HR 3008119th CongressIn Committee

Holocaust Insurance Accountability Act of 2025

Introduced: Apr 24, 2025

Standard Summary

Comprehensive overview in 1-2 paragraphs

The Holocaust Insurance Accountability Act of 2025 creates a new federal private right of action for beneficiaries of Holocaust-era insurance policies to recover policy proceeds or enforce rights under those policies. It defines a broad category of “covered policies” issued between 1933 and 1945 to policyholders in Nazi-occupied areas or Switzerland, and it covers heirs, assignees, and legal representatives of those beneficiaries. The bill seeks to override certain preemption findings from a Supreme Court case (Garamendi) by allowing recovery under either state law (as applied in the forum) or federal common law, imposes a 10-year statute of limitations from enactment, and provides for treble damages in cases of bad faith, as well as attorney’s fees. It also explicitly preserves and clarifies the status of prior judgments or releases and asserts that executive agreements or foreign policy cannot erase or foreclose these claims. The act takes effect upon enactment and applies to claims brought on or after that date.

Key Points

1Create a new federal private right of action for beneficiaries to recover proceeds or enforce rights under covered Holocaust-era policies against the insurer or its related companies; forum may apply state law or federal common law, at the beneficiary’s option.
2Scope of covered policies: life, dowry, education, annuity, property or other insurance policies issued between Jan 31, 1933 and Dec 31, 1945, to policyholders domiciled in Nazi-occupied areas or in Switzerland.
3Remedies: for prevailing beneficiaries, recover the policy proceeds due, prejudgment interest (6% per year, compounded annually), and other relief; treble damages if the insurer or related company acted in bad faith; attorney’s fees and costs.
4Limitation: action under this act must be brought within 10 years after enactment.
5Effect on prior judgments/releases: pre-enactment judgments or releases may not preclude these claims, with some exceptions for certain humanitarian-denominated settlements.
6Executive policy/foreign policy: executive agreements and executive foreign policy cannot supersede or foreclose state-law claims or disclosure requirements related to these policies; they also cannot extinguish claims brought under this Act.
7State law interaction: the Act does not override state law except where there is a conflict; timeliness rules under state law for related actions are adjusted to a 10-year window after enactment.
8Effective date: takes effect upon enactment and applies to claims relating to covered policies brought on or after enactment.

Impact Areas

Primary group/area affected- Beneficiaries of Holocaust-era insurance policies (including named insureds, named beneficiaries, heirs, assignees, and legal representatives) seeking to recover policy proceeds or enforce policy rights.Secondary group/area affected- Insurance companies and their related companies that issued these policies (including successors in interest) potentially facing new federal court actions, damages, and attorney’s fees.- States, courts, and the U.S. federal judiciary, as new private federal jurisdiction and remedies would be invoked; state laws on disclosure of policy information become a key vehicle for awareness, under the Act’s framework.- The International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims (ICHEIC) and related settlements; the bill preserves some limits on prior settlements but seeks to address previous preemption-based defenses.Additional impacts- Legal/policy landscape: creates a substantial expansion of private rights in this area and could provoke a range of litigation, including questions about preemption, the interplay with executive agreements/foreign policy, and potential constitutional challenges.- Disclosure and accountability: reinforces efforts to disclose information about Holocaust-era policies to empower claimants, potentially affecting how insurers handle old policies and wind down or settle related claims.- Timeliness and enforcement: the 10-year window and treble-damages provision shape strategic considerations for claimants and insurers alike, influencing case planning and settlement dynamics.The bill asserts it aims to overcome Garamendi-based preemption, but its constitutionality could face scrutiny given existing executive-branch foreign policy considerations.Specific definitions (e.g., “Nazi Germany,” “related company,” and “covered policy”) are broad and scope could cover many historically issued policies, as well as successors in interest.The act carefully preserves certain existing humanitarian-denominated settlements, but generally forecloses other defenses based on prior judgments and settlements.

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