NASCAR champ Kyle Busch claims $8.6M loss in insurance 'scheme'

Two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch and wife Samantha last week claimed they lost $8.6 million in a “devastating financial scheme” tied to an Indexed Universal Life – or IUL – insurance policy, according to a statement from the couple.

The Busch complaint accuses Pacific Life and its agent of designing and promoting a series of complex Indexed Universal Life policies as "tax-free retirement plans" that were misrepresented as safe, self-funding investment vehicles, according to the press release, which the couple released last Wednesday.

According to the filing, the defendants allegedly used misleading illustrations, undisclosed costs, and false promises of guaranteed multipliers and controllable charges to induce the Busch family to pay more than $10.4 million in premiums, resulting in net out-of-pocket losses exceeding $8.58 million.

"I never thought something like this could happen to us," Kyle Busch said in the statement. "These policies were sold to us as part of a retirement plan — something safe and secure that would grow tax-free and protect our family long after racing.”

“We trusted the people who sold them, and the name Pacific Life. But the reality is far different,” he said. “What was pitched as retirement income turned out to be a financial trap.”

"Now that we are going through this process, I am learning how completely misrepresented these products can be when they're sold," Samantha Busch said. "It makes me worry about families, retirees, and anyone trying to plan responsibly for their future who may be hearing those same promises.”

According to the Associated Press, Pacific Life issued a statement saying it does not comment on specifics of individual matters to maintain the privacy and trust of its clients.

“For nearly 160 years, we have committed ourselves to fairness, integrity, and acting in the best interests of our clients — and we continue to take this responsibility very seriously,” the statement said. “Pacific Life offers several different life insurance products, each with unique characteristics that are important to understand before making a decision.”

At issue is an Indexed Universal Life insurance policy, a combination of life insurance that provides a death benefit with a cash value component, the Associate Press reported. The cash value growth is tied to a stock market index, supposedly with built-in protections against market downturns.

Once Busch realized what had happened to him, his attorney found other people who had invested in IULs and lost all of their money.

“These insurance companies are too big to be (messing) with the little people, so we’re going to go at them,” he said in a recent interview with the Associated Press. “It’s not just race car drivers or athletes or rich people of the world and this is why we’re going public with it.”