June 23, 2003 - The U.S. Supreme Court struck down California's Holocaust Victims Insurance Relief Act (HVIRA) today effectively leaving in question Washington state's own similar law passed unanimously in 1999. Both laws required insurance companies to disclose information about all of their Holocaust-era polices in order to help Holocaust victims and their heirs file insurance claims. Companies that refused to comply with the law faced having their licenses revoked.

February 15, 2002 - In a show of solidarity with the California Department of Insurance, the Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner has filed an amicus brief in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in support of California's legally besieged 1999 Holocaust Victims Insurance Relief Act (HVIRA).

February 8, 2002 - The International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims (ICHEIC) has extended the deadline from Feb. 15, 2002 to Sept. 20, 2002 for filing all Holocaust-era insurance claims. This provides ICHEIC the necessary additional time to publish policyholder names and effectively gives survivors and their heirs seven more months to research potential claims.

December 20, 2001 - Holocaust survivors and the families or heirs of Holocaust victims living in Washington State are urged to file claims with the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims (ICHEIC) before the filing deadline of Feb. 15, 2002.

April 17, 2001 - Commissioner Kreidler met with the International Commission on Holocaust-Era Insurance Claims (ICHEIC) in Washington, DC recently to personally express his ongoing frustration with the companies participating in the ICHEIC process. Kreidler held a media conference recently to express his disappointment with the failure of many companies to release the names of Holocaust-era policyholders. OIC's website contains the names of the American affiliates of those European companies conducting business during the Holocaust era.

February 14, 2001 - State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler today reminded Washington State residents who may be eligible to file claims for unpaid Holocaust-era insurance policies, that the claim-filing period is still open for another year.

January 5, 2001 - State Insurance Commissioner Deborah Senn's final report on the international effort to recover Holocaust Era insurance policies urges an international commission to speed up its claims process and require insurers to publish records from that time.

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