It was during this time, when the insured, my mother, Mary Sina took ill; she complained of having a cold in December and declined to join the family in California for the holidays. But, it was not until April that she was finally forced to see the doctor to find that what she actually had was a terrible ear infection, and was experiencing a loss of hearing as well as a loss of memory, which were officially diagnosed on April 22, 2009,
on her 84th birthday.

In short, due to the infection, she was feeling absolutely miserable during all of that time, hence all of the regular activities associated with living a normal functioning life were virtually ignored. In fact, what I found in addition to unopened Christmas presents upon my arrival in Santa Fe in April, was not only the neglect to her household chores and empty cupboards, but stacks of unopened mail, a checkbook that had not been kept up to date – some bills had been overpaid, while others had remained unpaid.

Basically, I found a mess, which I am only now clearing up; the last and most infuriating being CUNA Mutual Insurance’s automatic change in her 17 and 9 year old whole life insurance policies to that of term policies. I know I don’t need to educate you on what a scam term insurance is. Nor do I need to tell you that most ordinary people have no concept of the differences between the two and will automatically check the box that is indicated to be most favorable in the event of default by the “nice” insurance sales agent.

Obviously, the purpose of purchasing life insurance is for the security that one is led to believe will be in place at the end of your life. I have been told by the numerous member services employees of CUNA to whom I have spoken that I am free to write as many letters as I like, as CUNA’s practices are perfectly legal. Legal perhaps, but that does not make them ethical. It appears to me, as I imagine it would to the current Federal Administration, that this is exactly some of the “fine print” nonsense that Corporate America is now being questioned about and will eventually be held accountable for. It was my intent to include a copy of that particular page of options and checked boxes from the original policy, but since I began making requests for copies from the insurance company on April 27, I have yet to receive anything to provide you with.

I find it rather strange that since Mrs. Sina had been an extremely long time customer without having missed any payments in all of those years, when she suddenly stopped paying her bills and responding to their letters and YET NO ONE HAD FILED A CLAIM FOR DEATH BENEFITS, that not one single person at CUNA thought to pick up the telephone to inquire further into the matter. It obviously came to their attention, as the letters were generated which transferred the policies from whole life to term insurance.

Mr. Chavez, I strongly urge you to reconsider New Mexico’s endorsement of CUNA Mutual Insurance Group to the constituents of the State of New Mexico. In short, it is your duty to protect the people of the State of New Mexico from such malicious, predatory insurance companies and I urge you please to permanently delete CUNA Mutual Insurance Group from your roster of insurance companies and sever all future ties with them.

The fact that CUNA is a predatory company is clearly evident in the insulting policy amounts available to their members. CUNA preys on people who still consider such paltry sums of money to be adequate. I know, because I too am a member of the Land of Enchantment FCU, so am also in receipt of their ridiculous offers for insurance coverage.

It is my sincere hope that not only can we correct this for my mother, but also protect others from meeting with this unfortunate circumstance, as they reach old age.

Sincerely,

PATRICIA A. CUNLIFFE

CC: Dan Mica, President/CEO Credit Union National Association (CUNA)
Jeff Post, President/CEO CUNA Mutual Group
Governor Bill Richardson, State of New Mexico
Camille Flores, Managing Editor, The New Mexican
Karen Moses, Managing Editor, The Albuquerque Journal
Dorotha Gosling, Chairperson, Board of Directors, Land of Enchantment FCU
Michael Duran, Chairperson, Board of Directors, State Employees FCU
Michael Fryzel, Chairman, National Credit Union Association
Commissioner Thomas E. Hampton, Dept of Insurance, Securities & Banking
President Barak Obama