Retired bus driver Rodger Brassard, of Burlington, says he didn't know he had more than $5,000 coming from his late mother's life insurance policy. But he’s managed to find plenty of uses for the money — including a visit to his daughter in Alaska.
Brassard was a beneficiary not only of the life insurance policy, but also of an effort by Vermont and other states to press life insurance companies to find survivors of policyholders and make sure they get paid.
Now, Vermont has a new law to bolster those efforts. Governor Peter Shumlin recently signed legislation requiring life insurance companies to do due diligence to find beneficiaries. Those efforts include a twice-a-year check of company data against a Social Security administration death registry.
