Life Partners Inc Nightmare - Undisclosed New Charges

In 1994 we made what we consider now a bad investment. We invested in a Viatical through Life Partners Inc (LPI) out of Waco, Texas. This is essentially purchasing a portion of a life insurance policy on someone who is reportedly terminally ill. Back in 1994 we felt we were helping someone ease their last days with some extra funds, and in return we would receive a dividend on our investment. The Life Partners Inc policy that we invested was to cover a male who according to the Life Partners Inc contacted doctor was given only 6 months to live.

Apparently this gentleman had a medical miracle, or the Life Partners doctor had little knowledge of what he was saying, or the evaluation was done improperly, because lo and behold the gentleman insured by the policy we purchased is fine and healthy today, over 20 years later. While this entire extended process has been a nightmare for us.

In 1994 it was our understanding that our total risk was the loss of our initial $6,000 investment. In fact out original signed paperwork states: "LPI’s fees for all services provided in the performance of its duties shall be complete and inclusive in the policy purchase deposit and the PURCHASER will not incur costs of any type beyond the amount tendered as the policy purchase deposit". It seemed very clear to us from what we were told, and our 'signed paperwork’, that what we were risking was the initial $6,000.

Later when we found out this was not the case, we felt misled and cheated. Life Partners Inc and LPI Financial Services Inc are now billing us for Premium Fees and Platform Service Fee. These fees were never written into the original signed Policy Funding Agreement nor were they disclosed or expected. Life Partners Inc is also not responding to our email and certified letter requesting clarification. We feel we have already lost our $6,000, plus now Life Partners Inc wants us to pay up around $1,500 for these extra fees.

To us, their added fees appear to be a Breach of Contract on their part. We even wonder if in court this is declared a Breach of Contract, if we could recover part of our initial $6,000. For now Life Partners Inc is pursuing us for fees that were never disclosed, and against there own contract that states, “…Purchaser will not incur costs of any type…”. As we are on a fixed income and fighting cancer this makes our lives even more difficult.

We believe this is fundamentally wrong. Unfortunately we do not have the funds to solely take legal action against Life Partners Inc for these $1,500 in erroneous billings; and have not found an attorney who believes in their own abilities well enough to take this case on for a contingency fee.

We would like to hear from anyone who believes Life Partners Inc mistreated them; and from anyone who is considering a lawsuit over these non-disclosed fees… especially the ‘Platform Service Charge’. We would consider combining our efforts and joining in this process.

Please post your comment here, or email us direct at ShoutOutAmericaNow@gmail.com.