ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
Financial Elder Abuse And Insurance Products
Seventy percent of personal wealth in the U.S. is held by seniors, and the senior population is growing rapidly. Ten thousand Americans turn 65 years old every day, a pace that won’t slow down until around 2030. As one regulator put it, this confluence of factors creates a “perfect storm” for financially exploitation of seniors.
To meet the demand of an aging population, insurance companies in particular have developed several new annuity, life insurance and long-term-care products with features designed to be marketed to seniors. For example, insurers have been adding more product features such as income riders and rollups in fixed and fixed-indexed annuities targeted to senior consumers. These features come with additional fees and can erode expected returns for the policyholder.
The Marin County and California financial elder abuse attorneys at Evans Law Firm represent senior victims who have been sold unsuitable products by agents and advisors and/or lost money on surrenders and replacements of those policies. Our financial elder abuse lawyers pursue all remedies available to seniors under California insurance laws and the California Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act. If you or someone you know is the victim of financial elder abuse in Marin County or elsewhere in California, call Evans Law Firm today at 415-441-8669.
Losses on Annuities and Life Insurance
Seniors often lose money on the surrender or replacement of annuities and life insurance after being convinced by an agent that a surrender or replacement is in the senior’s best interest. Be wary of any such recommendations. Agents stand to gain a sales commission on these kinds of transactions and even if the annuity or life insurance coverage was not appropriate in the first place, a surrender or replacement may result in even greater financial loss. Surrender penalties can be steep and there may be tax consequences for your surrender or replacement that will add to your out of pocket loss. We at Evans Law Firm represent seniors in Marin County who have suffered these types of economic loss[1], and know the procedural rules and remedies available in financial elder abuse cases in California.
Prevention
California leads the nation in protections for seniors against financial elder abuse. The State’s laws afford broad civil remedies to seniors– beyond restitution (getting your money back) – including extra damages and mandatory attorneys’ fees. Mandatory attorneys’ fees in elder abuse cases ease the burden of bringing suit. The time limitations on bringing a suit are strict and relatively short, so you need to act quickly if you have suffered economic loss from a surrender or replacement or because of fees on an unsuitable policy.
Some of the leading providers of annuities and life insurance in California are listed below. We do not suggest in any way that these carriers have committed any wrongdoing. Rather the list is provided solely for our readers’ reference.
AIG/American General Life Insurance Company
Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America
Allstate Life Insurance Company
American Equity Investment Life Holding Company
American General Life Insurance Company/AIG
American National Life Insurance Company
Ameriprise Financial/RiverSource Life Insurance Company
Athene Annuity and Life Company
AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company
Bankers Life Insurance and Casualty Company
Brighthouse Financial Corporation/MetLife
EquiTrust Life Insurance Company
Fidelity & Guaranty Life Insurance Company
Forethought Life Insurance Company/Global Atlantic Financial Group
Genworth Life Insurance Company
Global Atlantic Financial Group/Forethought Life Insurance Company
Guardian Life Insurance Company
Guggenheim Partners/Security Benefit Life Insurance Company
ING USA Annuity and Life Insurance Company
Jackson National Life Insurance Company
John Hancock Life Insurance Company
Life Insurance of the SouthWest/National Life Group
Lincoln Financial Group/The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company
MassMutual/Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company
Metlife/Metropolitan Life Insurance Company/Brighthouse Financial Corporation
Midland National Life Insurance Company
Mutual of Omaha/United of Omaha Life Insurance Company
National Life Group/Life Insurance of the SouthWest
New York Life Insurance Company
Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company
Pacific Life Insurance Company
Principal Life Insurance Company
Pruco/Prudential Life Insurance Company
RiverSource Life Insurance Company/Ameriprise Financial
Security Benefit Life Insurance Company/Guggenheim Partners
Symetra Life Insurance Company
Transamerica Life Insurance Company
United of Omaha Life Insurance Company/Mutual of Omaha
Unum Life Insurance Company of America
Voya/Reliastar Life Insurance Company
Contact Us
If you or a loved one been the victim of financial elder abuse in Marin County or elsewhere in California, contact California elder abuse attorney Ingrid Evans and the other Evans Law Firm financial elder abuse attorneys at (415) 441-8669, or by email at <a href=”mailto:info@evanslaw.com”>info@evanslaw.com</a>. Our attorneys have experience with all types of financial elder abuse, investment and securities fraud and annuity fraud. We can help guide your case through a jury trial, through a FINRA arbitration, or toward an equitable settlement. We handle cases involving physical and financial elder abuse, qui tam and whistleblower law, nursing home abuse, whole life insurance and universal life insurance, and indexed, variable, and fixed annuities.
[1] We do not provide tax or investment advice. Always consult with your tax advisor before any annuity or life insurance transaction.
