Available 24/7Many customers who purchase index universal life insurance policies are sorely disappointed when they find out that they have not gotten the benefit of the bargain they expected. One of the reasons why these policies fall short of expectations is that the IUL company charges steep fees at all phases of your policy ownership. They make money, while you often do not. If you have lost money on a Minnesota Life IUL, contact the attorneys at the Investor Loss Center to learn whether you can file a lawsuit.
Who Is Minnesota Life?
Minnesota Life is an insurance giant that currently operates under the name Securian Financial.
Minnesota Life has been in business for nearly 150 years, and it serves approximately 19 million clients throughout North America. The company is owned by its members, and there is no stock that has been issued, so it is impossible to know exactly how much money Minnesota Life makes. Given the scope and extent of its operations, it is a safe bet to say that Minnesota Life is highly profitable. Unfortunately, when you have purchased their products, such as an IUL, that does not fully disclose the fees, some of these profits come at your expense.
How Minnesota Life Sells Their IUL Policies
Minnesota Life tells sales professionals that their IUL policies are “a smart choice for your clients.” These products have sophisticated names that are meant to make them sound even smarter. They have several primary options for IUL policies, including:
- The Eclipse Accumulator is a “flexible premium indexed universal life with a focus on accumulation.” There are several index options, some capped and others uncapped. There is a level of increasing death benefit options. Minnesota Life claims that the Eclipse Accumulator has a simplified design and is resilient to market volatility.
- The Eclipse Protector is aimed at clients who want premiums that they can fit within their budgets. According to Minnesota Life, the Eclipse Protector “brings an indexed crediting option to the protection-focused market.” Minnesota Life also claims that “the contract will not lapse – as long as clients pay their premiums.”
Minnesota Life IUL Policies Often Include Steep Fees
Of course, being able to pay premiums is always an issue, since they include steep fees that Minnesota Life rakes in over the life of the policy. Minnesota Life and its marketers present you with glossy brochures that contain illustrations and forecasts for how you may do financially over the lifetime of your policy. While there are always unforeseen circumstances, these graphs often do not fully factor in the effects of the fees that you are being charged.
Although Minnesota Life generally discloses the fees that it charges in connection with an IUL (as it is legally obligated to do), they do not always tell you how these fees will affect your financial performance, and how you could have done had you not paid these fees. When you read through Minnesota Life’s marketing materials, they trumpet the flexibility and options you have, while sticking the disclosure of the fees into the footnotes.
Specifically, a Minnesota Life IUL would include the following fees:
- Cost of Insurance Charge
- Cash Extra Charge
- Additional Agreements Charge
- Premium Charge
- Monthly Policy Charge
- Policy Issue Charge
- Transaction Charge
- Index Segment Charge
- Surrender Charge
Minnesota Life also buries in the small print that these fees can change over time. Specifically, Minnesota Life can raise these fees, even after you have already purchased an IUL, and the fee hikes can harm your financial performance. Once you have purchased a policy, you are locked in, and you are often at the mercy of Minnesota life. If they have raised the fees so much that you cannot afford the premiums, you would then need to surrender your policy, and you would incur an additional fee to do so. You are getting the sense that the house always wins, and it is often at your expense.
Numerous customers have sued IUL companies such as Minnesota Life for their marketing practices and how they handle their fees. They never fully explain to you what you are paying, and they often institute unreasonable fee hikes that can cost you a significant amount of money.
Customers have filed individual and class action lawsuits against IUL and marketing companies for what they have not told you. Misrepresentation in connection with the sale of a financial product subjects these companies to negligence claims, and you may be entitled to compensation if you have lost money because of it.
Contact the Minnesota Life IUL Lawsuit Lawyers at the Investor Loss Center Today
The attorneys at the Investor Loss Center can help level the playing field and hold companies like Minnesota Life accountable when their deceptive sales practices have cost you money.
These companies cannot be permitted to profit at your expense through half disclosure, or even a complete non-disclosure. When you need a hard-hitting attorney who will take on powerful interests, contact us to discuss your case. You can schedule a free initial consultation by messaging us online or by calling us today at (803)-805-7546. You owe us nothing unless we help you win your case.