RAPID CITY, S.D. – Two more credit union members have filed suits against CUNA Mutual Group claiming the insurer engaged in a pattern of deceit to prevent it from paying claims on credit disability policies they purchased at their credit union.
One of the suits was filed by the same attorneys who won a $6.2 million jury verdict against the credit union insurer last month by the estate of a deceased member of Highmark FCU who claimed CUNA Mutual illegally denied her claims for credit life disability on her home equity loan. Those attorneys, Mike Abourezk and James Leach of Rapid City, claim that dozens of credit union members were illegally denied legitimate credit disability claims by the insurer. CUNA Mutual is appealing the jury award in the case as excessive.
In the latest suit, Conrad Perovich, a member of Decotah FCU who had purchased credit disability insurance through CUNA Mutual, said his claim was denied on the basis it was not filed on time. "CUNA has engaged in a pattern of making false representations in order to avoid paying disability benefits, and has committed this same deception on many other victims," the lawyers in the case, who also represented Teri Powel, said.
A separate suit filed by Russell Smith, a member of Market USA FCU (formerly Ahold USA FCU) in South Carolina last week, makes similar claims.
Maripat Blankenheim, a spokesman for CUNA Mutual, denied the allegation in the suit that the insurer has engaged "in a pattern" of false representations to deny claims. "Of course we don’t do that. No we don’t do that," she told The Credit union Journal yesterday.
However, she said, CUNA Mutual is reexamining claims based on the court ruling in the Powell case.
