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Life Insurance companies may overcharge their clients for "cost of insurance" fees.
Investigation Source
- Nationwide
Investigation Scope
Category Information
Investigation Topic
- Excessive or Unauthorized Fees
Product or Service
- Life Insurance
Injury Type
- Monetary Loss
Investigation Details
This is a broad investigation of the practices of large insurance comapnies that offer life insurance.
Some consumers have alleged that their life insurance company has overcharged them--at times by thousands of dollars-- for 'Cost of Insurance' overcharges in connection with life insurance polices. These are specific types of life insurance policies which contain an investment, interest bearing, or savings component in addition to a death benefit. These types of policies are generally referred to as Universal Life Insurance, Variable Universal Life Insurance, Equity-Indexed or Indexed Universal Life Insurance, and Whole Life Insurance. These types of policies may also be referred to as 'Flexible Premium Life Insurance.' Guaranteed level term life insurance policies without a disclosed "Cost of Insurance" component in the policy are not the focus of our investigation.
These overcharges for Cost of Insurance can be several thousand dollars, depending on the amount of insurance you own and the length of time you have held the policies. We would like to hear from you if you have these types of policies with any company, including the following: Northwestern Mutual, Pacific Life Insurance, Genworth Financial, MetLife, New York Life, TIAA-CREF, Transamerica Insurance and Investment Group, AFLAC, Prudential Life Insurance, Principal Financial, John Hancock, Lincoln National, Mass Mutual, Unum Group or AIG.
Some consumers have alleged that their life insurance company has overcharged them--at times by thousands of dollars-- for 'Cost of Insurance' overcharges in connection with life insurance polices. These are specific types of life insurance policies which contain an investment, interest bearing, or savings component in addition to a death benefit. These types of policies are generally referred to as Universal Life Insurance, Variable Universal Life Insurance, Equity-Indexed or Indexed Universal Life Insurance, and Whole Life Insurance. These types of policies may also be referred to as 'Flexible Premium Life Insurance.' Guaranteed level term life insurance policies without a disclosed "Cost of Insurance" component in the policy are not the focus of our investigation.
These overcharges for Cost of Insurance can be several thousand dollars, depending on the amount of insurance you own and the length of time you have held the policies. We would like to hear from you if you have these types of policies with any company, including the following: Northwestern Mutual, Pacific Life Insurance, Genworth Financial, MetLife, New York Life, TIAA-CREF, Transamerica Insurance and Investment Group, AFLAC, Prudential Life Insurance, Principal Financial, John Hancock, Lincoln National, Mass Mutual, Unum Group or AIG.
Defendant Details
| Name (Stock Symbol) | Brief Description |
|---|---|
| Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company | Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company provides insurance, annuities and other financial products, usually through a subsidiary. |
| Lincoln National Corporation (LNC) | Lincoln National Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in multiple insurance and investment management businesses primarily in the United States. |
| Principal Financial Group, Inc. (PFG) | Principal Financial Group, Inc. provides retirement savings, investment, and insurance products and services. |
| New York Life Insurance Company | New York Life Insurance Company sells insurance and annuities and other financial products. |
| Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association-College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF) | Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association - College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF) provides retirement products and services to teachers. |
| Transamerica Insurance and Investment Group | Transamerica Insurance & Investment Group is a marketing unit for Transamerica Life Insurance Company and its affiliates, which is wholly owned by Transamerica Corporation and which is turn is wholly owned by Ageon Group. |
| Aflac, Inc. (AFL) | Aflac Inc. sells supplemental health and life insurance in the United States and Japan. Aflac is known for its policies, which pay cash benefits when a policyholder has a covered accident or sickness. Most of Aflacs policies are individually underwritten and distributed through its independent agent. |
| Prudential Insurance Company of America | Prudential Insurance Company of America is a life insuance company. |
| John Hancock Financial | John Hancock Financial, a unit of Manulife Financial Corporation, provides insurance products, annuities and financial services. |
| Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company | Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, operates generally under the marketing name of MassMutual Financial Group. It provides insurance and financial services. |
| American International Group (AIG) (AIG) | American International Group, Inc. (AIG), provides insurance and financial services with operations in more than 130 countries and jurisdictions. AIG companies serve commercial, institutional and individual customers through the most extensive worldwide property-casualty and life insurance networks of any insurer. AIG also sold credit derivative swaps, effectively insuring certain corporate obligations and asset backed securities against default. The US government has injected over $160 billion into AIG and owns 80% of AIG stock. |
| Metropolitan Life Insurance Company | Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, also known as MetLife, provides insurance products. |
| Unum Life Insurance Company of America | Unum Life Insurance Company of America, a subsidiary of Unum Group, provides life insurance. |
| Genworth Financial Inc. (GNW) | Genworth Financial, Inc., a financial security company, provides insurance, wealth management, investment, and financial products and services. |