Migliaccio & Rathod LLP is investigating whether Merrill or related wealth-management advisors recommended premium-financed life insurance strategies that understated the risk of rising loan interest, collateral calls, or policy underperformance.
Reported Issues
Consumers report:
- Being pitched premium-financed life insurance as a low-out-of-pocket estate-planning strategy.
- Borrowing to pay premiums on large IUL or permanent life policies.
- Facing unexpected loan costs after rates increased.
- Being forced to post additional collateral.
- Risking policy lapse, surrender loss, or substantial out-of-pocket payments.
Premium financing generally depends on the relationship between policy performance, loan cost, and collateral requirements; public premium-financing discussions emphasize that additional collateral may be required in early years and that loan structures can create risk if assumptions fail.
Why Individuals Should Be Concerned
Potential claims include:
- Negligent misrepresentation
- Fiduciary breach by Merrill advisors
- Failure to disclose interest-rate risk
- TILA or Reg Z loan-disclosure defects
- Economic loss from collateral calls and loan interest
- Rescission of policy or loan arrangements
Signs You May Be Affected
- Merrill or a related advisor recommended premium-financed life insurance.
- You were told the strategy would be low-cost or self-funding.
- Rising rates caused unexpected costs.
- You faced collateral calls or policy-lapse risk.
- You believe the risks were not fully explained before purchase.
If you have encountered these issues, we would like to hear from you. Please complete the contact form on this page, send us an email at [email protected], or give us a call at (202) 470-3520.