ELNY Hardship Fund

Will the Executive Life of New York (ELNY) Hardship Fund discriminate against individual ELNY shortfall victims if they attempt to appeal the Order of Liquidation and Approval of the ELNY Restructuring Agreement signed by Judge John Galasso on April 16, 2012?

Some ELNY shortfall victims and their attorneys think so. They interpret statements on the ELNY Hardship Fund website as a threat, intentional or unintentional, to prevent them from exercising their constitutional right to appeal. As background for their concerns, see:

• The ELNY Due Process Issue
• The ELNY Immunity Issue
• Mixed ELNY Reactions

The ELNY Hardship Fund statements in question:

"The life insurance industry has voluntarily committed to establishing a $100 million 'Hardship Fund' to assist those people most affected by ELNY’s liquidation. While the Hardship Fund will not fully address the problems arising from ELNY’s liquidation, it aims to mitigate the financial impact on those payees with the greatest need. The Hardship Fund, while not part of the restructuring plan approved by the court, is contingent upon its final approval. In the event Judge Galasso’s decision is appealed and the liquidation order is rejected, the conditions for establishing the Hardship Fund will not be met and no payments from it will be available." (emphasis added).

AND

"Payees who are expected to have their benefit payments reduced will receive an application packet from JAMS. It will include a questionnaire and request for certain documentation such as medical records and information about sources of income. Additional information and conditions may be required to complete the application. With the information you provide, JAMS will determine how to distribute the Hardship Fund’s resources, based on eligibility guidelines as developed by JAMS." (emphasis added).

These statements are repeated in an "Informal Notice" from JAMS, the ELNY Hardship Fund Administrator, mailed to ELNY shortfall victims on April 27, 2012.

The question now being asked by some ELNY victims and their attorneys: "Will the 'eligibility guidelines', developed by JAMS with input from contributing life insurance companies, discriminate against (blackball) ELNY shortfall victims who attempt to appeal Judge Galasso's Order."

Speaking for the ELNY structured settlement shortfall victims he represents, attorney Edward Stone states: "These statements represent another strong arm tactic to try to prevent ELNY shortfall victims from pursuing their constitutional rights."

To protect against Hardship Fund recriminations, the following quotes from ELNY structured settlement shortfall victims are printed anonymously:

• "The 'hardship fund' is a joke intended to save face for the annuity industry which has completely failed to stand behind the annuitants, each of whom was promised 'guaranteed lifetime benefits.' Only 1500 out of the 10,000 ELNY annuitants are suffering losses under this absurd plan. They should be spreading the losses equally among all 10,000 persons who bought these annuities. No hardship fund will correct that injustice. Rather than have JAMS churning fees deciding winners and losers, where absolutely every shortfall payee is suffering a severe hardship, better to save the JAMS overhead and simply give each of the 1500 annuitants $66,600, and close down the fund."
• "The message in the Hardship Fund letter is loud and clear: if we appeal and win, funds allotted to the Hardship Fund will no longer be available. We are unequivocally being asked to accept our losses on their terms. Big brother in this context is a big bully stripping 1,500 of us of our constitutional rights and denying us the ability to defend the financial security we were once promised."
• "I am one of the ELNY shortfall victims. My settlement resulted from medical malpractice when I was a baby.  I was born prematurely, and suffered severe visual impairments due to negligence.  I also have hearing impairments.  I am going to lose 53% of what was promised to me all those years ago.  I am terrified to figure out how in the world I am going to take care of myself and 3 minor children when the check drop hits.  I will need to get public assistance in order for us to survive. If they want to be really fair, divide the Hardship Fund equally among us 1500 shortfall victims and call it good.  That would be the right thing to do."

If you are an ELNY shortfall victim and wish to add your thoughts about the ELNY Hardship Fund anonymously to this blog post, add a comment using the link below or send an email with your comments to [email protected]. 

For S2KM's complete reporting about the ELNY liquidation, see the structured settlement wiki.

Comments

[SHELDON DAVIDSON]

Any decrease in the payments from the Annuity will make it very hard, almost impossible for me to live. I would have trouble paying all my bills, buying food and keeping my home. I would have to cut down on seeing my Heart Doctor, as well as my Endocrinologist, Pain Doctor and my Psychiatrist. Because of the cost of
the co-payment.
I will have to put off getting my teeth fixed because I have no Insurance. I would have to put off purchasing medications, because of the co-payments. I would have to cut down on the amount of food I buy. I would have to give up my Pre-Need policy which covers the cost of my burial. Also I will have to give up my Help Line, which is my Medical Aid Call Button. Because I live alone, if I fall and cannot get up I would have no way to get the medical help that I would need.
I have not been able to earn a living since this Auto Accident in 1974, which TOTALLY DISABLED ME. I had over 10 surgeries on my back, and multiple surgeries on my hands, arms, and neck.
I totally relay on the money from this Annuity and the monies from Social Security Disability, and Workers’ Compensation. Any cut in this Annuity will put me in danger of losing everything I have. I live day to day and I am very careful of what I buy. My car is over 10 years old. I live from one Annuity and Social Security Disability check to the next. Every penny is accounted for and I have to be very careful of everything I do.
Since getting the notice of the possible cut of the Annuity payments I have lived in fear of not knowing how I would go on living without getting help from the HARDSHIP FUND.
Please help me. I have no one else who can help me. Without the Hardship Fund, I will lose my ability to live. Without the Fund’s Help I will be lost.

[Anonymous Poster Quote 3]

Kevin,

Have you spoken with anyone regarding an Occupy movement?

[Anonymous Poster Quote 3]

An added part from the

www.elnyhardshipfund.com

Some payees may decide to appeal Judge Galasso’s April 16 decision to approve the ELNY liquidation plan. Participation in the appeals process will not be a factor in decisions JAMS makes about the distribution of money from the fund to eligible payees.

Because JAMS is not a party to the court proceedings or any appeal of the court’s order and because JAMS intends to administer the Hardship Fund in an expeditious manner, the preparation, mailing and review of the applications will not be delayed by those court proceedings.

Just thought I'd share....

[Kevin]

As one of the lost 1500 that was recently told a promise is NOT a promise...a guarantee is not a guarantee I wonder if the Occupy Movement is not on to more mainstream ideals than many observe. I must tell you I am very upset about the contact made to me that is about to be broken.
Most people don't even know of the plight of the 1500 or what it means to the insurance industry as a whole, let alone us that have been impacted by this unbelievable loss. By cutting the payments to the maimed, disfigured and destitute without this income, let alone those that were promised compensation for injury that are functional in our society the Insurance industry has simply turned it's back and said "You have no voice and are not worth our time. You will take what we say and that is the end."
A hearing was held to liquidate an Insurance Company and the Judge stated that he could not rule on many of the actual issues which caused the hearing only the status of the company. The only option for resolution was that of the group responsible for managing that company into the ground. So somehow in The United States this has been deemed to be normal and an expectable outcome. Something morally acceptable simply because it complies with a judgement while leaving 1500 poor souls to simply fend for themselves and quietly walk away from the promises and contracts made years before?
So I must ask, who in their right mind would agree to a contract with any insurance company long term? Remember Insurance companies do not actually have a product. They sell promises. Forget the fancy adds of buying boxes of "something" from a funny front girl. They only sell promises. In this case they simply said we will not awner our promises. If I was as big as these huge insurance corporations I would have done what is right. I would have fixed this and insured that the integrity of the industry was intact. But the simple greed fueled this action. So now what rational person would trust any insurance company? Here's where we're at. We will let 1500 of the most needy and deserving take this loss because we cannot effect our earnings to that extent. This is like Ford with the pinto times ten. As a multi-trillion dollar industry it's easier to simply forget about these people and move on. We can out-spend them and they will disappear shortly.
So back to my comment about Occupy. After this liquidation finding by the court and based on the Judge's comments about his constraints to his judgement, I see that there is no viable method within today's judicial system to actually have a fair, morally, just finding concerning this matter. I will be in contact with the Occupy Folks shortly concerning the plight of the 1500.

[New York Apartments]

Not only do we need a website, but we ALL need to get on board with an attorney to fight this thing. Just a quick thought... to those of you who may be thinking about sitting out this fight and not hiring someone, the following is not exact, but something to give you an idea of the numbers:

First you should figure out approximately how much money would have been distributed to you over the course of your contract if there was no cut back. If this is too complicated, then I recommend multiplying the amount you receive monthly, by the amount of years you believe you should be receiving your income. Then simply divide the $100,000,000 by 1,500 (the approximate number of shortfall payees who are being made to carry the entire burden of the ELNY failure) to see what our entire group is being offered as their solution. Once you come up with the interesting and somewhat amusing dollar amount that we will have to share and make last for the rest of our lives, I recommend you pick up the phone and get proper legal representation.

One final thought on this... while I am sure there are some who would be happy to not spend the money for an attorney, and let a few of us foot the bill, you must consider this point: When an attorney represents you, there are often settlements that are made that only effect those people who have legal representation. These arrangements also come with strings attached, such as gag orders, meaning those who had no representation, will never be aware about the details of the settlement, or be included.

[ELNY VICTIM]

IT IS TIME FOR THE 1,500 ELNY SHORTFALL VICTIMS TO CREATE A WEB SITE. PEOPLE CONSIDERING AN ANNUITY MUST BE MADE AWARE OF THE SO CALLED PROMISES AND GUARANTEES . THEY CAN SEE HOW THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY “GUARANTEE’S” THEIR ANNUITIES, AND KNOW EXACTLY WHAT “GUARANTEED LIFE TIME PAYMENTS” REALLY MEANS.

[Terri (Shortfall Victim)]

Just a heads up to ELNY and JAMS, I don't take threats lightly. If we appeal and win, will we even need the hardship fund? Come on, stop acting like the cold hearted conglomerate that the insurance industry represents and have some decency. WE ARE PEOPLE, not contract numbers. I would love to know how you determine out of all of us; Who is worthy? Who isn't worthy? We are all losing a lot of money and that makes every one of us worthy!
We are not going to let you sweep us under a rug and continue treating us as if we are nothing. We Will Fight Every Step of The Way! Everyone will know about this before we are done! Do not thing you intimidate us, because you don't!
By the time you are finished with me I won't have anything else to loose so why would I keep my mouth shut and say thank you to you?
The packet notice we received in Dec 2011 was not just!
The court proceeding was not just!
The threats being made are not just!
Apparently the hardship fund will not be just!
15% percent being cut is not just!
Why on earth would we think ELNY or any of their entities will do anything just / right at this point?
No we know we are a David going against Goliath, but we're ready. Are you ELNY?
Don't threaten me!

[janet gibson]

So, "JAMS, a leading provider of neutral alternative dispute resolution services" will be deciding the fate of 1500 people? Deciding who is "the most needy" and the "most worthy" of these? Will this process be fair? Will it be subjective or objective? Who knows……..Sounds like we will all stand trial once again.

The Insurance Industry and especially the Structured Settlement Industry should be very concerned about this. The public needs to be aware of this crack in the system and the courts and judges who issue these annuities need to be made aware. Thank goodness for the media tools we have these days - and we will use them!!!

[ELNY Victim]

I recently wrote a letter to the ACLI (American Council of Life Insurers) requesting a meeting to discuss ELNY and its consequences. I wanted the opportunity to have a formal dialogue and ask for their assistance in this matter as I recognize the negative impact ELNY has on shortfall payees and the life insurance industry itself.

I am personally insulted and outraged that I was not even worthy of their time to respond to me. Instead, they forwarded my request to a random JAMS employee who told me in a few short sentences to look for an application in the mail for the Hardship Fund. And although I am genuinely grateful the Hardship Fund has been set up by a consortium of insurance companies to help those of us most seriously injured, I can’t help but feel that $100 million compared to the $920 million shortfall is a drop in the bucket. Can more funds be made available especially when you consider that these same insurance companies have been profiting over life insurance and annuity products for decades while stuffing us with guarantees? Guarantees that mean nothing more than the piece of paper it is written on?

I am left dumbfounded that we can continue to be swept under the rug. I ask myself: Does JAMS represent the insurance industry? Should JAMS be answering for the ACLI? Is JAMS in fact “neutral” as described in theHardship Information Notice?

The ELNY problem is not going to go away, not on my watch.

[Karen Cuviello]

The bottom line is that the insurance industry needs to raise more money to fund the shortfall if they really don't want their industry to be affected.
In this scenario, where the people with the most serious needs are taking the largest cuts to their “guaranteed income for life” it seems as if the insurance industry should be able to raise more than 10% of the shortfall. In a trillion dollar industry they can only raise 100 million? Who says the Guaranty Associations can’t contribute more than the caps in each state? The Short Fall Annuitants were not notified in a timely and reasonable manner, did not get a fair shake at a real hearing and are now being blackmailed into taking the Hardship Fund and made to think they should be grateful and that's just the one's that know what's going on. Given the reach with social media in this day and age, this isn’t going away and currently is the worst possible scenario for the structured settlement industry. As Judge Galasso said in the hearing, “doesn’t the state of NY have any responsibility here?”.

[ELNY Victim]

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