South Carolina Man Sues Lincoln Over 1987 Tobacco Class Error
Robert Stukes wants the company to return decades of extra premiums he paid after being mislabeled a smoker.
A South Carolina resident is suing a Lincoln Financial subsidiary over an old, but newly discovered, life insurance policy rate classification error.
Robert Stukes says Lincoln National National Life Insurance Co. mistakenly classified him as a smoker in 1987 when it converted three older policies into one new policy.
When Stukes reported the error, in July 2021, Lincoln agreed to adjust his future premiums but refused to refund the extra premiums he had paid, according to a complaint filed in a state court in Berkeley County, South Carolina. Stukes is asking the court to award him compensation, punitive damages, attorney’s fees and other relief.
Lincoln Financial declined to comment on the case.
What it means: The Stukes case could affect how state courts in South Carolina handle new policyholder discoveries of errors that have been baked into their premiums for many years.
The policy: Stukes bought one policy in 1970 from a life insurer that’s now part of Lincoln. He bought a second policy from the company in 1975 and a third policy in 1977.
“The plaintiff provided truthful and honest answers regarding his background, health and habits, including a truthful response that he was a non-smoker,” according to the complaint.
The 1987 policy said that Stukes did smoke. Stukes did not notice the error.
Lincoln increased the premiums on the 1987 policy in 2021. Stukes then looked at the policy and noticed the smoker category classification error.
The charges in the complaint include negligence, unfair trade practices and “fraud in the inducement.”
The act of “fraud in the inducement” includes “using deceit and tricking the plaintiff to act to defendant’s advantage,” Stukes says.
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