The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance (TDCI) has revealed that $22.8 million was located and returned to Tennesseans in combined life insurance benefits/annuities and monies returned through the department in 2020. Figures showed that $10.2 million was returned to Tennessee consumers last year as a result of a process where TDCI insurance investigators intercede between insurance companies and policyholders to get wrongfully denied claims overturned and paid for policyholders. Elsewhere, $12.7 million was found in 2020 for the state’s consumers through the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ (NAIC) life insurance policy locator service. The TDCI outlines that two new Tennessee domestic insurance companies were licensed in 2020, bringing a total of 65 total licensed active Tennessee domestic insurance companies. It notes that there is $27.9 billion in nationwide premiums, which are written by those 65 Tennessee domestic insurance companies, representing a 20.4 per cent increase in premium volume written by Tennessee domestic insurance companies compared to 2019. Adding to this, in December last year, TDCI announced that International Paper relocated its captive insurance company from Vermont to Tennessee, marking the state’s 700th risk-bearing entity. During the unprecedented challenges last year, TDCI Commissioner, Carter Lawrence says the department’s insurance team continued to assist Tennesseans by helping return money through the mediation process and by answering their questions and providing information regarding their insurance policies. He says: “I am proud of our team and their commitment to assisting Tennesseans every day.” In the last issue of Captive Insurance Times, TDCI’s Belinda Fortman discusses the state’s latest milestone as well as the future of its captive market.
