Seniors are the fastest growing segment of the population to be victimized by fraud and schemes. Every day, con artists bombard the telephones, mailboxes and emails of older Americans. On April 30, Safeguard Our Seniors legislation passed the Florida Legislature, strengthening senior investor fraud laws. Read more at www.flseniors.net.
The Safeguard Our Seniors Act provides the following safeguards:
- Increases the financial penalty for the willful act of “twisting” or “churning” of an annuity to a maximum of $75,000, which is intended to be a strong disincentive to this unlawful behavior.
- Limits the period of a surrender charge (a fee for early withdrawal of the annuity) for an annuity sold to a senior consumer (age 65 or older) to 10 years and limits the surrender charge to 10 percent.
- Extends the “free look” period for the purchase of an annuity by a senior consumer from 14 to 21 days.
- Authorizes the Department of Financial Services to require an agent to make monetary restitution to a senior consumer harmed by a violation of the insurance code under certain circumstances.
- Includes a third party marketer that aids and abets an insurance agent in the violation of the insurance code involving an annuity sale to a senior consumer as an affiliated party of the insurance agent. This brings that marketer under the regulatory authority of the DFS.
- Gives the DFS authority to take disciplinary action against an agent who has been disciplined under his or her securities broker-dealer license or a related license.
- Prohibits the DFS from issuing a license to a former licensee who has had his or her license revoked resulting from the solicitation or sale of an insurance product to a senior consumer.
- Extends the prohibition on a life insurance agent being the beneficiary of a life insurance policy by including the agent’s family members within the prohibition and by prohibiting the agent from serving as a guardian, trustee, or having power of attorney over the insured.
- Requires an insurer to provide a cover sheet attached to the policy when an annuity is issued informing the purchaser about the free look period and about how to contact the insurer and the DFS if they have questions about the annuity.
- Allows the use of video depositions in administrative hearings involving a senior consumer and requires compliance with the Rules of Civil Procedure.
Please call your BBB|Northwest Florida at 850.429.0026 to receive a free informational brochure titled: Scams Against Seniors or to arrange a time for us to visit your organization with a customized presentation on senior scams, compliments of your BBB Foundation, which supports your BBB’s vision of an ethical marketplace through community education and recognition programs.
To learn more about protecting seniors from financial fraud, start with bbb.org.