THE INFORMATION IN THESE FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS IS PROVIDED TO ASSIST MEMBERS
OF THE SETTLEMENT CLASS. THIS INFORMATION, HOWEVER, IS NECESSARILY LIMITED IN SCOPE
AND DOES NOT REPLACE THE INFORMATION THAT WAS GIVEN IN THE NOTICE OF CLASS ACTION,
PROPOSED SETTLEMENT, AND FAIRNESS HEARING. YOU SHOULD READ THAT NOTICE CAREFULLY.
A COPY OF THE NOTICE CAN BE DOWNLOADED BY CLICKING HERE.
The settlement relates to the proceeding known as In re American Investors Life
Insurance Co. Annuity Marketing and Sales Practices Litigation – MDL Docket No.
1712.
The settlement involves deferred annuities that were issued from January 1, 1998
to July 28, 2009 by American Investors Life Insurance Company. Inc., AmerUs Life
Insurance Company, which is now known as Aviva Life and Annuity Company, or certain
of their predecessor companies.
The persons and entities that received the Notice of Class Action, Proposed Settlement,
and Fairness Hearing in the mail are not being sued. They received the Notice because
they were listed as being a current or former owner of a deferred annuity policy
that is included in the settlement. The Court directed that the Notice be sent to
them because they had a right to know about the settlement, and their rights and
options under the settlement, before the Court decided whether to approve it.
As explained in more detail under Question 2 in the Notice, the lawsuits that are
being settled alleges that the Defendants -- American Investors Life Insurance Company,
AmerUs Life Insurance Company (which is now called Aviva Life and Annuity Company),
AmerUs Group Company (which is now called Aviva USA Corporation), AmerUs Annuity
Group Co., Creative Marketing International Corporation, and Insurance Agency Marketing
Services, Inc. -- and certain other persons and entities marketed and sold deferred
annuities that were unsuitable given the circumstances of the purchasers or the
annuitants, and that those marketing and sales efforts in some cases included the
provision of estate or financial planning services. The lawsuit also alleges that
those Defendants and other parties failed to disclose or accurately represent benefits
under the annuities and how the annuities worked.
The settlement does not mean that the Defendants admit any wrongdoing, and does
not mean that the companies that issued the deferred annuities included in the settlement
are in financial trouble or that any of these annuities are in jeopardy. The settlement
may make available some additional benefits relating to these annuities, but nothing
about these annuities will change as a result of the settlement without instructions
from the owners of the policies.
You can find more information about the lawsuits that are being settled under Questions
1 through 4 in the Notice.
You are not being sued. The persons and entities that received the Notice of Class
Action, Proposed Settlement, and Fairness Hearing received the Notice because they
were listed as being a current or former owner of a deferred annuity policy that
is included in the settlement. The Notice explains the settlement and the rights
and options of Class Members under the settlement.
The Court appointed Jerome M. Marcus, Esq., Jonathan Auerbach, Esq., and John Hargrove,
Esq., as Interim Co-Lead Counsel to represent the Class. Together, these lawyers
are called Class Counsel. You will not be charged for the services of these lawyers.
If you want to be represented by your own lawyer, you may hire one at your own expense.
Please note, however, that there is no requirement that you hire your own lawyer
if you want to participate in the settlement. You can find more information about
the Class Counsel and how they will be paid under Questions 20 and 21 in the Notice.
The settlement Class includes every person or entity that, during the Class Period,
was a purchaser or an owner of a deferred annuity policy having a product name or
a policy form number listed in the Notice that was issued during the Class Period
by either American Investors Life Insurance Company or AmerUs Life Insurance Company
(now known as Aviva Life and Annuity Company), or one of their respective predecessor
companies, and that was not returned and/or cancelled pursuant to any applicable
“free-look” provision. The Class Period is the period commencing on January 1, 1998,
and ending on July 28, 2009.
For additional detail on the deferred annuity policies that are included in the
settlement, please refer to the list of issuing companies, policy form numbers,
and product names in Appendix B
to the Notice.
You can find more information about who is included in the settlement Class under
Questions 5 through 10 in the Notice.
The settlement provides for basic General Policy Relief, enhanced General Policy
Relief, and a Claim Review Process through which Claim Process Relief may be available.
General Policy Relief and Claim Process Relief are different – and mutually exclusive
– alternatives. A policy may receive General Policy Relief or Claim Process Relief,
but not both.
To participate in the Claim Review Process, or to qualify an eligible policy for
enhanced General Policy Relief, a Class Member must have submitted a properly completed,
signed, and authenticated Election Form by U.S. mail with a postmark date no later
than November 27, 2009. That deadline has now passed.
The General Policy Relief, both basic and enhanced, is explained under Question
12 in the Notice. The Claim Process Relief, and the related Claim Review Process,
are explained under Question 13 in the Notice.
The basic General Policy Relief is available for policies that are categorized for
the purposes of the settlement as in deferral, in annuitization, or fully annuitized
as of the Final Settlement Date. The basic General Policy Relief will not be available
for policies categorized as surrendered policies and death benefit policies, or
for any policies as to which a claim is submitted to the Claim Review Process. For
each eligible policy, the amount of the bonus under the basic General Policy Relief,
and how and when it is received, varies depending on the status of the policy.
The basic General Policy Relief has two components. The first gives the owner of
an eligible policy the opportunity to have the annuitant (or the owner, in the case
of a fully annuitized policy) receive a bonus that in most cases is based on the
policy’s accumulation value, and would be received as a part of annuity payments.
For a policy in deferral, receiving the bonus requires that the policy be taken
out of deferral, and the basic General Policy Relief gives the owner the opportunity
to request that this be done at any time after the first anniversary of the policy’s
issue date and while the policy remains in deferral.
Second, if this request is made for a policy in deferral, annuity payments to the
annuitant would begin as soon as reasonably practicable after the Company receives
the required paperwork and continue generally over 4 or 7 years, depending on when
the policy was issued. This means that the policy’s entire accumulation value, including
the bonus, plus interest at the applicable rate as specified by the settlement agreement,
would be paid to the annuitant in installments over the 4 or 7 year period.
For a policy in annuitization, the bonus would be paid in equal installments with
the remaining annuity payments to the annuitant, again if the owner contacts the
Company that issued the policy to request implementation of the relief. For a fully
annuitized policy, the bonus would be paid in a lump sum to the person who was the
owner of the policy when it was annuitized; no request for implementation would
be required.
The basic General Policy Relief is explained under Question 12 in the Notice.
The enhanced General Policy Relief relates to policies categorized as in deferral,
in annuitization, or fully annuitized as of the Final Settlement Date that also
are 65-and-Over Contracts, meaning that each original owner of the policy when it
was issued (or the annuitant of the policy if no original owner was a natural person)
was at least 65 years of age when the policy was issued. The enhanced General Policy
Relief will be available for an eligible 65-and-Over Contract only if its owner
submitted a properly completed, signed, and authenticated Part I of the Election
Form by U.S. mail with a postmark date no later than November 27, 2009. That deadline
has now passed.
The enhanced General Policy Relief for an eligible 65-and-Over Contract is the same
as the basic General Policy Relief, except that the amount of the bonus may be higher,
depending on two factors: (a) whether, and the extent to which the original owner’s
remaining life expectancy exceeded the surrender charge period under the policy;
and (b) how large a fraction of the original owner’s liquid net worth was used to
purchase the policy.
The enhanced General Policy Relief is explained under Question 12 in the Notice.
The Claim Process Relief and the related Claim Review Process are intended for Class
Members who believe that they can prove that they have been harmed by the way a
policy was marketed and sold and/or because the policy was unsuitable for the original
owner. The Claim Review Process allows participating Class Members to submit a Claim
Form and proof of alleged misconduct by Defendants or the salespersons involved
in the sale.
The Claim Process Relief includes the opportunity for the owner of an eligible policy
to have the annuitant (or the owner, in the case of a fully annuitized policy) receive
a bonus that in most cases is based on the policy’s accumulation value and would
be received if the policy is annuitized. Depending on the strength of the claim,
the amount of the bonus could be higher than that available under the General Policy
Relief. The Claim Process Relief also includes the opportunity to receive a cash
payment if an owner submitting a claim incurred surrender charges under the policy.
Please note, however, that these payments will not be available for any surrender
charges incurred on a death benefit.
To participate in the Claim Review Process, the owner of a policy must have submitted
a properly completed and signed Part II of the Election Form by U.S. mail with a
postmark date no later than November 27, 2009. That deadline has now passed. Class
Members who validly elected to participate in the Claim Review Process will be mailed
Claim Forms no later than May 3, 2010. Claim Forms must then be completed and returned
to the Settlement Administrator by mail with a postmark date no later than June
2, 2010.
The Final Settlement Date is March 4, 2010. The General Policy Relief, basic and
enhanced, will be available for implementation starting not later than 90 days after
the Final Settlement Date – i.e., June 2, 2010 – subject to the terms and conditions
that apply to the benefits.
It is anticipated that the resolution of claims submitted to the Claim Review Process
will be completed within a year after the Final Settlement Date, but the timing
will depend on the number of claims received and the number of claimants who contest
their scores.
The settlement involves several hundreds of thousands of polices, so please be patient.
The Notice explains the settlement, the legal rights of Class Members under the
settlement, the settlement benefits included in the settlement, who is eligible
for the settlement benefits, and how the settlement benefits can be obtained. As
explained in the Notice, Class Members were given the opportunity to exclude themselves
from the settlement, object to the settlement, or submit Election Forms relating
to enhanced General Policy Relief or the Claim Review Process. Please note, however,
that the deadlines for taking any of those actions have now passed. In any
event, you should keep the Notice with your policy records because it contains important
information about the settlement.
If you did nothing in response to the Notice and your policy is categorized as in
deferral, in annuitization, or fully annuitized as of the Final Settlement Date,
that policy will be eligible for the basic General Policy Relief, subject to the
terms and conditions that apply to the basic General Policy Relief. However, if
your policy is categorized as fully surrendered or is a death benefit policy as
of the Final Settlement Date, you will not receive any settlement benefit. Please
also keep in mind in any case that, even if your policy is eligible for basic General
Policy Relief, you have to contact the Company that issued your policy if and when
you want the General Policy Relief actually implemented for your policy if it is
in deferral or in annuitization.
Regardless of the status or disposition of your policy, if you did not validly exclude
yourself from the settlement, you have given up all rights to sue any of the Defendants
in this case – American Investors Life Insurance Company, AmerUs Life Insurance
Company (now known as Aviva Life and Annuity Company), AmerUs Group Company (now
known as Aviva USA Corporation), AmerUs Annuity Group Co., Creative Marketing International
Corporation, and Insurance Agency Marketing Services, Inc. – as well as the person(s)
who sold your policy and certain other released parties included as “Releasees”
in the Stipulation of Settlement, concerning the policy or the manner in which it
was marketed or sold, or any other legal claims that were made or could have been
made in this case, as more fully described in the Stipulation of Settlement.
To have excluded yourself from the settlement, you must have submitted a written
request for exclusion, in accordance with the instructions given in the Class Notice,
with a postmark of no later than October 13, 2009. The deadline for members of the
settlement Class to exclude themselves has now passed. If you did not timely submit
a valid request for exclusion, you may no longer exclude yourself from this settlement.
Additional information about the settlement is available at the other links on this
website. If you have questions about the settlement, you may call the Settlement
Administrator at 1-877-506-4027 (1-866-494-8402 for the hearing-impaired) from Monday
through Friday, 9:00 A.M. (Eastern) to 7:00 P.M. (Eastern).