John Hancock Life Insurance Company may offer a 1% bonus for annuity sales, then secretly recoups that 1% bonus in subsequent years.

Investigation and pending class action lawsuit against John Hancock Life Insurance Company for selling deferred annuities with a "bonus annuity" feature.

In summary the class action alleges that John Hancock sold a consumer an annuity, as an investment, for which they contractually guaranteed her a permanent 1% interest rate bonus to be paid in year one. Even though the consumer agrees that the 1% bonus was credited to her account, she alleges that John Hancock began "recouping" the 1% bonus, undisclosed to her, in year two. In fact, the undisputed evidence in the case proves that John Hancock used a secret actuarial pricing formula that built in an undisclosed spread (beginning in year two) which unilaterally recouped twenty basis points of interest per year for five straight years equating to a full 100% recovery of the 1% bonus previously credited.

Evidence revealed that the John Hancock intentionally designed the annuity to recoup the year one bonus through the undisclosed basis point spread in years two through six. John Hancock claims they had no obligation to tell the plaintiff of the recouping process.