Derek McDowell (Labour)

This amendment is important, even if it might seem obscure on first reading. The Bill provides for a statutory requirement that only one notice be given, irrespective of the number of policies held. As I said on Second Stage, there should be a requirement on assurance companies to provide a notice at least once each year during the five years or until such time as the legislation comes into play – 15 years in some cases.

The Bill does not impose any obligation on assurance companies until such time as the policy is deemed to be unclaimed. It is possible that there will have been no contact between the assurance company and the policyholder or the relatives of the deceased in cases where the policyholder is deceased. There should be such an obligation. The amendment does not seek to provide for this but at least it would provide for the possibility that there might be an obligation.

On Committee Stage in the Lower House, the Minister said insurance companies will have been making efforts to contact policyholders over the previous five years because it is in their interests to do so. I do not understand why this is in their interests or why we should assume they have been making such efforts. As I said on Second Stage, it seems perfectly within the interests of insurance companies to retain funds for as long as possible. The Minister of State said that they will lose the underlying funds while still having to administer the policy. I am not sure what he means by the phrase "they will still have the obligation to administer the policies while the funds are being transferred into the agency fund".