§ 354.5 Holocaust victims; insurance policy claims purchased in Europe; legal action to recover on claims

Codes > California Code of Civil Procedure > Part 2 > Title 2 : Chapter 4 > 354.5

§ 354.5. Holocaust victims; insurance policy claims purchased in Europe; legal action to recover on claims

    (a) The following definitions govern the construction of this section:

        (1) “Holocaust victim” means any person who was persecuted during the period of 1929 to 1945, inclusive, by Nazi Germany, its allies, or sympathizers.

        (2) “Related company” means any parent, subsidiary, reinsurer, successor in interest, managing general agent, or affiliate company of the insurer.

        (3) “Insurer” means an insurance provider doing business in the state, or whose contacts in the state satisfy the constitutional requirements for jurisdiction, that sold life, property, liability, health, annuities, dowry, educational, casualty, or any other insurance covering persons or property to persons in Europe at any time before 1945, directly or through a related company, whether the sale of the insurance occurred before or after the insurer and the related company became related.

    (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any Holocaust victim, or heir or beneficiary of a Holocaust victim, who resides in this state and has a claim arising out of an insurance policy or policies purchased or in effect in Europe before 1945 from an insurer described in paragraph (3) of subdivision (a), may bring a legal action to recover on that claim in any superior court of the state for the county in which the plaintiff or one of the plaintiffs resides, which court shall be vested with jurisdiction over that action until its completion or resolution.

    (c) Any action brought by a Holocaust victim or the heir or beneficiary of a Holocaust victim, whether a resident or nonresident of this state, seeking proceeds of the insurance policies issued or in effect before 1945 shall not be dismissed for failure to comply with the applicable statute of limitation, provided the action is commenced on or before December 31, 2010.

    VALIDITY

    This statute was held preempted by United States foreign policy favoring settlement of such claims by International
Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims, in the decision of Steinberg v. International Com'n on Holocaust Era Ins.
Claims (App. 2 Dist. 2005) 34 Cal.Rptr.3d 944, 133 Cal.App.4th 689.