, or longer if deemed reasonable given an individual consumer’s circumstance.
• Other exceptions to policy or contract requirements or rating or underwriting rules. AFHI and its subsidiaries shall consider exceptions to policy or contract requirements, or to other rating or underwriting rules not otherwise listed herein, when such contractual requirements or rating or underwriting rules are not met as a result of this disaster.  Exceptions to policy or contract requirements or rating or underwriting rules include instances where an insured is displaced from his or her home and is unable to obtain non-medical services from a network provider.

The Illinois department of Insurance is available for filing of complaints regarding any disaster-related dispute or issue. You may call the Department’s toll-free complaint hotline at 866-445-5364, or file a complaint online at:  http://insurance.illinois.gov/.