But for thousands of advisors, what I do is keep them out of trouble by reviewing products and sales concepts. People will buy IUL policies based on a fictional future and hit a hard reality when they have to pay substantially more than they expected in order to keep the policies in-force. Learn more about reprints and licensing for this article. A committee of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), which sets the standards for the state regulators who control insurance, has struggled for years to produce guidelines that states can adopt to ensure that the illustrations used by insurance agents to sell IULs reflect the risk buyers take. Its not good business to work with an insurance company you cant trust! Our advisors are taught how the product works so our clients are fully aware how the product functions. What has happened is exactly what I predicted would happen when I saw the structure nearly two years ago. All Rights Reserved. Actions does not process claims and we cannot advise you on the We think important for advisors to know this case exists for several reasons. According to the IUL class action lawsuit, Li would not have taken out an insurance policy if she knew that Xu used false and misleading illustrations about policy performance to induce her into purchasing the policy. Attorneys are either actively filing these cases or investigating to determine whether lawsuits can be filed. Contact us today to see if you are entitled to join the Indexed Universal Life Policy (IUL) Class False Marketing lawsuit investigation. Hong Li, et al. I feel my energy is in the right direction, said Vazirani, a recognized industry whistleblower by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Axa Equitable Life Insurance and Lincoln National Corp. are also facing litigation for raising the costs of their universal life policies. These fees threaten to drain your policys cash value during adverse periods when the marketor whatever index the policy is tied toplunges. The lawsuit addressed their IUL product - PDX. Pacific Life Insurance Company describes their PDX policies as able to provide lifelong protection and supplemental retirement income through tax-free loans. To read the Order from the Federal Court certifying the Class Action, click here (its an interesting read). But money could be going into more esoteric ones like the Hang Seng, Gold and Emerging Markets. Get breaking news, exclusive stories, and money- making insights straight into your inbox. Top Class Actions is a legal news source When someone purchases a life insurance policy, the insurance company may provide him or her with an illustration of the policys benefits. John Hancock Life Insurance Co. settled a lawsuit related to UL insurance costs in July for $91.25 million. It was filed by a law firm out of Phoenix with a long track record of class action suits in life insurance. 30-2020-01153426-CU-BT-CXC, in the Superior Court of the State of California in and for Orange County. Recently, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Pacific Life regarding its popular and controversial PDX Index Universal Life (IUL) product. Top Class Owners of this product must be aware of exactly how it works, because, unlike certain other types of life insurance, IULs have a fluctuating component to them.. The NAIC has been very active on the regulation of IULs, which continues to this day, says the ACLIsDolan. The Forbes Advisor editorial team is independent and objective. lawsuits can be viewedhere. Aegon USA Inc., By submitting your comment and contact information, you agree to receive marketing emails from Top Class Actions regarding this and/or similar lawsuits or settlements, and/or to be contacted by an attorney or law firm to discuss the details of your potential case at no charge to you if you qualify. If you currently own a Eufy device with recording features, and wish to know more about your claims, click here. the Pacific Discovery Xelerator IUL 2, InsuranceNewsNet reported. But one lawsuit is not like the others. The class action goes as far as to allege that PacLife structured the PDX Policies in a way that incentivizes its sales agents to heap even more risk on the unwitting policyowners, offering their own sales agents commissions if they successfully push through a PDX IUL policy sale. The company's new policy on head count, made clear in its first-quarter earnings report, aligns with decisions made by Morgan Stanley and Bank of America. Unfortunately, every software program weve seen that compares IUL to mutual funds or to tax-deferred plans like 401(k) plans is either inaccurate or woefully inaccurate. Pacific Life is the biggest and holds about 19% of the market. 2023 considertheconsumer.com, IUL Class Action Lawsuit Investigation Claims False Marketing, Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window). An IUL class action lawsuit investigation is underway to probe into allegations that people who purchased Indexed Universal Life (IUL) insurance policies were misled into expecting unrealistic rates of return that comes after insurance companies presented used fabricated and false illustrations in marketing literature and sales material. The lawsuit addressed their IUL product - PDX. Hopefully this newsletter will give readers pause next time they look at too good to be true structure. (More: Universal life insurance lawsuits underscore product risk), Transamerica said in a statement that the policies permit the company to adjust monthly deduction rates up to a contractually guaranteed maximum, and that the increase was necessitated by low long-term interest rates, changes in expectations as to future mortality experience, and other factors, and in accordance with the policies contractual terms.. Options allow the holder to buy or sell the underlying index at a certain price at a certain time, which can rise or fall rapidly. document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); document.getElementById( "ak_js_3" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); document.getElementById( "ak_js_4" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Please note: Top Class Actions is not a settlement Send us your story with as much detail as possible to fill out our investigation. About Us You might be using an unsupported or outdated browser. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Top Class Actions is a Proud Member of the American Bar Association, Various Trademarks held by their respective owners. Well, the agents who got caught up in what appears to be a scam, said no, no, no, no. In that book I have a chapter on IMOs. A fresh lawsuit filed in Arizona bankruptcy court by Eleanor and Rocco Ciofoletti, of South Carolina, and Larry Stospal, of Texas, names both Shurwest and Minnesota Life as defendants. In August, the NAIC executive committee and the plenary approved the newly named AG 49A. Taking this information, will will help rectify you complaint! Eufy markets and advertises its products along with the promise to keep privacy in your own hands. But Read More, Your personal information may be at risk! The three plaintiffs purchased Minnesota Life IUL products from Shurwest producers. If internal costs cause the policy account value to drop too much, your policy is at risk of lapsing and youll have to pay more in premiums just to keep the policy intact. Its truly amazing that Minnesota Life and one of the bigger IMOs in the industry fell for this plan. The PDX Policies are impossible to understand and impossible to explain to consumers because PacLife in its uniform sales illustrations intentionally overstates the future performance of these IUL policies, while failing to disclose critical policy attributes and components that operate collectively to dramatically increase the costs and risks associated with these highly leveraged insurance products, the class action IUL lawsuit contends. For example, during one meeting, Xu reportedly told the Lis that the policys value could support yearly withdrawals of $175,000 after paying five years of annual premiums at $500,000. Award-winning investigative journalist Ed Leefeldts stories have led to changes in credit card practices, voter registration and disability payments to prisoners. Its a way for life insurance policyholders to have their cash value take part in the market. Take a photo of a faulty item and add a brief description. Economy hits millennials ability to build, transfer wealth, A year after crypto's crash, Philly Bitcoin believers hold on to hope, Jorgen Vik: Don't panic over Social Security rumors, reports. Under the terms of the merger, an entity jointly owned by Gurnet Point Read More, Aon PLC Failed To Properly Secure Personally Identifiable Information Aon PLC is a multinational financial services firm that sells a wide variety of risk-mitigation products. What We Do. Learn more about the cookies we use. Im a policy holder, how to join the lawsuit? IUL is one of the industry's most popular life insurance products. Is the company managing the payments bonded in case they abscond (steal) the money? Click Change Settings if you want to tailor the use of your cookies. for informational purposes only. We will be sure to monitor the situation and update you as we find out more. The attorneys we work with, however, tipped us off to reports within the industry that suggest some companies may be misleading their customers when putting together their financial return illustrations. Nationwide privately settled a case in May relative to variable universal life insurance costs, and John Hancock Life Insurance Co. settled a lawsuit in July for $91.25 million. Attorneys heading up the claim said proper protocol was not followed. PLEASE EMAIL ME IMMEDIATELY TO SET UP A CALL. The fact is, in a different (and better) economic environment, lessin premiums would be paid than originally planned, he notes. The insurance industry will be watching closely in the coming months as a class-action lawsuit over an indexed universal life policy plays out in a California courtroom. Class Action and Other Lawsuits What's the problem with this awesome sales concept? Scammers pushing FIP allegedly used brokers and insurance producers to find investors -- often retired veterans, teachers and firefighters. Im in this industry to HELP ADVISORS GIVE BETTER ADVICE TO CLIENTS AND TO KEEP THEM OUT OF TROUBLE! document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Top Class Actions is a Proud Member of the American Bar Association, Various Trademarks held by their respective owners. The Ciofolettis and Stospal allege Shurwest and Minnesota Life had to know that FIP was a scam. *This publication is based on information retrieved from The Life Product Review, "#239 | Filed: PacLife PDX Class Action Lawsuit", Published by Bobby Samuelson, Editor, on August 11, 2020. You must contact the And until you dig deep, IUL appears to have it all. Many of the policies were sold during a period of high interest rates, which allowed insurers to offer attractive guaranteed minimum interest rates. Mix in massively complex products designed to juice illustrations with opaque and unaccountable features and you have the recipe for future financial disaster, said Birnbaum in a July 2020 statement that warned consumers against buying IUL. Consumers may have sought a through Pacific Life Insurance Company in order to protect themselves and their families or to save for retirement. Top Class Actions is a legal news source The issues in. 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Their latest effort in July 2020 came from a NAIC Life Insurance and Annuities Committee. In one examplecited by Veralytic,a person could pay $367,000 over six years on an IUL policy and get nothing back if the policy is canceled. If interested, please send an email toOutreach@ConsiderTheConsumer.com, find us onTwitterorFacebook, or evenconnect with us directly on our website! It took me all of about 30 minutes of research to determine that the structure was a train wreck waiting to happen and anyone getting involved with it should expect it to blow up in their face. He discussed the case last week at the American Council of Life Insurers' 2020 Annual Conference, conducted virtually. Attorneys are interested in speaking to policyholders who currently hold or previously held the PDX policies issued between 2017 and 2019 as these policyholders legal rights may be affected. The IUL Class Action Lawsuit is Hong Li v. Pacific Life Insurance Company, et al., Case No. John may be reached at [emailprotected] Follow him on Twitter @INNJohnH. This meant some consumers entering retirement were forced to choose between losing the policy, which promised monthly interest payments of at least 5.5% annually, or paying the higher premiums, Mr. Rosenfield said. We think important for advisors to know this case exists for several reasons. Were optimistic that the court is going to grant Shurwests motion to dismiss the complaint.. The issues in Your email address will not be published. If you purchased an Indexed Universal life insurance policy, read on for more information. Their lawsuit seeks class-action status, a request that must be approved by the court. After these representations, Li reportedly opted into a IUL policy through PacLife. Thousands of Illinois drivers cited for using a cellphone while driving could find themselves part of a class action lawsuit. If an insurance company uses false marketing to overstate the benefits of IUL policies, consumers could make serious financial decisions without knowing the true risks of these policies. 2023 InvestmentNews LLC. We want to help people make smart financial decisions How? Its not a good idea to get involved in pyramid schemes! If a market index performs poorly, interest rates will sharply fall meaning that a consumer may miss out on significant interest gains. In August, four Transamerica entities were ordered by the Securities and Exchange Commission to pay $97.6 million for misconduct related to faulty investment models., Related Topics: The fact patterns are perfect examples of poor market conduct including inflated commissions, aggressive claims such as 'guaranteed performance' because it is a 'whole life' product, as well as reduced performance even under modest changes to the illustrated rate. Required fields are marked *. Minnesota Life would be sued itself by several disgruntled clients. By now you may have heard about a class action lawsuit filed in Orange County last week against Pacific Life. Even with these withdrawals, Xu said that the policy would remain in force for the remainder of Lis lifetime. In August, a California woman Hong Li filed a class action lawsuit against Pacific Life Insurance and Sky Vision Insurance Agency for allegedly deceiving her and other consumers about the performance of their IUL policies. New IUL premiums increased by 29% in the fourth quarter of 2021 alone, according to LIMRA, an industry-funded financial research company. ClassAction.org is a group of online professionals (designers, programmers and writers) with years of experience in the legal industry. It is unknown when the case will go before a judge. He has written multiple cover stories, hard-hitting features and executive profiles for major media outlets, and is the author of The Woman Who Rode the Wind, a novel about early flight. The lawsuit seeks class-action status welcoming the possibility that the attorneys working for the plaintiffs can prove that PacLife's behavior in marketing a certain indexed universal life insurance policy violates the law and hurts many people across the United States. The Performance Factor is 'intentionally misleading and deceptive', based on the fact that it is not disclosed to the customer and only described in marketing materials - not to any details as to understand the risks. A class action lawsuit filed in the California Superior Court alleges that Pacific Life Insurance Company has created a false marketing scheme to push and sell their PDX IUL policies by using the complicated nature of IUL policies against unknowing consumers. . Click here if you want to learn about Roccy DeFrancescos favorite IUL. The charges that Transamerica applied to people who owned these universal life insurance policies caused tremendous surprise and stress for the people who received them, many of whom are now senior citizens, and some of whom are quite elderly and on fixed incomes, he said in a statement. Rates, which allowed insurers to offer attractive guaranteed minimum interest rates Illinois drivers cited using. Holds about 19 % of the bigger IMOs in the market provide lifelong protection supplemental. Policies as able to provide lifelong protection and supplemental retirement income through tax-free loans awesome. Action suits in Life insurance policy, read on for more information ME IMMEDIATELY to up. Status, a request that must be approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission InsuranceNewsNet reported who. The lawsuit you might be using an unsupported or outdated browser, said Vazirani, a class-action lawsuit was by... 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