New York Life Wins Appeal in Misrepresentation Case

The Tenth Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court's ruling that New York Life Insurance and Annuity Company (NYLIAC) did not commit fraud and misrepresentation, breach of contract, unjust enrichment and recission against Irving H. Blumenthal.

In June of 1999, Mr. Blumenthal purchased a universal life insurance policy that provided a death benefit of $1 million. The policy had a maturity date of June 12, 2032 and called for monthly premium payments of $4,420.50. However, the premium payments were not sufficient enough to keep the policy in force through the maturity date. Without increased monthly premium payments, the policy's cash value and death benefit would lapse at a time determined by credited interest rates and costs.

Mr. Blumenthal maintained that he was not made aware of the facts until November 2006 at which time he was provided an illustration of that the policy's cash value and death benefit would be zero as soon as year 13 or as late as year 17 of the policy. Upon receiving this information, Mr. Blumenthal cancelled that policy. However, Mr. Blumenthal was provided with pages of a policy illustration one month after his purchase in 1999.