If you own or owned an Athena Universal Life II policy issued by AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company that was subject to a cost of insurance rate increase announced in October 2015, your rights may be affected

SEATTLE, Oct. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A class action lawsuit has been filed against AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company ("AXA Equitable"), now known as Equitable Life Insurance Company, for allegedly unlawful cost of insurance ("COI") rate increases announced on October 1, 2015 on certain life insurance policies issued by AXA Equitable (the "COI Rate Increase"). The class action lawsuit is known as In re: AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company COI Litigation, Case No. 16-cv-740, and it is pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The Court has allowed this lawsuit to proceed as a class action on behalf of two nationwide classes and one New York class (the "Classes"), or groups of persons or entities, that could include you. You are a potential Class member if you owned, on or after March 8, 2016, an Athena Universal Life II ("AUL II") policy that was issued by AXA Equitable and subjected to the COI Rate Increase. This Notice summarizes your rights and options. More details about the case are available at www.AXACOILitigation.com. If you are a member of any of the Classes, you have to decide whether to stay in the lawsuit and be bound by any judgment in this case, or ask to be excluded and preserve any rights to sue AXA Equitable at your own expense and with your own attorney about the same legal claims that are the subject of this lawsuit, as well as any related claims not asserted in this lawsuit. There is no money available now and no guarantee there ever will be. The Court has made no decision as to the merits of the legal claims against AXA Equitable or AXA Equitable's defenses, and AXA Equitable denies all claims in this lawsuit. 

YOUR RIGHTS AND OPTIONS

Do nothing.  Stay in this lawsuit and await the outcome. Lose certain rights. If you remain in the Classes and money or other value is obtained from this lawsuit—either as a result of a ruling, trial or Court-approved settlement—you may receive a payment, if you are entitled to one. By doing nothing, the Court's certification of the Classes means that any judgment in this case will bind all Class Members who do not timely elect to be excluded from the Classes. The Court reserved the rights for all absent class members outside of New York and California to participate in this case as an absent class member and also later bring any claim not actually litigated here, as well as the rights of all absent class members to participate in this case as an absent class member and to assert related claims under the California Elder Abuse Law. There is no guarantee that a later court would honor the reservation of claims. That later court may determine that, if you participate in this class action, you are precluded from asserting any claims relating to the COI Rate Increase even if these claims were not actually litigated in this lawsuit. The Court has appointed Susman Godfrey L.L.P. as Class Counsel. If you stay in the Classes, you do not need to hire your own lawyer to pursue the claims against AXA Equitable because Class Counsel is working on behalf of the Classes. However, if you want to be represented by your own lawyer, you may hire one at your own expense and cost. If you have questions about whether you need your own lawyer, visit the case website at www.AXACOILitigation.com or call 1-888-681-1196.

Exclude yourself.  Get no benefits from this lawsuit. Keep certain rights. If you ask to be excluded from this lawsuit and money is later awarded, you will not be allowed to request a payment. But you preserve any rights to sue AXA Equitable at your own expense and with your own attorney about the COI Rate Increase, including the same legal claims asserted in this lawsuit, subject to any defenses AXA Equitable may have to each legal claim. In order to exclude yourself from the lawsuit, you must send a letter requesting exclusion from In re: AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company COI Litigation class action, with your name, address, telephone number, email address, AXA Equitable policy number(s) for the AUL II insurance policy or policies you own, the time period you claim to have owned the policy or policies, and your signature to: AXA Equitable COI Litigation Notice Administrator, c/o JND Legal Administration, P.O. Box 91238, Seattle, WA 98111. You must mail your exclusion request, postmarked no later than January 21, 2021.

This Notice is only a summary.  Details about the case can be found at www.AXACOILitigation.com

Please do not contact the Court.

SOURCE JND Legal Administration