Over the past several months, Moyer & Osibodu has been inundated with requests for consultations, speaking engagements and compliance filings. As compliance deadlines loom, corporations and insurance companies scramble to obtain unclaimed property consulting and to complete their annual compliance reporting. Nothing like the thrill of filing reports just under the wire. But is that really the best approach companies should take when something so imperative is at stake?

Deadlines are set for a reason, but the big question is, will companies chose to follow or ignore them? Will your company be defined by noncompliance, bad press, fines and penalties? What preventative steps will it take to avoid an audit and a compliance fire drill?

The name of the unclaimed property game is to prevent, not escalate.

In The News

Managing Partners Kathy Moyer & Josiah Osibodu will speak at several noteworthy upcoming conferences:

• Annual Chesapeake Users Conference, August 12-15 to be held at The Breakers in Palm Beach, Florida. Topics of their two sessions will be:
  
  1) "Identifying your unclaimed property": How do you know that you are not over or under reporting unclaimed property? In addition to providing helpful tips on exclusions and exceptions, this interactive session will assist attendees in identifying unclaimed property exposure that may have been overlooked. 
  
  2) "OMG! I've been selected for an unclaimed property audit!": You've won the unclaimed property lottery and are now facing a multi-state audit conducted by contingency fee auditors. This session will discuss the audit process from the opening conference through to the demand letter.  Being pro-active in an audit situation can save your company millions of dollars, including penalties and interest.

• Association of Insurance Compliance Professionals (AICP) Annual Conference, September 30, October 1-3, 2012 in San Antonio, TX. The topic that will be covered at the conference will be "Unclaimed Property - Lessons Learned" 

Compliance or Audit Risk?

Myths and Realities of the Social Security Death Master File

During Managing Partner Kathy Moyer's 16 years working in Prudential Insurance's Unclaimed Equities Division, she acquired extensive experience on the Social Security Death Master File (DMF). Lately, DMF is receiving much attention from Insurance Regulators and the unclaimed property community. What are the myths and realities of the DMF? It is important to note exactly what it is and what it is not.  

The DMF is a good tool to use, but keep in mind it will not identify everyone who is deceased; it should not be relied upon solely for the purpose of initiating death claims and there will always be insurance policies held by insurers until the insured reaches the limiting age.

For the top 5 Death Master File myths and realities,
please click here.

States have fall and spring unclaimed property reporting deadlines. The next deadline for compliance reporting in more than forty states is October 31, 2012. If you are unsure as to whether your company is complying with state unclaimed property laws, or whether you are ready for a state unclaimed property audit, please contact us for a 30 minute complimentary consultation.

Click here for more information regarding unclaimed property compliance.

What is due diligence? What is it meant to do? What must be performed in the process? Due diligence is the degree of effort required by law that a Holder must perform to locate the owner before reporting and remitting the unclaimed property to the states. Generally speaking, the required activity involves the Holder sending some form of written notice to the owner. It is in the Holder's best interest to understand and perform the due diligence process, especially early during the accounting cycle. Don't wait until the items are ready to be turned over to the state before performing your due diligence process.

Click here for 5 important steps to take when performing
due diligence.

A client acquired a company that had not historically reported unclaimed property to the State. The client engaged Moyer & Osibodu to determine what, if any, potential unclaimed property exposure existed at the acquired company. Moyer & Osibodu determined the potential unclaimed property exposure, and also provided a strategy for the client to minimize the potential exposure by 95%. In addition, Moyer & Osibodu provided unclaimed property training to the client to ensure they were in compliance prospectively.