Colorado Bankers (CB Life)...

[Allen Trent]

IDK. I think the lack of access could be big factor in litigation. What aspects of life did it affect not having that money? What hardships were incurred?

Go back and read this thread and the others, consumers have mentioned not having funds for medical bills, living expenses, risking eviction, etc.

They can easily calculate lost opportunity cost. And sure, maybe its only a few percent difference.

But planning to have those funds in 3 years... and 6 years later still no access... that is a serious financial hardship caused by the agents negligence.

You are assuming everyone planned to just roll it to a new MYGA and keep earning interest. Plenty probably planned on rolling to a SPIA and taking lifetime income. Or drawing down that bucket for specific future expenses they now cant cover. Most get rolled and keep earning interest, but many get used after the surrender period.

Not to mention any punitive damages for pain, suffering, & mental anguish.

Also time spent dealing with the mess can be included as well.

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But the real money for the lawyer is the assets. So anyone with substantially over $250k, and evidence of the negligence, might have a chance with an attorney taking it pro-bono.

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If someone had the SGA issue in writing, imo, they could file a claim themselves with the E&O carrier and very likely win a settlement. jmo

Agree, just likely harder to get a lawyer to take the individual case where there is only indirect financial loss due to lack of access. Especially when all the policy documents & promotional brochures in the bank said not insured, not government or FDIC protected.

And, it is possible with this delay in time from product sale to lawsuit, an E&O carrier might not even be on the hook to defend or cover the agent/agency if they are no longer the current E&O carrier or the new carrier isn't responsible for that far back of a retroactive coverage period. The agency (citizens bank), seems to be the better target as they select the carriers & products that their bank employees have access to as the bank employee is not an independent agent selecting carriers nor part of an IMO agency

 

[scagnt83]

Agree, just likely harder to get a lawyer to take the individual case where there is only indirect financial loss due to lack of access. Especially when all the policy documents & promotional brochures in the bank said not insured, not government or FDIC protected.

And, it is possible with this delay in time from product sale to lawsuit, an E&O carrier might not even be on the hook to defend or cover the agent/agency if they are no longer the current E&O carrier or the new carrier isn't responsible for that far back of a retroactive coverage period. The agency (citizens bank), seems to be the better target as they select the carriers & products that their bank employees have access to as the bank employee is not an independent agent selecting carriers nor part of an IMO agency

Dang. Good points about the E&O lookback. I honestly have no clue how far back mine covers...

Citizens would be better for a lawsuit I guess. I was thinking more along the lines of an E&O claim.

But it still comes down to the ownership of the Agency. Often banks take a very hands off approach to decision making in the Agency.... and its almost always a separate entity, or even just a hosted 3rd party who is paying an exorbitant lease.

It sounds like Citizens was directly involved since it appeared in this guys account info. So yeah, they surely have a lot of liability in this situation.

Also, you make a good point about the bank environment. The agent is a true employee of the agency in that situation... not like most who are independent contractors.

So @Stephen Round the AGENCY and its ownership are the ones truly on the hook here! They chose the products to promote, they told the agents what to say, & they made the most money from the sale.

I wonder if Captive Agency E&O policies have a longer retroactive coverage period??

 

[Stephen Round]

Dang. Good points about the E&O lookback. I honestly have no clue how far back mine covers...

Citizens would be better for a lawsuit I guess. I was thinking more along the lines of an E&O claim.

But it still comes down to the ownership of the Agency. Often banks take a very hands off approach to decision making in the Agency.... and its almost always a separate entity, or even just a hosted 3rd party who is paying an exorbitant lease.

It sounds like Citizens was directly involved since it appeared in this guys account info. So yeah, they surely have a lot of liability in this situation.

Also, you make a good point about the bank environment. The agent is a true employee of the agency in that situation... not like most who are independent contractors.

So @Stephen Round the AGENCY and its ownership are the ones truly on the hook here! They chose the products to promote, they told the agents what to say, & they made the most money from the sale.

I wonder if Captive Agency E&O policies have a longer retroactive coverage period??

So are we talking an individual lawsuit or a class action lawsuit against Citizens Bank? I understand that they have A LOT of people who are involved in this fiasco.

What I need is a list of potential claimants who were sucked into this in 2017 and have BIG $$$$$$ tied up.

Do you have a suggestion on how to start compiling a list of Citizens Bank customers affected by this? I know there are a few following this discussion right now...
Then all we need is a lawyer willing to take on the case.

 

[Allen Trent]

Dang. Good points about the E&O lookback. I honestly have no clue how far back mine covers...

Citizens would be better for a lawsuit I guess. I was thinking more along the lines of an E&O claim.

But it still comes down to the ownership of the Agency. Often banks take a very hands off approach to decision making in the Agency.... and its almost always a separate entity, or even just a hosted 3rd party who is paying an exorbitant lease.

It sounds like Citizens was directly involved since it appeared in this guys account info. So yeah, they surely have a lot of liability in this situation.

Also, you make a good point about the bank environment. The agent is a true employee of the agency in that situation... not like most who are independent contractors.

So @Stephen Round the AGENCY and its ownership are the ones truly on the hook here! They chose the products to promote, they told the agents what to say, & they made the most money from the sale.

I wonder if Captive Agency E&O policies have a longer retroactive coverage period??

And, in almost all cases I have ever seen, the people at the bank in the corner office licensed for annuities are 100% bank employees, not an employee of a separate entity & most are salaried employees & not commission based

 

[Allen Trent]

So are we talking an individual lawsuit or a class action lawsuit against Citizens Bank? I understand that they have A LOT of people who are involved in this fiasco.

What I need is a list of potential claimants who were sucked into this in 2017 and have BIG $$$$$$ tied up.

Do you have a suggestion on how to start compiling a list of Citizens Bank customers affected by this? I know there are a few following this discussion right now...
Then all we need is a lawyer willing to take on the case.

Only thing I can think of is to put Facebook posts out on community Facebook pages looking for any customers of CBL that were sold the annuity by Citizens employees. Maybe reach out to local news stations to see if they will air a show that could find other customers that believe they were told this same info that may have been misleading or untrue

 

[Tahoe Ray]

And, in almost all cases I have ever seen, the people at the bank in the corner office licensed for annuities are 100% bank employees, not an employee of a separate entity & most are salaried employees & not commission based

The first part is right but I called on banks for years as a carrier rep and they were all commission based (maybe with a salary as well). Their comp may have been different than street or they were compensated as a "bonus" but production definitely affected their income.

 

[Phyllis Christos]

I would really like to hear more about the person from the WSJ that is writing the article

Please reach out to Mark -- the more people we can get on record here the better:

Mark Maremont
Senior Editor
The Wall Street Journal
53 State Street, Suite 500
Boston, MA 02109
+1-617-306-0796
[email protected]

 

[Phyllis Christos]

I have gone back to the beginning of this thread and pulled out the names/tags of all the people who seem to be similar victims of this situation.
Folks -- we need to band together!!
If you want to have a voice and be heard please contact the Wall Street Journal reporter Mark Maremont who interviewed my husband and me a couple weeks ago.
They are working on a story.
More voices need to be heard.
His email is [email protected]
His phone number is 617-306-0796.
My husband has been on a Facebook thread today and has spoken on the phone with 3 other victims who are NOT on this insurance forums thread.
We are compiling a list of victims and so far including us -- we have 10 parties from 7 different states.
Some stand to lose a lot, others not as much...but we all agree Citizens needs to be investigated/exposed and they need to take SOME kind of financial responsibility here.
We could band together and try to file a class action suit.
I don't even know how that works but we need to start somewhere.
If you are listed below please reach out to me ASAP via my email which is [email protected]:
David Nyman - Utah
Mary Combs - Rhode Island
Debbie Griffiths - Georgia
Steve R - Florida
BankersNC_Victim - Florida
Stephen Round - Connecticut

 

[Allen Trent]

The first part is right but I called on banks for years as a carrier rep and they were all commission based (maybe with a salary as well). Their comp may have been different than street or they were compensated as a "bonus" but production definitely affected their income.

Correct. I meant instead of most situations where agents are self employed & getting all the carrier commission & no salary, bank personal bankers tend to be mostly salary & get relatively small bonus based on a "grid" that keeps track of how many new checking, new CDs, annuities are written.

 

[Allen Trent]

I have gone back to the beginning of this thread and pulled out the names/tags of all the people who seem to be similar victims of this situation.
Folks -- we need to band together!!
If you want to have a voice and be heard please contact the Wall Street Journal reporter Mark Maremont who interviewed my husband and me a couple weeks ago.
They are working on a story.
More voices need to be heard.
His email is [email protected]
His phone number is 617-306-0796.
My husband has been on a Facebook thread today and has spoken on the phone with 3 other victims who are NOT on this insurance forums thread.
We are compiling a list of victims and so far including us -- we have 10 parties from 7 different states.
Some stand to lose a lot, others not as much...but we all agree Citizens needs to be investigated/exposed and they need to take SOME kind of financial responsibility here.
We could band together and try to file a class action suit.
I don't even know how that works but we need to start somewhere.
If you are listed below please reach out to me ASAP via my email which is [email protected]:
David Nyman - Utah
Mary Combs - Rhode Island
Debbie Griffiths - Georgia
Steve R - Florida
BankersNC_Victim - Florida
Stephen Round - Connecticut

I just saw this posted on Facebook on Friday. Looks like this law firm is seeking clients for this topic:. [EXTERNAL LINK] - Log into Facebook | Facebook

https://www.investorlawyers.com/blog/annuity-investment-loss-lawyers/