Litigation

Rated Age Abuse of Insurers By Structured Settlement Brokers Under Investigation

By John Darer

The number of rated age requests going to structured annuity underwriting departments with no business to follow is a blood gorged clot, clogging the structured settlement service artery and affecting everyone's ability to service business in the structured settlement industry.  IT HAS TO STOP!

Several firms, including life companies have been approached by workers compensation service providers offering money to obtain rated ages with feigned promises of business. Most turn these "opportunities" down. Apparently some structured settlement brokers are submitting 20 meds. ( each approximately 5-20 pages long) over long periods of time and the annuity markets are seeing no business from them.   Is this ethical? Is this an unfair trade practice? 

As I've begun an investigation into this serious problem that affects everyone, it is obvious that the flood of workers comp medicals for what I will dub "phantom MSA annuity induced cases" has reached such a critical juncture that one cannot just sit still. In some cases it is now taking as long as 48 hours to get rated ages on legitimate cases when it used to be a few hours. 

I don't expect the number to be huge BUT, the structured settlement service artery clogging who are found to be responsible for continually flooding the medical underwriting departments of annuity issuers so that they can make multiples of $50 to $100 (on the back of salaries that they don't pay and at the expense of timely service to the rest of the industry) need to be held to task and will be. I'm not talking about a one off case. I'm talking about serial abusers.  Rest assured the problem is not going unnoticed by the annuity issuers and now it's not going to go unnoticed by anyone else.

How about the structured settlement general agents?  Do you have knowledge of what your employees or affiliates are doing?

What business decisions should the life markets be making with regard to the abusers' appointments?

An investigation is underway into this corrupt business practice. Those agents and/or agencies who abuse the system and affect everyone else will be publicly identified.

Full post as published by Structured Settlements 4Real on June 04, 2009 (boomark / email).