Annuities and Insurance Losses

Fixed and variable annuity sales constitute over one trillion dollars’ worth of investment holdings of American households. Unfortunately, in many instances, improper sales practices associated with these products have resulted in devastating financial consequences for hard working Americans.

Although fixed and variable annuities can provide legitimate financial benefits in the right circumstances, they can also be used to take advantage of investors unfamiliar with the risks, annual carrying costs, administrative charges, sales charges, surrender charges, and tax pitfalls, which they may present.

Regulation 60 under the Rules of the New York State Insurance Department requires strict compliance with certain surrenders and exchanges of variable annuity contracts to prevent variable annuity contract twisting and churning, and other improper sales practices, usually solely designed to enhance sales commissions without concern for the individual investor.  Additionally, the theft, embezzlement, and fraudulent transfer of customer monies from variable annuity contracts is unfortunately another practice which has seen variable annuity investors defrauded of their life savings.  Unscrupulous authorized agents of reputable insurance companies have also abused their access to client variable annuity contracts, siphoning off monies for deposit into fraudulent Ponzi schemes.

We have worked with many investors whose trust has been abused by the improper sale of annuity products. If you feel you have been taken advantage of, or have sustained unnecessary charges or losses, we offer a free initial consultation to assess your concerns.