MINNEAPOLIS, June 16, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Policyholders of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans (formerly known as Lutheran Brotherhood) filed a lawsuit seeking class action status on behalf of all Lutheran Brotherhood policyholders who reside in the United States and who purchased policies prior to February 24, 1993, and who were identified by Lutheran Brotherhood in 1993, 1994 or 1995 as having a "potentially under-funded contract." The policyholders initiating the action are Minnesota residents who purchased Lutheran Brotherhood life insurance policies through sales illustrations or sales pitches that projected the interest rate years into the future to create the illusion that the policy would be worth more than it really was. The Complaint alleges that Lutheran Brotherhood later identified these policies as being under-funded, or unable to meet the expectations created when the policy was sold, but did nothing to provide this critical information to policyholders while continuing to bill them for and expect payment of premiums as though there was nothing wrong with their life insurance policies.
Plaintiffs are represented by four law firms, which have significant experience prosecuting class actions on behalf of consumers. The case is filed in Hennepin County District Court. For more information about Zimmerman Reed, please consult the firm website at www.zimmreed.com.
As alleged in the Complaint, beginning in 1992, Lutheran Brotherhood reviewed its policyholders' insurance contracts and identified tens of thousands of potentially under-funded contracts, which were likely to lapse before maturity. Despite this knowledge, the Complaint alleges that Lutheran Brotherhood kept billing these policyholders and expecting them to pay premiums without telling them that their policies were likely to lapse unless premium payments were significantly increased. In fact, Lutheran Brotherhood instead targeted these policies as potential "opportunities" for sales of new products. According to the Complaint, Lutheran Brotherhood created an entire project called the "under-funded policy project" and developed a list on which it identified troubled or under-funded contracts. However, Lutheran Brotherhood affirmatively decided not to send notification to these under-funded policyholders so that the policyholder could make informed choices about what to do about their under-funded policy; choices that would have included ceasing premium payments on a policy that Lutheran Brotherhood had identified as not likely to last to maturity. According to the Complaint, thousands of Lutheran Brotherhood policyholders continued to pay thousands of dollars in premium payments on life insurance policies that Lutheran Brotherhood knew were likely to lapse ten years down the road as a result.
The Policyholders seek to recover damages on behalf of all individuals nationwide that Lutheran Brotherhood identified as having these under-funded contracts, but never notified them of this fact.
If you have questions regarding this action, please contact J. Gordon Rudd, Jr. at 612.341.0400 or jgr@zimmreed.com.
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca