Policyholders Criticize Western Reserve Life Insurance

By TopClassActions | December 5, 2013

Category: Legal News

By Jessica Tyner

Note: The following article uses quotes taken directly from an online forum. Any views expressed in this article are the opinion of the reviewer, not that of Top Class Actions.

Annuities Life Insurance Lawsuit Western Reserve is a company that provides life insurance and annuities to Americans, but a number of reviewers call the policies “worthless,” alleging incredibly high fees that leave them in the negative.

According to the Council on Aging, life insurance “scams” are particularly high during the holiday season, and a number of companies target the elderly, using hard sales tactics to bully elders into buying policies they don’t need and which don’t perform as promised. While concrete returns on investments (ROIs) can’t always be made, some annuity victims say they were promised key numbers but the fee amounts were hidden.

When it comes to Western Reserve’s policies, the company is facing a host of allegations. “I would save my money and use any other company. A lot of promises that fell extremely short. Very disappointed. They also want to charge me 10K to stop the policy after one year,” writes one consumer.

Just because an investment doesn’t produce great results doesn’t mean it qualifies for a life insurance lawsuit, but it can if false promises were made or if there were exorbitant fees which weren’t made very clear to the consumer. Some companies count on the fact that the legalese is so difficult to read in order to sell more products.

One customer who feels duped says, “The company is very deceitful. I purchased the policy from a (friend and) trusted him since the description of fees, premium rates and surrender charges is impossible to read. Even the customer service reps say they cannot calculate surrender charges with the information they have. I had the policy for twelve years. You would think they could negotiate for at least a portion of the ridiculous surrender charges.”

One person alleges they lost their whole investment with Western Reserve: “I signed on seven years ago stupidly through a coworker friend/agent after they vaguely explained the policy and showed a whole bunch of us the film featuring a lavish lifestyles fancy cars. A couple years later my agent stops giving me annual reports and I can’t get a hold of him. … I actually got a hold of my agent once and asked for a cash out and was told even though I had been with them long enough, I couldn’t get a cash out. Now I am completely dry and drained of any and all money I invested and am sure they will want a hefty surrender charge for quitting.”

More Annuity Holders Chime In

“They lie about the value of their index universal life insurance and assess ridiculous charges. I have had a policy since 2008 and it only has a cash value of 162. I was told there would be an 8% interest rate. They are total jerks,” claims one reviewer.

“I invested over $18,000 in the past five years and recently learned that I have a cash value of $10,704. Should I cancel my policy (which I am), I will only receive $6,000 of the $10,704. I have since discovered others who have been scammed by WRL and I am warning anybody with ears to stay away from these people. They do not have your best interest in mind,” says another.

Were You a Victim of a Life Insurance Scam?

No matter which company you had an insurance policy or annuity through, if you feel you were lied to about returns or that there were high fees hidden within the policy, you might have a life insurance legal claim. To learn more, visit the Life Insurance, Annuities Fraud Class Action Lawsuit Investigation right now. After you submit your information, a lawyer will contact you if you qualify for a free life insurance claim review.