Florida Gov. Charlie Christ has signed a new law increasing penalties on annuity salespeople who pressure elderly clients to buy annuities that the clients do not need or do not want.
The new law, S.B. 2082, increases maximum fines to as much as $250,000, from $100,000, for “unfair or deceptive” annuity sales activities, including the practices known as “twisting” and “churning.”
As defined by Florida officials, twisting refers to an agent intentionally making misleading statements or significant omissions about annuities or insurance policies to persuade a consumer to sell a current annuity and buy a new annuity from another insurer.