Link to article about the report)

Torchmark’s bad faith insurance practices

According to the AAJ report, Torchmark and its subsidiaries, Globe Life and Accident Insurance Company, United American Insurance Company and Liberty National Insurance, have been accused of bad faith insurance practices, such as:

• Discriminating against minorities. Torchmark has been accused of discriminating against minorities by using race-based underwriting practices and refusing to provide insurance to non-English speaking persons. Liberty National paid $6 million in a lawsuit where the insurer charged black customers a third more than white customers for burial policies.
• Lying to policyholders. Both Globe Life and United American have been accused of lying to elderly policyholders by telling them that their insurance would be discontinued once they reached the age of 65 – even though the policies were guaranteed for life. In 2003, United American settled charges in Minnesota of pressuring elderly clients into buying more expensive insurance that provided fewer benefits than they already had.
• Engaging in fraudulent activity. United American agents were accused of sending out mass mailings to the elderly concerning Medicare supplement insurance. However, they merely used the mailing as an opportunity to sell other products. Ironically, the scam was reported to authorities by one of the company’s own employees.

FreeAdvice.com survey: 50% or more of Torchmark’s customers very unsatisfied

According to customer satisfaction ratings on FreeAdvice.com, 50% or more of Torchmark’s customers are very unsatisfied with the insurer and its subsidiaries. Here’s how survey respondents rated the insurers:

Globe Life and Accident Insurance Company

Extremely Satisfied: 0%
Very Satisfied: 25%
Somewhat Satisfied: 25%
Unsatisfied: 0%
Very Unsatisfied: 50%

United American Insurance Company

Extremely Satisfied: 29%
Very Satisfied: 2%
Somewhat Satisfied: 0%
Unsatisfied: 7%
Very Unsatisfied: 61%

Notes: Since Torchmark is a holding company for subsidiary companies, survey information is not available for Torchmark individually. Survey information was not available for Liberty National Insurance.

Customers posted the following comments about Torchmark and its subsidiaries on the website:

• Terrible customer service, nobody knows what is going on. Nobody returns emails at all, and only on person who said they would return my call ever did. I am going on over a month now getting a refund on a premium that was not supposed to be debited in the first place. I cancelled my policies and would not recommend them at all. – referring to Globe Life and Accident Insurance Company.
• They misled us about the coverage and were overall very unhelpful. The amount that was covered was actually surprisingly limited. I would not recommend them to anybody. Regardless of their decent price... pay more to get better coverage. – referring to United American Insurance Company.

Notes: Since Torchmark is a holding company for subsidiary companies, customer comments are not available for Torchmark individually. Customer comments were not available for Liberty National Insurance.

If Torchmark or one of its subsidiaries has acted in bad faith regarding your valid insurance claim, contact an attorney whose practice focuses in this area of the law. Consultations are free, without obligation and strictly confidential. To contact an experienced insurance attorney, please click here. We may be able to help.