Preneed: A Pandora's Box of Problems
Yesterday, the St. Louis Post Dispatch reported on the federal indictments handed down against six NPS officials. The article includes two statements that hint at the legal strategies to be employed by NPS and federal prosecutors.
"We have anticipated this (indictment) for a number of years, and he is looking forward to finally confronting these…
Almost a year to the date after SB1 was signed into law, one of the NPS sister companies was forced to close its doors. The recent Kansas City Star article about Mt. Washington Forever Funeral Home and Cemetery describes a situation that confused and disheartened the families who purchased Mt. Washington preneed contracts. The Missouri…
While the settlement negotiated with the National Organization of Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Associations (“NOLHGA”) provides funding for the vast majority of NPS preneed contracts, there could be as many as 7,500 NPS preneed contracts that fall outside this coverage. For one of a couple of reasons, NPS never purchased an insurance policy for…
Officially, its called House Committee Substitute for Senate Substitute for Senate Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 1. Some of the ‘unofficial’ titles given this bill are not fit for publication.
It doesn’t matter who you talk to about Missouri’s current preneed reform bill, everyone has a complaint. Even the consumer advocates. Under normal circumstances…
Consumers and funeral directors are asking their state regulators how they let the National Prearranged Services collapse to happen. With the exception of Missouri and Iowa, the NPS preneed contract was generally an insurance-funded transaction, and state insurance regulators are taking most of the heat. It is a very different story in Missouri, as witnessed…
John Duggan has a point, and that’s what concerns regulators in Illinois, Missouri and Texas. Who will be blamed when the consumer does not get the benefit of their preneed contract?
While the overwhelming majority of NPS’ preneed contracts will be honored by the funeral home named in the contract as the “provider”, it…
The Missouri Senate Committee assigned the task of preneed funeral reform posted a substitute bill to the Legislature’s website on February 6th: SCS SB1. For those who participated in the Chapter 436 Working Group meetings last summer, this bill may seem vaguely familiar. During those meetings, the Division of Professional Registration circulated a 41-page…
Dear Donna,
Once the liquidation plan is finalized, and the procedures for paying claims are implemented, could we please revisit the issue of the Missouri installment contracts?
Yes, you have been patient and polite regarding my inquiries. But, until this past Monday, I did not know how significant an issue these contracts were. If…
Concurrent with the hearing held on her Liquidation Plan, the Special Deputy Receiver posted a financial report to the Lincoln Memorial Life/NPS website. As with most financial statements, explanatory notes at the end of the report provide some insights to the failed NPS empire. While prior documents have disclosed that the companies have a deficient of…
While approval of the SDR’s Liquidation Plan is imperative to providing funds for NPS contracts that are being serviced, and will be serviced during the next few years, funeral directors and consumers are raising valid questions about the Plan. For the consumer who purchased a trust-funded contract from NPS on installments, the Plan fails to…