What Should I Do if I’m a Victim of Annuities Fraud?

Annuities are frequently sold to seniors with the promise of a guaranteed rate of return, making seniors believe that their investment is a safe one. Unfortunately, the promised rate of return may not materialize. Worse, deferred or fixed annuities are typically meant to be long-term investments and seniors may be unable to withdraw their money for 10,15 or even more years unless they want to pay substantial fees for early withdrawals.

Because seniors often need to withdraw funds on a short timeline, many annuities are inappropriate investments for older Californians. Yet, these investments are heavily marketed towards seniors seeking financial security and they often come with confusing contracts, difficult-to-understand sales pitches and a large amount of misinformation. 

When seniors are sold inappropriate investments or are misled about what an investment in an annuity actually entails, those seniors can face substantial financial loss. If you are one of the seniors who has been victimized by misleading facts or inaccurate sales pitches, you need to know how best to respond to annuities fraud.  The California and San Francisco annuities and financial elder abuse attorneys at Evans Law Firm, Inc. can help.

How Can Seniors Respond to Annuities Fraud?

Seniors should respond to annuities fraud by reaching out to an experienced attorney who has a practice focused on fighting insurance companies and insurance agents who mislead elderly investors into buying financial products that are wrong for their situation. 

An experienced financial elder abuse lawyer can help any senior who was defrauded by an annuity provider or an insurance agent to take appropriate legal action in order to try to recover compensation for the financial damages that occurred. 

A senior victim of annuities fraud may be able to become part of a class action case against an insurer or insurance agent, which would make it possible for the senior to bring a claim with many other similarly-situated victims. This can simplify the process of pursuing a case, as going to court may not be necessary if seniors are the only members of the class action.  Seniors could also bring individual claims against annuities providers or insurance agents to be resolved in court or could bring a claim against a provider or insurer and settle the case through an effective negotiation process.

A senior who wishes to pursue a claim based on annuities fraud will have the burden of proving that he or she relied on misleading statements as to the material facts about the annuity. Our California and San Francisco annuities and financial elder abuse attorneys can conduct an investigation into the marketing materials, transaction contracts, and other relevant information that a senior relied upon when making the decision to purchase an annuity. An experienced attorney can help a senior gather the necessary evidence of fraud and pursue the most appropriate course of action to recover monetary compensation for financial loss.

Evans Law Firm, Inc. has represented elderly Californians in many annuities fraud cases, including class actions and individual claims. We can put our extensive legal experience with standing up to insurers to work to help you recover compensation for any financial loss that annuities fraud caused you to endure. If you are over age 60 and live in California and have suffered a loss on the surrender of annuity or otherwise, contact us today to find out more about how our compassionate and knowledgeable legal team can help you.