by John Darer CLU ChFC MSSC RSP CLTC
The Aviva/Athene class action settlement checks have been mailed and some attorneys may be puzzled by calls from their clients
Aviva /Athene CMA class action settlement checks have been mailed
First of all I encourage: you to read my May 9, 2018 post on Settlement News Network blog
Do You Have an Aviva or Athene Structured Settlement?
If you want a deeper dive please read my Aviva Structured Settlements coverage on the Structured Settlements 4Real blog.
A few bullet points to distill:
- Aviva did not go out of business
- Aviva sold its USA operations to Athene Holding. That deal closed in October 2013.
- There are no solvency issues for Aviva or Athene. In fact the successor insurer to Aviva following the sale was upgraded by A.M. Best in the interim. A.M. Best affirmed Athene's upgraded ratings in 2018.
- The Capital Maintenance Agreement that cost $500 dollars to provide greater peace of mind, when their structured settlement was established between 2002-2009, was unilaterally terminated without notice to annuitants at or about the time of the 2013 closing of the Aviva/Athene deal. Both insurers concealed the the information from their annuitants. Moreover, material facts about the CMA were concealed by Aviva from its agents and even front line employees and, according to Court documents filed by Plaintiffs, discovery revealed that all wasn't what its seemed.
- Fortunately lead plaintiff John Griffiths and I got ahead of the story by making the discovery in the Fall of 2014 and the class action filed by the Philadelphia law firm of Marcus and Auerbach in July 2015 led to what can only be seen as a positive result for over 4,000 annuitants. Once again nobody lost money, no money was in imminent danger and this was nipped in the bud.