In recent years, Mr. Hermann collected in excess of $4.2 million on behalf of numerous clients who claimed to have been defrauded by various insurance companies and their agents for selling inappropriate long term annuity products.

Annuities are typically long term investments that cannot be used for immediate financial need without incurring significant penalties. In recent years, thousands of investors have accused several of the nation’s leading insurance companies and local insurance agencies of misrepresenting the terms of various annuity products. In particular victims have alleged that the insurance companies and/or their agents failed to disclose certain unsuitable terms such as the contract length, surrender penalties, limitations on advertised rates of return and  other promised incentives. Since the commission rates for the sale of annuities are typically higher than those for other investment products, salesmen are encouraged to push these products regardless of whether they meet the individualized need of the customer.

In recent years, insurance agencies have employed a number of “bait and switch” tactics to try and plug the sale of annuity products. These techniques include “Free Lunch Seminars” in which senior citizens and/or retirees are encouraged to attend complimentary retirement planning seminars under the guise of a free meal. Another common sales ploy is to offer free tax and/or estate planning services in exchange for a “complimentary” review of the prospective individual’s finances (i.e. “Trust Mill”) Once the agency gains access to a client’s financial information, they encourage the client to dump their entire savings into an annuity regardless of any adverse consequences. Several State Attorney Generals Offices have declared such practices to be false and deceptive.