Company changed policy?

[BarbaraN]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Ohio/Florida

I will try to be brief.

Over 20 years ago, I bought 2 policies from a major company. Both were to be for the same amount, one for my daughter, one for me. I specified that I wanted them to be paid up in 20 years and still have the insurance after that time. I was widowed and we were in Ohio at the time.

I have since remarried and we now live in Florida. My daughter is also married be we have continued to pay on both policies. Upon checking to see how many more payments were left on our policies, since it was around the 20 year mark, we were told by the agent in Florida that her policy is paid and any future payments would just add to the benefit amount. However, MY policy wasn't paid up and never would be as the company no longer had a policy written that way and not only would I never be paid up but I would not have any insurance in future because their investments were not very good and they were not paying as much so my payments weren't even covering the cost of keeping the policy in force!

I have been fuming for years over this and questioned and requestioned the agent here (the one in Ohio is no longer with the company) as to how I can be cheated this way and why the company is not liable for their agents mistakes-if there was one. I didn't think a policy could be changed that drastically without my knowledge or approval.

Am I up the creek? Is this legal? I couldn't change to a different kind of policy or get new insurance elsewhere at my age. It just doesn't seem right to have one policy written correctly and supposedly MY policy changed for the reasons they gave.

Thank you for any information about this.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

You entered into a contract. If you feel the contract is not being enforced, you are free to file a complaint with the state insurance commission.

 

[Betty]

We can't see/read your policy. If you believe the policy provisions are not being followed, then do as the other responder noted & file a complaint with the state ins. dept. and/or the state attorney general's office.

 

[ALawyer]

Would Need More Facts

There can be several reasons for a disparity in performance of the two policies, even if they written by the same life insurance company. Is it the very same kind of policy? (For example, whole life and universal life policies issued by the same insurer can perform differently.) Was it issued in the same entity -- for example many insurers have fleets of companies and each one can have different performance? Is one participating and paying dividends while other policies may be non-participating or paying lower dividends? Was one policy issued on a "rated basis" due to what the insurer regarded as less than excellent health? (If so that would have attenuated the normally different charges for the insurance risk -- as you are presumably at least 20 years older than your daughter -- and could clearly impact performance.) Were any policy loans made, such as to pay premiums in whole or in part. Did one of you agree to any policy amendments while the other did not? (For example Northwestern Mutual asked its policyholders to agree to several amendments and the company has take horrible financial advantage of some that did -- as described at Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Class Action Lawsuit.)

As for asking the state insurance department for help, most of them are understaffed and some are less than competent. The first thing to do is ask the company for a detailed written letter of explanation. Then share that explanation with the state. If your state's department is not a toothless and clawless pussycat, it might help.

If you provide the name of the company and ask some more information I might be able to offer a more comprehensive answer.