We anticipate that the following section of the Missouri record keeping proposal is directed at the situation where consumers assign an existing insurance policy to the funeral home:
All information obtained or possessed by the seller related to any insurance policy used to fund any preneed contract that may include, but not be limited to, a copy of the insurance policy, any assignment or beneficiary designations, and the status of any insurance policy.
Nothing in this regulation shall require the seller to affirmatively obtain records from the insurance company, but if the purchaser, beneficiary, insurance company, or any other person provides the seller with this information, the seller shall be required to maintain those records;
This section conflicts with earlier provisions that require the preneed seller to retain periodic statements provided by insurance companies. To reconcile the two provisions, this provision should be restricted to policies where the funeral home has no contractual relationship with the insurance company. Funeral homes often find Met Life difficult when seeking policy information. Appreciating that reality, the proposal would seem to require the funeral home to retain whatever it receives about the policy, but no requirement exists to seek out a report or record