Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro Cases

EquiTrust Life Insurance Company

Date Filed: January 12, 2009

Court: U.S. District Court

Location: Arizona

Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro filed a class-action lawsuit against EquiTrust Life Insurance Company, claiming it duped customers into purchasing annuities products through deceptive sales practices.

The lawsuit claims EquiTrust designed a scheme that targets the elderly in an effort to create large product spreads to pay oversized commissions, to lure prospects with illusory bonuses and earn a large profit margin.

The lawsuit claims the "scheme was devised and intentionally crafted to ensure that plaintiffs and class members would purchase indexed annuities and not receive full benefits from the annuities or be subject to exorbitant surrender charges."

The increased surrender penalties and extended maturity dates on the annuity products don't end until plaintiffs' 105th birthday, forcing them to pay surrender charges of 20 percent, the suit claims.

Plaintiffs say the class has been forced to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in premiums and surrender charges for annuity products that, by design, could not perform as advertised.

If you purchased an indexed annuity product from EquiTrust from 2004 until present, you are eligible to join this suit. You can also contact attorneys at (206) 623-7292.