Migliaccio & Rathod LLP is investigating whether life insurance companies have improperly deducted surrender charges after those charges were supposed to expire or decrease under policy contracts, including policies issued in Minnesota, Iowa, and Nebraska.
Some cash-value life insurance policies impose surrender charges when a policyholder cancels coverage or withdraws funds. These charges often follow a schedule that decreases over time or expires after a specified number of policy years. However, a policyholder surrendering coverage near a policy anniversary may not realize that the insurer calculated the charge using the wrong contract year or an outdated schedule.
Migliaccio & Rathod is investigating whether insurers failed to apply contractual reductions or expiration dates to surrender charges, potentially reducing the amounts policyholders received when cancelling or withdrawing funds from their policies.
Policyholders May Have Experienced:
- Being charged a surrender fee after the policy’s stated expiration date;
- Having a surrender charge calculated using the wrong policy year;
- Receiving less money upon surrendering a policy than the contract required;
- Being charged more than the amount listed in the applicable surrender charge schedule;
- Having a scheduled reduction in surrender charges overlooked; or
- Difficulty obtaining an explanation of how the insurer calculated surrender fees.
Potential Claims May Include:
- Improper assessment of surrender charges;
- Failure to follow contractual surrender charge schedules;
- Incorrect calculation of policy surrender values;
- Breach of insurance contract; or
- Violations of applicable insurance laws.
Signs You May Be Affected:
- You owned a cash-value life insurance policy in Minnesota, Iowa, or Nebraska;
- Your policy included a surrender charge schedule;
- You cancelled your policy or made a qualifying withdrawal;
- The insurer deducted a surrender charge from your payment;
- The charge appears inconsistent with the applicable policy year or expiration date; or
- You have the policy, surrender charge schedule, and payment statement.
If you believe you experienced this issue, 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.