Regulations on the task and working method of the Board of Directors of the Holocaust Foundation for Individual Insurance Claims (Stichting Individuele Verzekeringsaanspraken Sjoa), based on Article 9.4 of the Articles of Association of the Holocaust Foundation for Individual Insurance Claims.
Article 1. Definitions
Holocaust: The persecution and annihilation of Jews by Nazi Germany.
The Foundation: The Holocaust Foundation for Individual Insurance Claims.
Board of Directors: The Board of Directors of the Holocaust Foundation for Individual Insurance Claims.
Claimant: The policyholder, the insured, the beneficiary and their statutory and testamentary heirs and legal successors under universal succession.
Insurer: An insurer as referred to in Article 1 h of the Insurance Industry Supervision Act (Wet toezicht verzekeringsbedrijf 1993), which is a member of the Association of Insurers in the Netherlands.
Claim: A claim which can be valued in money in relation to insurance taken out before 1943 with an insurer on the life of a Jewish insured who was a victim of the Holocaust.
Article 2. Registered office
The Foundation is based and has its registered office in The Hague.
Article 3. Task
a. The Board of Directors has the task of determining whether a claimant can make a claim on a (legal predecessor of an) insurer or is entitled to compensation of the claim which was awarded by the insurer.
b. The Board of Directors will not consider any claims of claimants which were filed before 9 November 1999 with an insurer and with regard to which a decision to pay has been made.
c. The Board of Directors will not consider any claims of claimants with regard to which action was brought before 9 November 1999 before a court or another institution designated to resolve disputes, or an institution approached by the claimant, or if the court or such aforementioned institution has already given an opinion on the claim, unless the claimant has halted the proceedings.
Article 4. Performance of Board's function
a. The Board of Directors will perform its function independently and according to its own insight. It will not accept any instructions from anyone whomsoever regarding the performance of its function.
b. When evaluating a claimant's claim the Board of Directors will be guided, inter alia, by the provisions of the law, the insurance contract, the applicable jurisprudence, fairness, the special circumstances of the Holocaust and the applicable codes of conducts and/or honour systems. In particular, when determining the claims of a claimant, the Board of Directors will act on the basis of the following principles:
· expiration and cancellation clauses in insurance contracts cannot under any circumstances be enforced prior to 31 December 2014;
· the proof of a claim will be fairly determined;
· interest will be paid over a claim to be awarded in accordance with Appendix 1 which forms part of these Regulations.
c. The Board of Directors will award requests of insurers for compensation of a claim awarded by the insurer if the award by the insurer is based on a judicial decision whereby the insurer is ordered to pay, or on an opinion of an institution designated to resolve disputes, or on a decision of an institution to whom the insurer is obligated to report, directly or indirectly, or on the basis of an amicable settlement insofar as such is aligned with the Board of Directors before it is made. The Board of Directors will evaluate the amicable settlement with regard to (a) separate claimant(s) subject to the provisions of Article 4 b of these Regulations. The amount to be compensated by the Foundation will be a maximum of the insured amount increased by the interest in accordance with Appendix 1.
d. The Board of Directors will be supported by a secretariat in the performance of its function.
Article 5. Procedure and expiry date
a. Claims of claimants to award claims can be filed with the Board of Directors up to 31 December 2014 latest.
b. Claims must be submitted to the Board of Directors in writing, with reasons, along with the available evidence. The Board of Directors can ask the claimant and the insurer to provide (additional) information.
c. If during the term set by the Board of Directors the claimant or the insurer does not fulfil the request to give the Board of Directors (additional) information, he is deemed to have withdrawn his request to have his claim considered and the claim or the request will no longer be considered.
d. The Board of Directors will handle a claim or a request by awarding or rejecting a claimant's claim or an insurer's request, stating the grounds therefor;
e. The Board of Directors can at all times consult the experts with regard to the claims or requests submitted to it.
Article 6. Objections Committee
a. A claimant who does not agree with a Board decision pertaining to the claimant can lodge an objection with the Board of Directors within six weeks of the decision.
b. The above also applies to an insurer whose request has been denied.
c. The objection must state:
· the name and address of the sender;
· the date;
· a description of the contested decision;
· the objections against the decision and the reasons therefor.
d. Where possible, the objection should include a copy of the contested decision.
e. The Board of Directors will present the objection to an objections committee of four members. The committee deals with the objection, gives the petitioner of the objection the opportunity to be heard, and issues written advice to the Board of Directors. This advice is binding upon the Board.
f. The members of the committee are appointed by Centraal Joods Overleg (CJO, the Central Jewish Board) and the Verbond van Verzekeraars (VvV, Association of Insurers) on the recommendation of the Board of Directors.
Article 7. Duty of confidentiality
a. The Board of Directors is bound by a duty of confidentiality regarding the identity of the persons involved, except insofar as the latter have released the Board from its duty of confidentiality or the need for publication of the identity ensues from the performance of the Board's function [pursuant to Article 5, Paragraph e].
b. The duty of confidentiality applies mutatis mutandis to the employees of the secretariat and to experts who are aware of the identity of the parties involved.
Experts must sign a statement in advance in which they indicate to accept the duty of confidentiality.
Article 8. Report on work and experiences
The Board of Directors will make public announcements on its work and experiences once per calendar year, within six months after the end thereof.
Article 9. Protection of personal data
To protect the personal life of claimants, the processing of personal data will be reported to the Registration Office and will be described in privacy regulations.
Article 10. Entry into force of the Regulations
These Regulations also encompass an appendix and will come into force on 9 November 1999. On 30. May 2001 these regulations have been changed by addition of article 6.
Article 11. Official Title
These Regulations can be cited as ''Regulations of the Holocaust Foundation on Individual Insurance Claims".