Sponsors (3)
The bill restores and strengthens legal avenues and financial remedies for Holocaust‑era insurance claimants and increases transparency, but does so by reopening old claims and imposing substantial retroactive liability and litigation costs on insurers, courts, and public budgets, trading legal finality and predictability for expanded recovery and accountability.
Claimants (heirs, beneficiaries, assignees) can revive and file federal lawsuits to recover Holocaust‑era insurance proceeds, overcoming preemption and other prior bars so previously blocked or stalled claims can proceed.
Successful claimants can obtain stronger monetary relief — prejudgment interest (6% compounded), attorney’s fees and costs, and treble damages for bad‑faith conduct — increasing recoveries and deterring insurer misconduct.
Statutory definitions of qualifying pre‑1946 policies and enforcement of state disclosure laws make it easier for heirs and potential claimants to identify covered policies and assert rights.
Insurers, successors, estates and related firms face substantial revived liability (including treble damages and fee awards) and extended exposure for historic policies, risking higher premiums, balance‑sheet hits, and fiscal impacts for policyholders and taxpayers.
Retroactive application and reopening of past settlements (including limits tied to ICHEIC 'humanitarian' labels) undermines reliance and predictability for people and entities that relied on prior law or prior payments.
The Act will likely generate substantial additional litigation and federal court caseloads from revived, long‑dormant claims — increasing legal costs, delaying resolution, and raising the risk of unfair outcomes where evidence has degraded.
Based on analysis of 10 sections of legislative text.
Creates a federal right to sue for Holocaust-era insurance policy proceeds and disclosure, overrides preemption defenses, sets a 10-year filing window, and provides damages and fees.
Introduced April 24, 2025 by David Kustoff · Last progress April 24, 2025
Allows heirs and beneficiaries to sue in federal court to recover proceeds and compel disclosure of insurance policies issued between 1933 and 1945 to people domiciled in Nazi-controlled areas or Switzerland. The law takes effect immediately, overrides past legal defenses that blocked such suits, gives claimants a 10-year window to file, and provides remedies including policy proceeds, prejudgment interest, attorney fees, and treble damages for bad faith.