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Illinois Statutes Chapter 215. Insurance § 5/155.41. Slave era policies

Current as of January 01, 2025 | Updated by Findlaw Staff

§ 155.41. Slave era policies.

(a) The General Assembly finds and declares all of the following:

(1) Insurance policies from the slavery era have been discovered in the archives of several insurance companies, documenting insurance coverage for slaveholders for damage to or death of their slaves, issued by a predecessor insurance firm. These documents provide the first evidence of ill-gotten profits from slavery, which profits in part capitalized insurers whose successors remain in existence today.

(2) Legislation has been introduced in Congress for the past 10 years demanding an inquiry into slavery and its continuing legacies.

(3) The Director of Insurance and the Department of Insurance are entitled to seek information from the files of insurers licensed and doing business in this State, including licensed Illinois subsidiaries of international insurance corporations, regarding insurance policies issued to slaveholders by predecessor corporations. The people of Illinois are entitled to significant historical information of this nature.

(b) The Department shall request and obtain information from insurers licensed and doing business in this State regarding any records of slaveholder insurance policies issued by any predecessor corporation during the slavery era.

(c) The Department shall obtain the names of any slaveholders or slaves described in those insurance records, and shall make the information available to the public and the General Assembly.

(d) Any insurer licensed and doing business in this State shall research and report to the Department with respect to any records within the insurer's possession or knowledge relating to insurance policies issued to slaveholders that provided coverage for damage to or death of their slaves.

(e) Descendants of slaves, whose ancestors were defined as private property, dehumanized, divided from their families, forced to perform labor without appropriate compensation or benefits, and whose ancestors' owners were compensated for damages by insurers, are entitled to full disclosure.

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Cite this article: FindLaw.com - Illinois Statutes Chapter 215. Insurance § 5/155.41. Slave era policies - last updated January 01, 2025 | https://codes.findlaw.com/il/chapter-215-insurance/il-st-sect-215-5-155-41/

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