Insurers to provide refunds to minorities

Nearly 1,300 North Carolina policyholders or their beneficiaries may be eligible for refunds from three insurers that charged black and Hispanic customers more because of their race. The state Insurance Department signed with Cincinnati Life Insurance Co., American National Life Insurance Co. and New York Life Insurance Co., the department said Thursday. The agreement caps more than four years of investigation into race-based insurance policies, commonly sold between the 1920s and the 1960s. The settlements involve burial policies, typically sold to low-income customers who paid small amounts weekly for policies worth less than $1,000. [more]