International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims (ICHEIC)
In 1998, WJRO, the Claims Conference, United States insurance regulators, and representatives of the State of Israel established the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims (ICHEIC) in order to resolve disputes over unpaid insurance policies issued by a number of major European insurance companies to Holocaust victims.
Agreements reached by ICHEIC were a major step forward for many survivors and their heirs who previously had no readily available means to pursue valid insurance claims. The settlements incorporated recognition of heirless policies by designating funds for humanitarian purposes.
By the time ICHEIC concluded its work in 2007, its key achievements were as follows:
• Over $300 million in awards were made to more than 48,000 Holocaust survivors and their heirs.
• ICHEIC conducted an extensive worldwide outreach campaign to encourage claimants to file, and more than 70 European insurance companies and partner entities participated in the process.
• ICHEIC’s archival research and matching processes resulted in member company offers to 8,000 claimants totaling nearly $100 million on claims that originally did not name an insurance company.
• ICHEIC also extended $30 million in awards through its Eastern European humanitarian claims process for claims on policies written by companies that were nationalized or liquidated after World War II and for which no present-day successor could be identified.
• ICHEIC extended an additional 31,000 humanitarian awards totaling $31 million on eligible undocumented claims that contained a high level of anecdotal information regarding insurance but could not be matched against company records. These awards were made in recognition of the fact that, due to the ravages of war and the passage of time, many claims cannot be substantiated today.