A lawsuit has been filed against J.C. Penney Co. and its partner, Dutch insurance giant AEGON, claiming that insurance policy premiums were charged to consumer’s credit cards without their consent.
The lawsuit seeks class action status and is filed in Corpus Christi State District Court. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of a Texas woman, Marguerite York, who claimed she was unknowingly was billed for insurance premiums on her credit card for six years, according to news reports.
“J.C. Penney engaged in a 14-year telemarketing scam that victimized millions of elderly residents, as well as low-income minorities,” an attorney for the plaintiff said in a statement.
In 1999, York was involved in a car accident and died last week at age 81 of the injuries from the accident. Her son discovered a $100,000 insurance policy that his mother unknowingly had been paying for since 1993, the report said.
According to the report, telemarketers began contacting customers in 1987 about the “ADD” insurance program. York’s attorney, David Berg, charged in a statement that Penney telemarketers misled and intimidated customers into buying policies and enrolled people without their permission.
The lawsuit also names as defendants: J.C. Penney Direct Marketing Services Inc.; J.C. Penney Life Insurance Company; Quest Membership Services, Inc.; AEGON, N.V.; AEGON USA, Inc.; AEGON Group; and AEGON Special Markets Group.
The lawsuit seeks compensation and punitive damages.
Penney began selling life insurance in 1967 and has sold accidental death and dismemberment plans since at least the late 1980s. In March, the Penney sold its telemarketing unit to Aegon for $1.3 billion in a deal that gave Aegon the right to sell insurance endorsed by Penney.
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