Many businesses had hopes their commercial business interruption insurance would reimburse them for COVID-19 losses. But this insurance generally contains exclusions for war, flood and pandemics. Some state lawmakers are trying to apply retroactive coverage to those policies.
Prudential Financial Inc. will temporarily suspend taking applications for 30-year term life insurance policies, effective April 13, a spokeswoman confirmed today. The insurer cited “unprecedented market volatility over the past month and the anticipated low interest rate environment.”
Billionaire insurance magnate Greg Lindberg’s lawyers filed a motion Thursday for acquittal and for a new trial in the Western District of North Carolina. His attorneys submitted a 69-page document, claiming court errors, the government failed to meet the standard of “beyond reasonable doubt,” and that Lindberg was entrapped.
Sixty percent of Medicare insurance agents say their income declined over the past month as COVID-19 shut down businesses and forced Americans indoors. The online poll was conducted by the American Association for Medicare Supplement Insurance.
The U.S. economy could get back on track quickly for very strong growth in the fourth quarter. The key is to get the COVID-19 pandemic under control by mid-summer, if not before, said Ben Ayers, senior economist for Nationwide.
Insurers are required to delay collecting premium on life insurance and annuity contracts written in New York for 90 days under an emergency regulation adopted today. The directive covers consumers experiencing financial hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the New York Department of Financial Services said.
Many clients are scared, nervous and simply filled with anxiety over their portfolios, said Anders Smith, national sales consultant with Delaware Life Insurance Company. “During times like these, unfortunately, our jobs as financial professionals become a lot harder,” Smith said.
The U.S. markets will remain open while the country battles to control the spreading COVID-19 virus, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday. He responded to a smattering of calls for the battered markets to take at least brief holiday.
With President Donald Trump expected to sign a $2 trillion economic rescue package this week, advisors and clients have a lifeline to recalibrate financial plans. The legislation steers aid to businesses, workers and health care systems engulfed by the coronavirus pandemic.
In a new lawsuit filed in North Carolina, Greg Lindberg accuses Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey — who wore a wire and cooperated with the FBI — of “abuse of power and breach of the public trust.” Lindberg was convicted on bribery charges March 5.
Former life insurance agent Christopher Dougherty, 47, pleaded guilty to several fraud charges this week, partly related to a phony marijuana farm investment he successfully pitched to unknowing investors.
Overall 2019 indexed annuity sales were $73.2 billion, a record-setting year that ended with a slowdown, reports Wink’s Sales & Market Report. Indexed annuity sales for the fourth quarter were $17.1 billion, down 8.1% when compared to the previous quarter, and down 10.6% when compared with the same period last year.
A federal court judge in North Carolina warned billionaire insurance magnate Greg Lindberg and his team today to stop contacting jurors in his recently completed bribery case.
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners are hosting a webinar Friday to discuss pandemic information and readiness, along with its impact on the insurance industry.
New York regulators adopted a new emergency regulation requiring New York State insurance companies to waive cost-sharing, including, deductibles, copayments, or coinsurance for in-network telehealth visits.
The federal government filed a motion today in a North Carolina court for forfeiture of nearly $1.5 million seized from insurance magnate Greg Lindberg, who was convicted on bribery charges last week.
February saw a 5.6% increase in life insurance application activity from that of January, MIB reported, an increase not seen for this period in the composite index since 2015. However, the persistent coronavirus is likely to dampen activity in the coming months, MIB added.
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners is cancelling its spring meeting March 21-24 in Phoenix, the latest concession to the growing coronavirus threat. The meeting is one of three major conferences the NAIC holds annually and draws hundreds of regulators, insurance executives, consumer advocates and media members.
New bipartisan legislation could go a long way toward helping seniors pay for late-life care through favorable tax changes, say officials with the Life Insurance Settlement Association. The bill would allow seniors to sell their life insurance policies and use the proceeds, tax-free, to pay for their health care costs.
Citing risks from the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, iPipeline has canceled its Connections 2020 conference set for March 15-17 in Las Vegas. The event annually draws hundreds of attendees to discuss technology in financial services.
The state Assembly passed a bill 78-0 last week banning STOLI and sent it to the Senate, which previously introduced the legislation. The Democratic caucus is leading the effort in both houses and Gov. Phil Murphy, D, is likely to sign the final product.
Fears of coronavirus becoming a global pandemic is causing the cancellation of many conferences as companies seek to avoid concentrating large numbers of people in confined spaces. But trade associations and companies in financial services are going ahead with planned conferences.
In direct premium life insurance, Northwestern Mutual ascended to the top spot with a 7% market share and $11.3 billion in premium.
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals handed a big victory recently to Liberty Insurance Underwriters over the use of life insurance in a company stock dispute.
Arizona might be the next state to approve a best-interest annuity sales standard via legislation. Titled “Annuity Transactions; Requirements,” the bill was introduced Feb. 4, passed the Arizona Senate Feb. 20 by a 26-0 vote, with four senators not voting, and is now in the House.
The Iowa Insurance Division unveiled a proposal Thursday to require annuity agents and securities agents to act in the best interest of their customers. The new regulation comes two weeks after the NAIC executive committee approved a best-interest model standard for annuity sales.
The New York Department of Financial Services fined Asurion Insurance Services and Asurion Protection Services $4 million for providing inadequate consumer disclosures for insurance offerings.
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners is terminating its Insure U consumer education website.
Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William F. Galvin has finalized regulations which “will impose a true fiduciary conduct standard in Massachusetts.” The new fiduciary standard will be enforced starting Sept. 1 for anyone selling financial products or giving advice in the state.
A Florida bill that would prohibit insurers from using customers’ genetic information in changing, denying or canceling policies cleared its third and final Senate committee Wednesday. The bill passed the Senate Rules Committee by a 16-1 vote.
Now that industry lobbyists were successful in getting a favorable NAIC Suitability in Annuity Transactions model update, the real work begins to get states to uniformly adopt it. New York has already opted for a tougher set of rules, while other states such as Massachusetts are in the process of doing the same.
There is no reason to expect any change in the Beltway distribution of power, said Chip Roame, managing partner of Tiburon Strategic Advisors. Speaking during a regular conference call Thursday, Roame said President Donald J. Trump is on track for another four-year term.
State insurance commissioners voted today to sent a strengthened annuity sales model law that adds a best-interest standard to the states for adoption. The successful vote came over the strenuous objections of New York Superintendent of Financial Services Linda Lacewell.
Security Benefit is asking a Florida court for a stay in a lawsuit challenging its use of proprietary indexes until a similar lawsuit is decided in a Kansas City appeals court. Both lawsuits claim the company’s use of the proprietary index amounted to racketeering.
A Florida bill that would prohibit insurers from using customers’ genetic information in changing, denying or canceling policies cleared another Senate committee Tuesday. The bill, opposed by industry, appears to have broad, bipartisan support.
State regulators appear to be approving more long-term care insurance rate increases than in the past, even as work continues to establish a consistent national rate review process. Genworth and Prudential appeared before South Carolina regulators and residents last week to explain its rate-hike requests there.
A Missouri insurance agent who used a lead-generation mailer advertising “FREE government benefits” was fined by both the Iowa Insurance Division, as well as the state attorney general. Officials said the mailers targeted older Iowans, some of whom were confused by the advertising.
In October 2017, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners adopted its Insurance Data Security Model Law and sent it to the states for legislative consideration. States were slow to respond at first, but a wave of state legislatures are set to adopt the NAIC model law.
The New York Department of Financial Services would gain much bigger fining power if the governor’s budget is adopted. With the DFS having recently enacted fiduciary like rules for all sales of life insurance and annuities, Cuomo’s proposal has implications for insurers.
Through his company, Ronald Leger sold “at least” $3.7 million fractional interests in life settlements to 29 investors, the complaint reads. The Massachusetts Securities Division is in the process of finalizing a fiduciary rule to tighten the rules for all financial advice and sales.
A Second Circuit judge recently sided with Aetna insurance company in a case brought by a nurse who handled claims for the company and argued she was eligible for overtime pay. The decision sets further precedent that exemptions from the “professional” designation will be drawn narrowly by the court, one legal expert says.
Mennonite investors in Pennsylvania were scammed out of $60 million over a decade, say investigators with the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission. The elaborate Ponzi scheme relied on the trust of the Mennonite worshippers, investigators say.
Work continues on a fiduciary rule proposed by the Massachusetts Securities Division. The department posted 227 comment letters last week, three weeks after the comment deadline. A spokeswoman said all of the comments will be included in the rulemaking process.
From stunning success to terrible tragedy, Sheryl Moore shares her story of rising to top of the insurance world. Known for her warm smile and engaging personality, Moore openly shares details of both the good times and the bad in this InsuranceNewsNet profile story.
Principal Financial Group was among financial services firms lobbying for passage of the SECURE Act, but few are better positioned to take advantage of the changes in the law. The company discussed why during a conference call this week to discuss fourth-quarter earnings.
Regulators and industry representatives are inching closer to a middle ground to save the controversial multipliers and bonuses that many blame for rosy indexed universal life illustrations. Regulators held another call Tuesday to discuss amending Actuarial Guideline 49 to tighten up illustrations.
The lawsuit targets two of Security Benefit’s FIAs, the Total Value and Secure Income annuities, both of which were offered with proprietary indices that the company advertised as “capable of producing double-digit returns,” the lawsuit alleged.
Accelerated underwriting holds the promise of being able to cut the agent’s time spent selling a $500,000 policy from 20 hours to roughly five, one industry expert says. That could mean a lot more policies sold to a middle market that is woefully lacking in life insurance coverage.
The NAIC Executive Committee and Plenary will hold a joint meeting on Thursday, Feb. 13 and could vote to adopt new annuity sales rules. The model articulates a best-interest standard through the following four obligations: care, disclosure, conflict of interest and documentation.
A federal appeals court recently ordered the United States to make good on a structured annuity the former Executive Life Insurance Company of New York (ELNY) was paying to a burn victim. The decision calls attention to the security of long-term annuity promises when an insurance company goes out of business.
The California Consumer Protection Act took effect Jan. 1 and sets a high bar for data privacy — and has potentially significant impacts for insurers and policyholders. For instance, it could make it harder to legally defend lawsuits, a San Francisco lawyer said.
The U.S. Supreme Court declined today to put the legal challenge to Obamacare on a fast track, meaning the court will not hear the case prior to the November election. The decision reduces pressure on Republicans to produce a replacement plan prior to the election.
Who can and should provide financial literacy education is unclear, but a pair of academic experts say it should not be state insurance regulators. They spoke during a conference call last week for the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ Retirement Security Working Group.
Mother Jones, a liberal news website, reports that it has copies of internal memorandums circulated by Barclays, a powerful London-based bank and financial services firm. In one such memo, the bank warns that a Warren presidency “would directly impact corporate earnings.”
The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act was included in the massive $1.4 trillion spending bill signed by President Donald Trump at the end of the year. Getting the rules loosened for annuities in plans is “a big win for the insurance industry,” says one industry expert.
A National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ task force will collect data from several insurers over the coming weeks as part of its effort to establish a uniform long-term care rate review process.
On Jan. 1, the 2017 Principle-Based Reserving and Commissioners Standard Ordinary Table both took effect. Insurers had three years to meet the new standards, but some were certainly more prepared than others, one actuarial expert said.
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker sent a letter Tuesday to Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin urging him to defer action on proposed fiduciary regulation. The proposal creates “confusion,” and ignores other state and national regulatory efforts, Baker wrote.
The Life Insurance and Annuities (A) Committee voted to pass a strengthened annuity sales standard on to the NAIC Executive Committee and Plenary. The executive committee could take the final vote on the annuity rule changes early in 2020.
Once again, lawsuits and regulation were the most-read annuity topics on InsuranceNewsNet during 2019. Otherwise, readers were naturally interested in annuity sales rankings, among other topics. Here are the top five most-read annuity stories of the year.
