Results 1,541-1,560 of 1,683 for speaker:Derek McDowell

Seanad: Unclaimed Life Assurance Policies Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (12 Feb 2003)

Derek McDowell: Once the money has been handed over and subsequently claimed, for example, five years later, is it the intention to continue to pay interest for the five years it has been in the fund or will the undertaking insurance company have to pay over that money?

Seanad: Unclaimed Life Assurance Policies Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (12 Feb 2003)

Derek McDowell: My real difficulty is that the Minister of State spoke of the comprehensive provision for notifying people of the existence of a policy. However, it is not comprehensive; it is specifically on a once and once only basis after five or 15 years. It is not a huge administrative burden to place on insurance companies to require them to write or, in deference to Senator Quinn, communicate once a...

Seanad: Unclaimed Life Assurance Policies Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (12 Feb 2003)

Derek McDowell: Will the Minister of State say what that means? I am not being difficult, but I genuinely do not understand what "administering the policy" means.

Seanad: Unclaimed Life Assurance Policies Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (12 Feb 2003)

Derek McDowell: They are not contacting the owner of the policy.

Seanad: Unclaimed Life Assurance Policies Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (12 Feb 2003)

Derek McDowell: The companies will write once and once only. That is the only obligation in the Bill.

Seanad: Unclaimed Life Assurance Policies Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (12 Feb 2003)

Derek McDowell: I do not see where this cost factor arises. What does administering the policy actually amount to when the policy has matured, they have calculated whatever non-contractual interest they are going to pay and have transferred the money into the fund? It may appear on somebody's computer somewhere but that is surely the end of it. I cannot see how it would be a huge burden on the assurance...

Seanad: Unclaimed Life Assurance Policies Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (12 Feb 2003)

Derek McDowell: I will not go on forever about this because it is not a germane or serious issue, but I do not understand how the costs of administering a policy could possibly be that onerous. What insurance do these companies continue to provide for a policy that has been discontinued, to use the Minister of State's words? Do they, out of the goodness of their hearts, decide to continue some insurance—

Seanad: Unclaimed Life Assurance Policies Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (12 Feb 2003)

Derek McDowell: There may be life cover because I think that is principally what is intended here. The life assurance policy in most cases will mature when the individual dies. Where does the continuance of insurance come into play if the individual is dead? The individual is dead, the relative does not claim for five years, so what possible additional costs can there be to the assurance company? What...

Seanad: Unclaimed Life Assurance Policies Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (12 Feb 2003)

Derek McDowell: We are not getting anywhere on this.

Seanad: Unclaimed Life Assurance Policies Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (12 Feb 2003)

Derek McDowell: As Senator Quinn pointed out this morning, the clear assumption seems to be that the notice will be sent out purely by ordinary post. Is it possible to develop the Bill in some way to allow for notice to be given in a variety of ways, whether by fax, e-mail or whatever, provided of course that there is an acknowledgement or clarity of receipt? I know that the definition section describes...

Seanad: Unclaimed Life Assurance Policies Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (12 Feb 2003)

Derek McDowell: I have no doubt the insurance industry was less than delighted with the Bill and I am sure departmental officials had interesting negotiations with it and that this is the compromise they reached. The underlying principle is very simple – companies are holding money that does not belong to them and whatever the amount might be, it should be transferred to the fund and available to be...

Seanad: Unclaimed Life Assurance Policies Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (12 Feb 2003)

Derek McDowell: Is that Royal Liver?

Seanad: Unclaimed Life Assurance Policies Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (12 Feb 2003)

Derek McDowell: I thank the Minister of State for his very informative response. It is horrific that one company could hold 500,000 policies with values of less than €500. Taken to its extreme, the company could hold up to €250 million that does not come within the scope of this Bill. It is hardly surprising that many of the unclaimed policies are small as they are the ones most likely to be forgotten...

Seanad: Unclaimed Life Assurance Policies Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (12 Feb 2003)

Derek McDowell: If the Minister of State has the information available to him, perhaps he will let us know how many extant policies there are? I assume he does not have information for each company but can he tell us how many policies above €500 in value the company mentioned has? This might give us some sense of where we are drawing the line.

Seanad: Unclaimed Life Assurance Policies Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (12 Feb 2003)

Derek McDowell: These companies are trying to have it every which way, which is hardly surprising because that is their business. They tell us that they can guestimate the number of policies with proceeds of under €500, to which this does not apply, but they will not have an estimate of the number of other policies with higher proceeds until such time as the Act comes into play. What they are really saying...

Seanad: Unclaimed Life Assurance Policies Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (12 Feb 2003)

Derek McDowell: I receive a huge amount of interesting stuff in my pigeonhole by virtue of the coincidence of names with the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. I endorse the amendment; it makes common sense. It has one very obvious advantage. A notice in a newspaper appears on one day and is gone, whereas a notice posted on a website is there constantly and is obviously more accessible to people...

Seanad: Unclaimed Life Assurance Policies Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (12 Feb 2003)

Derek McDowell: In that case the Minister should accept the amendment.

Seanad: Unclaimed Life Assurance Policies Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (12 Feb 2003)

Derek McDowell: I support Senator Quinn. His case is transparently a good one. My understanding of the wording of the amendment is that the Senator is not suggesting we substitute the requirement to place the notice in the newspapers, but that we supplement it. One could specify that the provision would only apply in the event that insurance companies have websites. Clearly, however, they already do.

Seanad: Unclaimed Life Assurance Policies Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (12 Feb 2003)

Derek McDowell: What is the problem with accepting the amendment?

Seanad: Unclaimed Life Assurance Policies Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (12 Feb 2003)

Derek McDowell: The notion that adding an additional half page to a website will increase costs is ludicrous.