Deceptive Sales Practices

  • 1973 / 1974 - GOV (Senate) - The Life Insurance Industry, Senator Hart (D-MI) - 4 Parts  ---  [BonkNote]
    • 1973 0223 - Part 3 of 4 - [PDF- 641p-GooglePlay]
      • (p2074) - "Deceptive Sales Practices in the Life Insurance Business," by Joseph Belth (draft) 
  • 1974 - AP - Deceptive Sales Practices in the Life Insurance Business, by Joseph Belth - 22p
  • 1994 0528 and 0929 - GOV (House) - Deceptive Practices in the Sale of Life Insurance, Cardiss Collins (D-IL)  ---  [BonkNote]
  • 1995 1123 - The Record (Hackensack, New Jersey) - Connecticut Probe Finds Prudential Misled Policyholders - [link-newspapers.com]
  • 1998 0918 - Washington Post - Pentagon Bars Life Insurance Firm Because of 'Deceptive' Practices, (Academy Life Insurance Co.), by Bradley Graham - [link]  ---  Military
  • 1999 0416 - NYT - Metro Business; Life Insurance Refunds, By The Associated Press, [MetLife, Richard Blumenthal, deceptive sales practices, churning]  -  [link]
  • 1999 0709 - WSJ - Prudential Fined $20 Million by NASD Over Sales of Variable Life Insurance, By Bridget O'Brian - [link]
    • 1998 - MDL-1061 - LC - Prudential Insurance Co. of America Sales Practices Litigation  ---  [BonkNote]
    • Pruco Securities Inc., a unit of Prudential Insurance Co. of America , was censured and fined $20 million by the National Association of Securities Dealers for deceptive sales of variable life insurance, one of the largest fines ever by the NASD.
    • The hefty penalty is the latest blow to Prudential in its struggle to put a huge and long-running insurance-sales scandal behind it.
    • So far, the imbroglio, which involves allegations of misleading practices for the 12 years through 1995, has forced the company to take a $2.6 billion charge to pay policyholders eligible for remediation under terms of a federal class-action lawsuit.
    • Also, the Newark, N.J., financial-services company has paid $65 million in penalties to state insurance regulators.
  • 1999 1217 - Reading Eagle / Reading Times - Deceptive Sales Practices Continue in Life Insurance, by Herb Denenberg - [link-GoogleNews]
  • 2007 01 - Criminological Highlights, Volume 8, Number 4 - 12p
    • This issue of Criminological Highlights addresses the following questions:
    • 3. Would you buy life insurance after reading this paper?
      • (p6) - Deceptive sales practices in the life insurance business have become part of ‘normal business’: sales agents are taught by companies how to be deceptive and not get caught.
      • 2006 - AP (Criminology) - The Institutionalization of Deceptive Sales in Life Insurance, by Richard V. Ericson and Aaron Doyle, British Journal of Criminology, 46, 993-1010 - jstor.org/stable/23639474
  • 2020 0923 - Forbes - Sounding The Alarm On Indexed Universal Life Insurance  --- [BonkNote]  ---  [link]
    • But critics say indexed universal life insurance is being sold dishonestly. “They are complex products sold with false promises and deceptive marketing,” says Birny Birnbaum, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Economic Justice. “Stay away from them.”
    •  Steven Roth, president of Wealth Management International, an insurance analyst and litigation consultant.
      • “Policy values in IULs are depressed for many years due to high up-front charges and high surrender fees,” says Roth, adding that, “These typically last for more than 10 years after the policy was taken out.” Roth was recently part of a class action suit against Prudential Insurance Co. involving overbilling and improperly lapsing universal life insurance policies. He is working on another one against Pacific Life over deceptive sales practices concerning the earnings potential of indexed universal life insurance policies.
    • The ACLI’s Dolan says the size of the premium depends on the returns on the options in the policy. “The fact is, in a different (and better) economic environment, less in premiums would be paid than originally planned,” he notes. “Owners of this product must be aware of exactly how it works, because, unlike certain other types of life insurance, IULs have a fluctuating component to them.”

1994 0227 - The Salina Journal - Abusive Life Insurance Business Needs Reform, by Jane Bryant Quinn  -  [link-newspapers.com]