Paul Harrington v. Equitrust Life Ins Co

I. Introduction

This is a putative class action against EquiTrust Life Insurance Company (“EquiTrust”), alleging violations of federal and state law in the sale of annuities. The district court granted EquiTrust’s motion for summary judgment, but, without explanation, declined to award costs to the prevailing party. We affirm the summary judgment, but vacate the denial of costs and remand for the district court either to award costs or explain its refusal.

II. Facts

A. The Annuity

In 2007,' Paul Harrington purchased an EquiTrust MarketPower Bonus Index Annuity (the “Annuity”) from an insurance agency. The Annuity uses “index accounts” to generate “index credits” that increase the Annuity’s accumulation value (the total amount in the account). Index credits (essentially interest) are calculated based on periodic changes in the closing value of the S & P 500. EquiTrust has the express discretion to choose the amount of index credits awarded (the “index cap”), but the Annuity guarantees a minimum cap.

The Annuity permits annual withdrawals of up to 10% of the accumulation value with no penalty. Larger withdrawals are subject to: (1) a surrender charge, a specified…