Seniors Rally Together to File ING Annuity Lawsuit

Seniors Rally Together to File ING Annuity Lawsuit

By Jessica Tyner

 
A class action lawsuit against ING USA Annuity and Life Insurance Co. is picking up steam after Ernest Abbit, an 83-year-old man, claimed that ING sells annuity contracts without revealing all the details of the policies.

According to Abbit, ING’s policies have high risk and complex derivatives woven into them, but the company itself has a policy about not telling consumers the whole story. The class action lawsuit claims that ING targets elderly consumers, touting contracts as a safe place to keep retirement funds. Abbit also says that ING representatives promise very generous returns, claiming they’re linked to the S&P stock market index.

In a 52-page complaint, Abbit alleges that the reality is that the annuities didn’t protect consumers, nor did they build savings. In general, Abbit says that ING annuities are designed to take advantage of customers. They don’t build interest via credit on a day to day basis, and inaccurate financial statements are designed to hide the actual performance, according to the class action lawsuit. His annuities lawsuit describes the ING approach as a “wolf in sheep’s clothing,” offering up allegedly poor investment strategies which are actually making a tidy profit for ING via the funds.

According to Abbit, there are “exceedingly complex, opaque and illiquid derivatives,” but the language of the ING contracts masks these facts. 

Derivatives can be a good risk, but may not always be for senior citizens who are depending on these investments to stay safe and protected in their golden years. Abbit also claims that the language of the annuities are designed to trick and deceive elders. They “lack the knowledge and understanding of such complex financial statements,” reads the ING annuity class action lawsuit.

Abbit says he invested a good amount of money into an annuity which was never designed to serve him. “Unsuspecting senior citizens have entrusted ING with retirement savings worth billions of dollars, under what was portrayed as a protective umbrella that provides competitive investment returns,” Abbit says.

According to the ING class action lawsuit, a number of “senior citizens have lost retirement savings paid directly to ING and now are trapped in horrendous long-term contracts with substantial surrender penalties.” Those surrender penalties are also a profit for ING, the class action lawsuit says.

“ING has unfairly tilted the exchange of risk for reward under a complex derivative structure,” Abbit says.

According to Abbit, the actions of ING are causing himself and other like him to “lose up to 20 percent or more of the value of their retirement savings.” He’s suing ING for breach of faith and duty, elder abuse, concealment of insurance contract, failure to supervise, fraudulent concealment, and deceptive trade. In his annuities lawsuit, he’s seeking restitution for these actions as well as imposition of constructive trust and damages. 

The ING Annuity Class Action Lawsuit is Ernest O. Abbit v. ING USA Annuity and Life Insurance Co., Case No. 3:13-cv-02310, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

Were You or a Loved One Tricked Into an Annuity?

If you think you or someone you love was tricked into a high risk annuity, you may qualify for an annuity legal claim. Discover more about what you can do at the Life Insurance, Annuities Fraud Class Action Lawsuit Investigation today. After you submit your information, an attorney will contact you if you have a case for a free annuities claim review.

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