1. (1) Except as set forth in paragraph (2) of this subdivision, at no later than policy delivery or the establishment of an account and upon any change of insured, owner, account holder, or beneficiary, an insurer shall request information sufficient to ensure that all benefits or other monies are distributed to the appropriate persons upon the death of the insured or account holder, including, at a minimum, the name, address, date of birth, social security number, and telephone number of every owner, account holder, insured and beneficiary of such policy or account, as applicable.

2. (2) Where an insurer issues a policy or provides for an account based on information received directly from an insured’s employer, the insurer may obtain the beneficiary information described in paragraph (1) of this subdivision by communicating with the insured after the insurer’s receipt of the information from the insured’s employer.

   (b)

3. (1) An insurer shall use the latest available updated version of the death index to cross-check every policy and account subject to this Part, except as specified in subdivision (h) of this section. The cross-checks shall be performed no less frequently than quarterly. An insurer may submit a request to the superintendent for the insurer to perform the cross-checks less frequently than quarterly, but in no event shall the cross-checks be performed less frequently than semi-annually. The superintendent may grant such a request upon the insurer's demonstration of hardship.

4. (2) The cross-checks shall be performed using:

   1. (i) the insured or account holder’s social security number; or
   2. (ii) where the insurer does not know the insured or account holder’s social security number, the name and date of birth of the insured or account holder.
5. (3) An insurer may comply with the requirements of this subdivision by using the full death index once annually and using the death index update files for the remaining cross-checks in that year.
6. (c) If an insurer uses a resource instead of or in addition to a death index in order to terminate benefits or close an account, the insurer shall also use that resource when cross-checking policies or accounts pursuant to subdivision (b) of this section.
7. (d) If an insurer uses a resource more frequently than quarterly in order to terminate benefits or close an account, the insurer shall use that resource with the same frequency when cross-checking policies or accounts pursuant to subdivision (b) of this section.

8. (e) Every insurer shall implement reasonable procedures to account for common variations in data that would otherwise preclude an exact match with a death index, including:

   1. (1) nicknames, initials used in lieu of a first or middle name, use of a middle name, compound first and middle names, and interchanged first and middle names;
   2. (2) compound last names, and blank spaces or apostrophes in last name;
   3. (3) incomplete date of birth data, and transposition of the "month" and "date" portions of the date of birth;
   4. (4) incomplete social security number; and
   5. (5) common data entry errors in name, date of birth and social security data.
9. (f) If an insurer only has a partial name, social security number, date of birth, or a combination thereof, of the insured or account holder under a policy or account, then the insurer shall use the available information to perform the cross-check pursuant to subdivision (b) of this section, which may be accomplished by using the procedures outlined in subdivision (e) of this section.
10. (g) Every insurer shall establish reasonable procedures to locate beneficiaries and shall make prompt payments or distributions in accordance with Part 216 of this Title (Insurance Regulation 64).

11. (h) This section shall not apply to any policy or any account:

    1. (1) where the insurer has fully satisfied all obligations under the policy or account prior to the date that the cross-check is performed;
    2. (2) where the insurer has paid full death benefits on all insureds under the policy, or where the remaining obligations have been transferred to one or more new policies or accounts providing benefits of any kind in the event of the death of the insured or account holder;
    3. (3) where the insurer has paid full surrender benefits on the policy, including a policy that is replaced after full surrender;
    4. (4) where the policy has been rescinded and the insurer has returned all paid premiums;
    5. (5) where the policy has been returned under a free-look provision and the insurer has returned all paid premiums;
    6. (6) where the insurer has paid full maturity benefits under the policy;
    7. (7) where the insurer does not maintain or control the records containing the information necessary to comply with the requirements of this section under a group policy administered by the group policyholder;
    8. (8) where all monies due under the policy or account have escheated in accordance with state unclaimed property statutes;
    9. (9) where the insurer has novated the policy;
    10. (10) where the policy is a group annuity contract that funds employer-sponsored retirement plans and the insurer is not obligated by the terms of the contract to pay death benefits directly to the plan participant's beneficiary;
    11. (11) where the insurer receives payroll deduction contributions for either a group or individual policy and a payment has been made in the 90 days prior to a cross-check;
    12. (12) except as to retired employees, where premiums are wholly paid by an employer on an individual or group policy; or
    13. (13) where a policy has lapsed or terminated with no benefits payable that was cross-checked with a death index within the 18 months preceding the effective date of this Part or that was cross-checked with a death index more than 18 months prior to the most recent cross-check conducted by the insurer.

(a)