Reinsurer Accused of Improperly Imposing Rate Increases on Life Insurance Policyholders

NEW YORK — A New York federal lawsuit accuses a reinsurer of improperly imposing cost-of-insurance rate increases for thousands of universal life insurance policies, causing policyholders to either pay the exorbitant rates or lapse on the policies.

In an Oct. 22 complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the plaintiff contends that his father was forced to lapse on his $2 million universal life insurance policy after his family had sunk nearly $780,000 of premiums into it since 1995.

In 1998, Voya Retirement Insurance and Annuity Co., f/k/a Aetna Life Insurance and Annuity …