Posted on Monday, 28th November 2011 by Keane Unclaimed Property Team

As you may know, in December of 2010 Venio LLC acquired The Keane Organization to form the premier unclaimed property firm in the country, now known in the marketplace simply as “Keane”.  Although The Keane Organization had been a member of the Better Business Bureau (BBB) for more than 20 years, the “new” Keane was required to reapply for accreditation with the BBB in the New York Metropolitan area, where the combined company is headquartered. Now that the Keane unclaimed property review is complete, we are happy to announce that we received our accreditation and an A+ rating from the BBB.  CEO Mike O’Donnell credits the success to the quality of services provided by the Legal Claimant Services division to heirs, beneficiaries and estate representatives.

Keane’s A+ rating is a result of the following factors:

• Business’ complaint history with BBB.
• Type of business.
• Time in business.
• Background information on business in BBB files.
• Failure to honor commitments to BBB.
• Advertising issues known to BBB.
• Potential advertising issues identified by BBB.

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Posted on Wednesday, 20th July 2011 by Keane Unclaimed Property Team

This week, members of the National Conference of Insurance Legislators’ (NCOIL) Life Insurance & Financial Planning Committee announced they are revising the 2010 Beneficiaries’ Bill of Rights Model to require insurers to periodically check the Social Security Death Master File database to identify dead life insurance policy holders and dead owners of retained asset accounts (RAA). This move comes on the heels of the audits by Verus Financial, which at least 35 states have joined to investigate unclaimed property handling practices at life insurance companies.  The committee is also considering making changes to the existing model law that would require insurers to use the same review procedures for both annuities and life insurance.

In the same vein, it was recently announced that New York state insurance regulators are ordering life insurers to use the Social Security Death Master File for insurers who may have died and report on the effectiveness of the search. This requirement is being issued as a result of recent reports alleging that some life insurers have been using the Death Master File to try to locate annuity benefits recipients who have died – but have not been using the database to try to find life insurance policy insureds who have died.

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Posted on Wednesday, 29th June 2011 by Keane Unclaimed Property Team

Please be advised that on Friday, June 17, 2011, the Governor of Texas signed HB 257 into law, making changes to the dormancy period for certain banking products and utility deposits and dramatically changing the Texas unclaimed property reporting structure timeline. The following summarizes the new changes in the Texas laws:

Dormancy Reductions:

1) The dormancy period for checking/savings accounts and matured CDs has been reduced from five years to three years.

2) The dormancy period for money orders has been reduced from seven years to three years.

3) The dormancy period for utility deposits (defined as a refundable money deposit that a utility requires a user of the utility service to pay as a condition of initiating the service) has been reduced from three years to 18 months.

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Posted on Wednesday, 23rd June 2010 by Keane Unclaimed Property Team

This post details a recent change in Indiana unclaimed property law that reduces dormancy periods & will effect reporting as of November 1, 2011. If you have specific questions or would like personalized guidance, please contact an unclaimed property consultant.

On March 17th the Governor of Indiana signed HB 1083 into law, with an effective date of July 1, 2010. The following dormancy periods were reduced from five years to three years: (1) A demand, savings, or matured time deposit. (2) Property payable as a result of a demutualization, rehabilitation, or related reorganization of a mutual insurance company. (3) All other property not otherwise specified under the act (catch-all provision). Read More »

Posted on Thursday, 1st April 2010 by Keane Unclaimed Property Team

Join Us In Philadelphia For A Summit On Managing & Reporting Unclaimed Property

Annual Summit to Address Growing Need for Organizations to Proactively Report Unclaimed Property

Keane Unclaimed Property to Host 6th Annual Unclaimed Property Educational Summit in Philadelphia – the major topic? Why it’s important to proactively report unclaimed property.

Wayne, Pa. – April 5, 2010 – Keane Unclaimed Property, a global provider of unclaimed property compliance and risk management solutions, announced today it will hold its 6th Annual Unclaimed Property Educational Summit in Philadelphia on April 28.

Hosted by Keane Unclaimed Property, the Summit will take place from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Courtyard Marriott in Center City Philadelphia.

The event will provide attendees with the knowledge to determine their organization’s risk for audit, best practices to improve internal controls and essential guidelines on first time and/or voluntary compliance.

This yearly summit offers holders of unclaimed property a confidential environment to discuss changes in state escheatment laws and their affect on abandoned property compliance reporting.

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