Policyholders Face Substantial Universal Life Insurance Cost Increases

Universal life insurance policyholders are, in ever-growing numbers, being hit with extreme premium increases. If you have been hit with a universal life insurance cost hike, you may be able to file an insurance overcharge lawsuit.

Several life insurance companies that sell these policies are being investigated over their rising universal life insurance cost.

Universal Life Insurance Cost Increases

A number of life insurance companies announced last year that they would be increasing their universal life insurance cost because of multiple years of low-interest insurance rates. The Consumer Federation of America responded quickly, contacting state insurance commissioners and urging them to make sure that these universal life insurance cost increases were done for legitimate reasons, rather than just to protect the insurance companies’ profitability.

Some policyholders have filed insurance class action lawsuits against their insurance companies, alleging that the insurers are hiking universal life insurance cost in order to give larger payouts to shareholders.

Policyholders who have been affected by universal life insurance policy premium increases have a few options moving forward. Some choose to simply pay the increased premium. Others try to find a different policy, but it can be difficult to find an affordable alternative. Some reduce the death benefit of their policy. Some even allow their policy to lapse, but this approach often benefits the insurance company.

Policy Cash Value

The premiums you pay toward your universal life insurance policy go into what is known as the policy’s cash value. Part of these premiums goes toward paying the insurance company’s guaranteed interest rates. The universal life insurance cost is then deducted from this cash value amount.

This means that when the universal life insurance cost exceeds the premiums you’ve paid on the policy, insurance companies then deduct the balance from the cash value of the policy. If this makes the cash value decrease to zero, then the policyholder generally either has to pay higher premiums or even lose their policy entirely.

Insurance companies that offer universal life insurance policies currently under investigation include:

• Accordia
• Aegon USA
• Allianz
• Allstate
• AXA
• Alexander Hamilton Life (now Lincoln National Life)
• Conseco Life Insurance Company
• Equitable Life Insurance Company
• Great Southern Life (formerly Ohio Life)
• Minnesota Life/Securian
• MetLife
• Monumental Life (now Transamerica)
• NACOLAH Life
• National Life Group
• Nationwide
• Old Mutual Financial
• Pacific Life
• Penn Mutual
• State Farm
• Southland Life Insurance (now VOYA Financial)
• Transamerica
• USAA
• VOYA Financial (formerly ING)

Filing a Universal Life Insurance Cost Lawsuit

A growing number of policyholders are becoming concerned with these sudden increases to universal life insurance cost, some fearing that companies that make these kinds of moves cannot be trusted to adequately protect and insure them going forward.

If you purchased a universal life insurance policy and have recently seen your universal life insurance cost go up in premiums, you may be able to file a lawsuit for insurance overcharge. You may also be able to file an insurance overcharge lawsuit if the cash value of your policy has diminished greatly.

Join a Free Universal Life Insurance Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you purchased a universal life insurance policy through Lincoln Financial Insurance or another insurance company, you may qualify to join a FREE class action lawsuit investigation and pursue compensation.

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