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Life Insurance Putative Class Actions

Carlton Fields

Litigation Under Construction: Recent Life Insurance and Long-Term Care Developments

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In Potovsky v. Lincoln Benefit Life Co., the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of the insureds’ complaint for failure to sufficiently allege damages regarding the denial of a long-term care claim....more

Carlton Fields

Lawsuits Alleging Violations of Illinois’ GIPA Are Piling Into Court Like Clowns Out of a Circus Car

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A string of putative class actions has been filed against life insurance companies for allegedly violating section 20(b) of Illinois’ Genetic Information Privacy Act (GIPA) by using applicants’ family medical history in...more

Carlton Fields

Expect Focus - Volume I, January 2024

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Funds Not Caged by SEC Names Rule Amendments: Roaming Room Remains - The SEC recently adopted amendments to its investment company “names” rule that apply to most SEC-registered funds, including underlying funds in which...more

Carlton Fields

Life Industry Class Action Trends in the First Half of 2020

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The first half of 2020 saw an uptick in the filing of class action lawsuits against life insurance companies. Life insurance companies have continued to be the target of putative class actions in California challenging...more

Carlton Fields

Clarity on Application of California Usury Law: Insurers Not Subject to Compound Interest Limitations

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The California Supreme Court recently handed Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. a decisive victory in a putative class action challenging the insurer’s assessment of compound interest on policy loans, holding that...more

Carlton Fields

Eleventh Circuit Takes Life Insurance Reinstatement Claims at Face Value for CAFA Amount-In-Controversy Purposes

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The Eleventh Circuit recently examined the application of the $5 million amount-in-controversy requirement under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) to disputes over life insurance premiums and policies. It concluded that...more

Carlton Fields

Defendants Fend Off Challenge to FIA’s Proprietary Index

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The End or the Beginning for Suits Over Disappointed Index Interest Expectations? Security Benefit Life Insurance Co. and Guggenheim Partners recently secured an important victory in a class action challenging a fixed...more

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

State Farm Ruling Opens Door for Conversion Claims Against Insurers Who Impose Unlawful Cost of Insurance Rate Increases

On August 19, 2019 a federal judge in the Northern District of California denied State Farm Life Insurance Company’s (State Farm) motion for summary judgment on Plaintiff Elizabeth A. Bally’s claims for conversion and breach...more

Carlton Fields

Read Your Policy Carefully: UL Policy’s Plain Language Requires Dismissal of Putative Class Action Challenging Increased Premiums...

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The Southern District of Indiana recently dismissed a putative class action alleging that the defendant-insurer improperly inflated premiums and cost of insurance (COI) rates on universal life policies....more

Carlton Fields

UCL and Financial Elder Abuse Claims Against Life Insurer Are Time-Barred

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Life insurers in California are all too familiar with claims based on alleged violations of senior notice statutes and financial elder abuse. ...more

Carlton Fields

Life Insurer’s Early Dispositive Motion Achieves Narrowed Fraud Claim in COI Suit

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A recent decision by a federal district court in Maryland further illustrates the elusive nature of early dismissal of claims in far-reaching suits challenging the cost of insurance rate increases – even when some success is...more

Cozen O'Connor

Court Dismisses Claims Alleging Undisclosed Deductions from Structured Settlement Funds

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The latest attempt to hold casualty carriers and annuity issuers liable for allegedly failing to disclose deductions from the amounts used to purchase structured settlement annuities for plaintiffs’ benefit has been dismissed...more

Carlton Fields

Even Disclaiming ‘Magic Words’ Won’t Save Plaintiffs from SLUSA Preclusion

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In 2016, a putative class action lawsuit was filed in California state court on behalf of all persons over the age of 60 who were issued a variable annuity policy by defendants within the state....more

Carlton Fields

To Preempt or Not to Preempt - Courts Issue Competing SLUSA Rulings

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During two weeks in April, two different courts — the Second Circuit and the New Jersey Superior Court — considered nearly identical allegations regarding variable products and reached diametrically opposed conclusions about...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Fourth Circuit Finds Insurer Not Liable For Employer’s Mistake.

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The Fourth Circuit found in favor of an insurer on a claim for life insurance benefits, finding the insured’s failure to submit the required evidence of insurability was not excused by his employer having wrongly deducted...more

Carlton Fields

CAFA’s Local Controversy Exception Requires Class Claims Against Local Defendant

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As we previously reported, in September 2017, a federal district court in Louisiana dismissed with prejudice as time-barred putative class action RICO and state racketeering claims related to alleged wrongful conduct by an...more

Carlton Fields

Illinois Federal Court Rejects Twin Suits Challenging Dividend Payment Practices

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Challenges to mutual life insurers’ discretion in setting dividend scales date back over 100 years. Earlier this year, in Anderson v. Country Life Insurance Company and Ochoa v. State Farm Life Insurance Company, a federal...more

Carlton Fields

Court Rejects Insurer’s Spokeo-Based Standing Challenge to TCPA Action

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In a February 20 ruling, the Northern District of Illinois cleared the way for a plumbing company’s putative class action against Allstate Insurance Company and an insurance agency co-defendant by denying the defendants’...more

Carlton Fields

Based on Principles of Fairness, Court Dismisses Putative Class Action RICO Claims Asserted Years After Initiation of Suit

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In Robertson v. SunLife Financial, a federal district court in Louisiana dismissed with prejudice as time-barred an amended putative class action complaint alleging RICO and state racketeering claims related to alleged...more

Carlton Fields

Discovery Dispute In Cost Of Insurance Case Considers Relevance, Statutory Privilege, And Adequacy Of Objections

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In a putative class action alleging that a life insurer engaged in an elaborate scheme to pay stockholders huge dividends by shifting its obligations to reinsurers operating in jurisdictions with weak oversight and...more

Carlton Fields

Sticking Firmly to Contract Terms, Court Dismisses Premium and COI Overcharge Claims

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In July, in Hancock v. Americo Financial Life & Annuity Co., Americo achieved a total victory on its motion to dismiss a putative class action in the Eastern District of North Carolina that challenged its premium and COI...more

Carlton Fields

Plaintiffs Survive Standing-Based Challenge to California Senior Notice and Financial Elder Abuse Claims

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In California, actions predicated on alleged senior notice requirement violations and financial elder abuse continue to challenge life insurers. For example, in June, a California federal district court denied the insurer’s...more

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

The New Wave of Life Settlement Litigation: Attacks on Cost of Insurance Rate Increases

Starting in 2015 and continuing into 2016, a number of insurance carriers raised the cost of insurance ("COI") rates on universal life insurance policies, resulting in dramatic increases to the premiums required to keep the...more

Carlton Fields

Second Circuit Affirms Dismissal of "Shadow Insurance" Lawsuits

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In a summary order issued February 23, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the dismissal of two so-called “shadow insurance” putative class action lawsuits — Ross v. AXA Equitable Life Insurance...more

Carlton Fields

Alleged Misrepresentations to DFS Warrant SLUSA Preclusion

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The Southern District of New York recently granted defendant’s motion to dismiss a putative class action claiming that AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company breached its contractual obligation by implementing a volatility...more

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