John Hancock to pony up $1 million to Louisiana in death benefit flap

The state of Louisiana will collect about $1 million in a settlement with John Hancock Life Insurance Co. as part of a massive investigation into the insurer's payment of death benefits. The agreement will go into effect next month, according to an announcement from Louisiana's Treasury Department. Some 35 states are also participating in the settlement with the insurer. It's the third such announcement for John Hancock, which last week reached a settlement with Florida that included a $3 million payment to three Florida regulatory agencies. The carrier also agreed to return funds to beneficiaries and to establish a $10 million fund to facilitate payments to beneficiaries who can't be contacted. In April, John Hancock reached a settlement with California valued at $20 million. An audit into John Hancock revealed that the insurer failed to report unclaimed life insurance benefits properly, according to Louisiana's Treasury Department. “In many cases, those who were owed benefits because of the death of a loved one were never even notified,” said Louisiana's treasurer, John Kennedy. “We will do everything we can to find these families and return the money that rightfully belongs to them.” The announcement happens to fall on the same day that regulators in California are holding a hearing with MetLife Inc. executives. State officials plan to question the execs about the carrier's use of the Social Security Administration's master death list, as well as its process for notifying beneficiaries who are owed money. Hancock, for its part, said in a statement that it is “taking additional steps to help ensure that policyholders' beneficiaries are located, and if not, the funds are paid over as abandoned property to the state, which holds the funds until claimed by the true owner.”