Rabin v. MONY Life Insurance Company

In this putative class action involving allegations of deceptive practices and unjust enrichment, Analysis Group was retained to assess issues related to the use of retained asset accounts to pay life insurance policy benefits and surrender cash values. An Analysis Group team including Managing Principal Michael Holland supported our academic affiliate Peter Tufano. Plaintiff alleged that our client, MONY, committed breach of contract and of fiduciary duty, and that plaintiff should have received payment of his cash surrender value by means of either a lump sum check or a much higher interest rate, instead of the receipt of the funds in the form of an interest-bearing checking account. MONY filed for summary judgment, based in part on its assertion that the evidence in the matter showed that the interest paid met the standard of the national average for bank money accounts. The court entered summary judgment, finding no evidentiary support for plaintiff's claims regarding the meaning of a "competitive" interest rate and, having granted summary judgment, did not address the class certification motion.