NASCAR racing star Kyle Busch and his wife have settled an $8.5 million lawsuit they brought against Pacific Life Insurance and an insurance agent that alleged the insurer and agent misled the couple and caused them to lose millions of dollars.
“The Parties are in the process of documenting and finalizing their settlement papers and intend to file a stipulation or motion for dismissal of this action within the next 30 days with all parties bearing their own fees and costs,” reads the notice of settlement filed with U.S. District Court in Western North Carolina.
The terms of the settlement were not disclosed in the court filing.
In an amended complaint filed in January, Busch argued that Pacific Life and Arizona-based agent Rodney Smith had promoted an indexed universal life insurance strategy that “exposed Plaintiffs to substantial financial risk concealed by misleading projections, unrealistic assumptions, and material omissions.”
Smith reportedly told the Buschs in 2017 that the policies would be fully funded and self-sustaining after a limited number of annual premium payments, and would generate big and tax-free retirement income. Busch began to raise questions after he received a sixth premium notice, having been told he would only need to pay five years of premiums, the complaint argued.
Smith and his Red River LLC firm denied most of the charges in the complaint. Pacific Life asked the federal court to dismiss the lawsuit, contending the complaint failed to state a legitimate claim.
Pacific Life also said that the Buschs signed multiple documents acknowledging they understood the policies, including one that indicated the couple would pay planned premiums and hold the policies over 30 years—through age 70 and beyond, the Associated Press reported. Busch failed to fully fund the policies, let some lapse and surrendered the others, the life insurer noted.
Read More: Pacific Life Moved to Dismiss the Lawsuit
Photo: Busch and family at the Homestead Miami Speedway in 2024. (Jesus Aranguren/AP Content Services for Straight Talk Wireless)
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