John Hancock class action claims policyholders forced to pay unlawful, excessive cost of insurance charges

John Hancock class action overview: 

• Who: Plaintiffs Zaben LLC and Weinstock Partners LLC filed a class action lawsuit against John Hancock Life Insurance Co. 
• Why: The plaintiffs claim John Hancock Life Insurance made those with variable-rate policies pay unlawful and excessive charges.
• Where: The John Hancock class action was filed in federal court in New York.

Plaintiffs Zaben LLC and Weinstock Partners LLC filed a class action lawsuit against John Hancock Life Insurance Co. and the company’s New York business, claiming its variable-rate life insurance customers were charged unlawful and excessive rates.

Insurance companies such as John Hancock were the beneficiary of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which lowered the federal corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%, which John Hancock was quoted as saying in 2018 would lead to “expected ongoing benefit to net income attributed to shareholders and core earnings of approximately $240 million per year commencing in 2018,” according to the class action.

Those cost savings, however, did not lead to savings for consumers on variable rate policies as instead John Hancock continued to raise rates, the plaintiffs claim.

Life insurance companies have history of raising rates after adverse tax-law changes, class action claims

Life insurance companies have consistently raised rates after adverse tax-law changes, including in 1990 when the Revenue Reconciliation Act passed and led to an increase in insurer tax liability, the John Hancock charges lawsuit claims.

At that point, some customers successfully challenged the rate increases in court because “taxes were not enumerated in the policies as a factor on which COI rates could or would be based,” according to the lawsuit.

The insurance company agreed to settle a class action lawsuit last year by paying over $123 million to resolve claims it unlawfully increased premium payments on life insurance policies.

The now-closed settlement benefitted then-current and former owners of any universal life insurance policy from John Hancock that was subject to a cost of insurance price increase. 

Have you had John Hancock Life Insurance? Let us know in the comments.

The plaintiff is represented by Scott J. Ferrell of Pacific Trial Attorneys APC.

The John Hancock class action lawsuit is Zaben LLC, et al. v. John Hancock Life Insurance Co. of New York, et al., Case No. 7:23-cv-08178, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

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