Senior Annuities Fraud

Shernoff Bidart Echeverria LLP is aggressively fighting against insurance companies and dishonest insurance agents to protect seniors from annuity fraud.

Annuity fraud takes place when seniors are persuaded to purchase annuity products they do not want or need. Insurance agents push these products on unwitting seniors to earn commissions. Insurance carriers issue these products to earn a profit. But seniors who are duped into purchase needless insurance suffer because it deprives them of hard-earned retirement money.

Senior annuity fraud is especially treacherous because seniors need their retirement savings to support themselves, and to prepare for medical emergencies. Once that retirement money has been placed into an annuity, it cannot be accessed. It has been taken by the insurance company, which dribbles it back in fixed monthly payments, and tacks on a sub-market interest rate. Some annuities, known as deferred annuities, do not begin paying a monthly indemnity until well after a senior has exceeded his or her life expectancy.

Annuity scams targeting seniors are rampant throughout Southern California. Examples include:

• A 90-year-old widow living in an assisted living facility in Rancho Mirage was convinced by an insurance salesman to transfer her entire IRA portfolio into a nine-year annuity issued by ELCO Mutual Life and Annuity. The annuity locked up the money for nine years and provided an interest of .6 percent. The agent told the widow he was representative of the VA. He told her he could help her qualify for a veteran pension called Aid & Attendance. He never told her he was really an insurance agent, or that he stood to earn significant commission.
• A 73-year-old many was persuaded by a dishonest insurance salesman to pay $43,000 for a life insurance annuity from Midland National Life Insurance Company. But, the annuity payments don’t start until his 115th birthday.

Shernoff Bidart Echeverria fights to hold rogue agents and their insurance carriers accountable, and has enabled seniors to reclaim the retirement funds they worked decades to save. If you or an elderly loved one has been the victim of senior annuity fraud, contact one of our attorneys today. SBE is the nation’s leading insurance bad faith law firm, and has been fighting to protect individuals from abuse by the powerful insurance companies for more than 40 years. We represent clients on a contingency basis, so you pay nothing until we win financial compensation for you.