51Assignment of policies of assurance to the Board in certain cases

51 Assignment of policies of assurance to the Board in certain cases

51 Assignment of policies of assurance to the Board in certain cases

(1) A contributor or pensioner whose life or the life of whose spouse (including husband or wife) is insured under a policy of endowment assurance (other than an industrial policy as defined in the Life Insurance Act 1945, as amended by subsequent Acts, of the Parliament of the Commonwealth) that has been in force for at least six years, upon which all premiums have been paid and that is unencumbered, may request the Board to accept an assignment of the policy and to continue the payment of premiums under the policy.

(2) The Board—

(a) shall, upon a request being made under subsection (1) by a contributor to the Account, a contributor to the Railways Retirement Fund, a gratuity scheme officer or a Police Department appointee in respect of a policy that was in force at the commencement of this Act, and

(b) may, upon a request being made under that subsection by any contributor or pensioner,

inform the contributor or pensioner that it is prepared to comply with the request.

The Board shall, upon the assignment of the policy to it, cause the premiums to be duly paid and, on receipt by the Board of the maturity value of the policy, hand to the assignor or to his personal representatives any sums received on the policy, less the sum of the amount of the premiums paid by the Board and interest at the prescribed rate, compounded annually at the end of each financial year, on the premiums paid by the Board from the respective dates of their payment to the date on which the maturity value of the policy is received by the Board.

(3) Where the contingencies specified in a policy, or the terms of a policy other than those relating to contingencies, are such that in the opinion of the Board a disproportionate loss could be incurred by accepting an assignment of the policy, the Board may, notwithstanding subsection (1) or (2), decline to comply with the request under that subsection.

(4) The Board may at any time before the maturity of any policy assigned to it under this section return the policy to the assignor upon repayment of all moneys paid by the Board for premiums thereon together with compound interest at the prescribed rate, compounded annually at the end of each financial year, on the premiums paid by the Board from the respective dates of their payment to the date of the repayment.