It has been 2 years since COI increases were announced by TransAmerica. Since that time several other carriers have announced increases and LexServ has analyzed over 1,500 policies that were affected by an increase (COI, monthly charge, premium charge). The magnitude of the increases has ranged from 5% to over 200%, with nearly 300 policies having increases in excess of 50%. The following table summarizes the increases by carrier:
| Parent Company | Carrier(s) | Range % of Increase |
|---|---|---|
| Transamerica (1) August 2015 |
Transamerica | 5% to 47% |
| Legal & General August 2015 |
Banner Life, William Penn | 10% to over 200% |
| Jackson National August 2015 |
Reassure America | 30% to 40% |
| AXA Financial September 2015 |
US Financial Life | 6% to 40% |
| Voya October 2015 |
ReliaStar, Security Life of Denver |
5% to 45% |
| AXA Financial March 2016 |
AXA Equitable | 27% for issue age 70+ 68% for issue age 80+ |
| Transamerica (2) March 2016 |
Transamerica | 21% to 100% |
| Conseco March 2016 |
Conseco | No Impacted Policies |
| Lincoln Financial Group June 2016 |
Lincoln Life & Annuity Co. of NY | 14% to 52% |
| Lincoln Financial Group (2) October 2016 | Lincoln National Life Insurance | 5% to over 100% |
| Lincoln Financial Group (3) October 2017 | Lincoln National Life Insurance | 7% to 50% |
| Transamerica (3) October 2017 | Transamerica | 41% to 63% |
| Phoenix November 2017 | Phoenix Life Insurance Company | Unknown |
In most cases the insurance companies have directed the increases to selected products. The exception to date is AXA Equitable where the target was based on product, issue age, and face amount. The AXA increases for the Athena UL II product apply to policies with $1 Million or more in face amount, and they vary by insured issue age. Policies with an issue age of 70 to 79 result in increases of approximately 27%, while those with an issue age of 80 and above result in 68% increases.
Policies with Secondary Guarantees, either Shadow Accounts or Minimum Premium Guarantees, may allow investors to lessen or eliminate the impact of the increases. LexServ has identified approximately 150 such policies issued by Voya, AXA, or Banner. Our analysis process ensures we take every advantage of these policy options.
Confirming impacted policies has required a fair amount of perseverance as the carriers have not always been compliant or responsive when sending the increase notices or updated in-force illustrations. LexServ has used our product database and policy information in ServiceTrack to identify potentially impacted policies, and then proactively contacted the carrier to confirm increases and obtain the necessary information for impact analysis. We will continue this approach should any other increases be announced in the future.
