UNUM Group to Pay $5.55 Million in Fines Over Hidden Fees

Fran Lysiak of Zibb.com reported that "Disability insurer Unum Group has agreed to pay $5.55 million in fines and penalties to the federal government for failing to disclose hidden fees it paid to a broker, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California said. The fees were required to be reported as called for under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, prosecutors said." To read the full article, go to: http://www.zibb.com/article/3486232/Unum+Group+to+Pay+555+Million+in+Fines+Over+Hidden+Fees+to+Broker

ERISA is the law that regulates employee benefit plans offered by private companies in the United States. By agreeing to such a huge fine, UNUM provides us even more evidence of its disregard for the the U.S. Department of Labor's ERISA regulations. The U.S. Attorney's office found that UNUM was actively concealing the fees paid by UNUM for insurance commissions and disclosures related to group benefit plans. As the U.S. Attorney was quoted as saying, the regulations requiring disclosure, exist "to promote transparency." So much for transparency when the biggest disability insurance company simply ignores the rules and will only follow them when the government threatens prosecution.

To read more about ERISA, visit the ERISA law FAQ tuckerludin.com.


Copyright (c) 2008 by John V. Tucker and Tucker & Ludin, P.A. All rights reserved. Any content borrowed or referenced from another source is referenced by citation to the original source as noted in the text above.