MetLife - Media
- 1994 0628 - Tampa Bay Times - MetLife agrees to pay $2.5-million -
- Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. has agreed to donate $2.5-million to charity as part of an expanded settlement with Florida regulators over its marketing practices, state Attorney General Bob Butterworth said Monday.
- A joint investigation by the attorney general and the Florida Department of Insurance found that the New York-based insurer deceptively marketed whole-life insurance as a retirement or savings plan.
- The insurer already has paid Florida $4.3-million in fines and legal fees as part of a settlement reached in March with more than 40 states.
- Under the agreement announced Monday, MetLife will pay $2.35-million in the next two years for programs aimed at combating youth and family violence and $150,000 to prevent fraud against the elderly, Butterworth said.
- The company will work with the Attorney General's Office, school boards, and law enforcement and social service agencies to develop school-based programs to prevent violence, Butterworth said.
- MetLife, the nation's second biggest life insurer, did not admit wrongdoing under the settlement. MetLife spokesman Charles Sahner said the latest settlement resolves all outstanding issues with Butterworth.
- "The agreement puts to rest the investigation and puts it behind us," Sahner told the Associated Press.
