insured wants life insurance bo null and void; please help me get some sleep

[tvproducton]

i'm norm. after our accountant did our income tax return he suggested i purchase a universal life insurance form to provide an income for retirement at tax free. I could understand the wording in the policy. he said he would explain it since lawyers write it. met him a few times and discussed policy. he said:
cost of policy would never go up;
operating cost would never increase
cost of insurance was payed for after
five years.

since i can't understand the language in policy i prepared a written 1-20 statement document for the agent to sign that referenced specifics to what the agent said the policy said.

since the signing it has been pointed out to me that the summary statements signed by the agent and what the policy said offers huge disrepancies.

i was planning to put my entire yearly salary in to pay for the policy for 5 years. my wife salary was going to pay for our living expenses.

i told the agent that we were not interested in a death benefit, just a reduction in taxes. as a school teacher i receive a death benefit for my family.

CAN THE CONTACT BECOME NULL AND VOID.
contract says agent is not authorized to give legal tax advise. this was the whole basis for contract.
there a disprepancies between what agent said
contract represented and the summary statements he signed to reference to policy.
contact says agent is not suppose to agree to any admendments or supplementary contract as he did with me.
during agents last meeting with me before signing it he became insistent that i sign it due to my age increasing and cost would go up.


i'm now loosing sleep at night and feel very sick about the consequences that will be effecting my family. it has been pointed out to me that i will loose half of what i put in it if i surrender it.

 

[ALawyer]

While an agent can not give you legal advice, if he gives you insurance or securities advice that is false and misleading you can seek to RESCIND the contract and get ALL of your money back, and in some circumstances can possibly get punitive damages and attorneys fees too.

I am not clear if the accountant was the agent or not. If he was then there is a likely conflict of interest and a much easier case could be made.

Even if the agent was someone totally separate and independent he owed you a duty of fairness. I assume he or she was seeking to earn a commission

If you have anything from the agent in writing that will be VERY powerful -- and avoid the "he said - she said" type of argument. While the policy -- the insurance contract -- says the agent can not AMEND the policy, the agent can not misrepresent it at all.

If the amount of money is substantial, I would suggest that you see a lawyer who knows insurance law. This case has BAD FAITH written all over it and my sense is a letter from a lawyer to the insurance company would get them to cancel and refund lickety split as they could be subject to major damages from their agent's conduct in most states.

If it is relatively small, a few hundred to a thousand dollars or so, write to the chief compliance officer of the insurance company yourself with a copy to your state's insurance department..

 

[tvproducton]

Just by responding you are blowing a fresh of air into my lungs. I wish I could have understood the language found in the policy so I wouldn't have problems like this. I sunk my savings of 40,000 into two different policies, so yes it was all of my money.

should I ask the agent to get the insurance company to make the contract null and void before going to a lawyer or insurance commission?

should i go to the insurance commission first before a lawyer?

what are the chances of the agent suing me for citing discrepancies between what he signed in writing to what the policy said (since I didn't understand it) in actuality?

what power does the state's insurance commission provide in matters like this. do they have the power to tell insurance company to send my money back? Would they read the document I asked agent to sign and look at the discrepancies that i have stated and contrast them to the actual policy if I gave specific reference and page numbers. a friend showed me these disrepancies.

the insurance agent was also my accountant. doesn't this make for vested interest. if he is an accoutant can he give legal tax advise since he is also trying to sell me a policy. Shouldn't he have to reframe from this. the wording in the policy that he signed clearly states
that the agent is not authorized to give legal advise. since he is an accoutant does this exclude him?

i have presented about 7 different points of how the summary statements that he signed differs from the policy. what if 3 of the statements represent different meaning then the contract but the other points could be taken either way. do i still have a case to get my money back? the specifics disrepancies of what he said in writing and what the contract said 1) the loan cost will be 5% and policy reads 6%. 2) cash value will not be effected if I stop premium payments after 3 years. the policy states specifically that the cash value will be effected. 3) cost of insurance will not go up. policy says the insurance company can raise cost of insurance if they are effected by federal or state taxes, or interest rates or operating costs Aren't these discrepancies between what he signed for me in a summary statement and what the policy states.
.
this whole affair has really caused strife in our family as well as emotional and physical health problems.

 

[ALawyer]

$40,000 is a lot of money.

The fact the agent was also your accountant makes his or hers conduct particularly outrageous.

In the hands of a really good bad faith insurance lawyer this could get you far more than your money back in many states. BUT my suggestion is get the money back, with interest , and leave the big bucks to others -- yor sleep is more important than the potential of a big victory.

A lawyer's letter should do the trick, and for a few hundred to a few thousand dollars in legal fees for a letter -- which I'd bet the insurance company would likely play -- you should prevail.

MOST State Insuramnce Departments are pretty weak, and generally they should be used almost as a last resort, or an ace in the hole, although I don't know the TN state insurance department's current level of activity.

 

[tvproducton]

once again thanks for the reply. good advise in my mind about leaving the big bucks to those who don't care about their sleep. i am getting a bit older as days past and i sure don't want my health to get worse from this type of action.

i life in the state of florida not tenn. i don't know if this changes your response to the question i asked about the strength of the insurance commission.

questions: i wrote 23 specific questions concerning for the insurance company to clarify the policy. i was hoping that their responses would further show the discrepancies between what the agent said and what the company says in laymans terms. i asked them to do this citing lack of clarity in the policy. i am hoping that their responses would even further the differences between what he said and said and they say.

questions?????
WHAT DO YOU THINK?

question
if i mailed in these questions to the insurance company could they use this against me later even though i the letter before the questions would merely say i don't understand the policy's wording please respond to my questions so I will understand; example: pleasse tell me if the cash value will increase if i stop payment after 3 years? (the agent said no in writting the policy say yes).

question?????
what is the posibility of the agent suing me for showing these disrepancies?

question????
i saw on a web cite a lawyers name who is apart of the fl bar and also specializes in trust and probate is that a good lawyer of choice for me.

question?????
if i wrote a letter to the company citing the discrepancies would they merely trash it?

 

[ALawyer]

Ii life in the state of florida not tenn. i don't know if this changes your response to the question i asked about the strength of the insurance commission.

SORRY, I THOUGHT YOU WERE IN TN. FLORIDA HAS A DECENT AND FAIRLY AGGRESSIVE INSURANCE DEPARTMENT, BUT MY SENSE IS THEY TEND TO "GRANDSTAND" AND TAKE ON BIG CASES AGAINST BIG INSURANCE COMPANIES, AND NOTGO AFTER LONE WOLFE AGENTS.

questions: i wrote 23 specific questions .... if i mailed in these questions to the insurance company could they use this against me
SE MY EARLIER ADVICE. I THINK IT DOES NOT PAY TO DO THIS YOURSELF OR GIVE THEM A CHANCE TO DUCK. OR DEFEND AND AS THEY SAY ON TV "ANYTHING YOU SAY CAN AND MAY BE USED AGAINST YOU...." DON'T COME ACROSS AS A CRANK.

question?????
what is the posibility of the agent suing me for showing these disrepancies?
IF DONE RIGHT, BY A LAWYER, ABOUT THE SAME CHANCE AS THERE WILL BE A 36 INCH SNOWFALL IN FLORIDA IN AUGUST

question????
i saw on a web cite a lawyers name who is apart of the fl bar and also specializes in trust and probate is that a good lawyer of choice for me.

I DO NOT KNOW WHO IT IS OR IF HE OR SHE IS GOOD OR BAD. THERE ARE SOME EXCELLENT BAD FAITH BY INSURANCE AGENTS LAWYERS IN THE TAMPA, FLORIDA AREA I HAVE WORKED WITH. iF YOU POST CONTACT INFO i WILL LOOK FOR IT AND FORWARD A NAME OR 2 TO YOU.

question?????
if i wrote a letter to the company citing the discrepancies would they merely trash it? [/B][/QUOTE]

 

[tvproducton]

hope your day finds you well. i finally had one good night sleep last night. you have made me feel more confident of what direction that i am going in.

i live in ft. lauderdale (broward county). i looked on web pg: attorneypages.com i plug in health insurance and received the following names:

1. case and muffler
2. krunick campbell malone et al. diannel j. weaver
3. larry moskowitz
4. morehead and sweeting

i mailed case and muffler a email from the attorney pages.com cite through a like three days ago--no response.

i already mailed 23 questions to the insurance company before i read your response. i hope i didn't blunder---i wasn't derogatory, my intro to the questions was polite. i did not mention anything about the agents written statements. i simply said the policy's language is unclear to me.i then asked them to respond to more exact questions--simply put: the same questions i asked the agent.--please tell me i didn't blunder. i guess i am trying to take some control--only because i don't know any lawyers and they kind of intimidate me.--i could ask one that i know at the city gold course that i play--i don't know if he does insurance law or not---

i do want to get the ball rolling because it appears i am spining my wheels.

i hardly know anything about what happens within the legal world between attorneys. let's say the good lawyer that i obtain writes the letter to the insurance company.

QUESTION:
wwhat would motivate the insurance's co.s lawyer be to return the money and maybe interest?? couldn't they just trash the letter???

QUESTION: you told me to get a good insurance lawyer. how will i know what makes a good lawyer?

QUESTION
do cases like this go to court? can't the insurance company just drag things out hoping i will go away?


QUESTION
should a new graduate from law school who recently passed the bar specializing in financing be a lawyer who should not be recommended for this this case. he is a ex high school student of mine who has rallied to assist.

you are very kind to respond to me---thank you--i hope and pray the kindness your showing reciprocates back to you. i look forward so much to the day that this is far behind me and my family can move on.